Buddhism takes its name from its founder who was called "the Budda" which means "the enlightened one," or "him who is fully awake." His name was Siddhartha Gautama and he was born in 623 B.C. as a prince in a section of India called Kapilavatthu near the Himalayas. One day Guatama slipped out of the palace and saw four scenes that changed the rest of his life. He saw an old man, a sick man, a corpse and an ascetic, an ascetic is a person who renounces material comforts and leads a life of self discipline as an act of religious devotion. The first 3 scenes brought home to his heart the striking reality that age, sickness and death come to all. the 4th scene gave him a hint of a possible escape from the cycle of death and rebirth. Convinced that all the pleasures of this world are temporary, Guatama left the luxuries and privileges of the palace. He renounced everything in order to search out a way of escape from suffering and death. He diligently practiced self mortification and meditation until he almost died. While nearly starving, Gautama recognized  that extreme asceticism was as useless as pleasure seeking. He sat down beneath a Bodi tree determined to meditate until he could find a better way. According to the story , exactly on his 35th birthday he attained enlightenment, destroying all mental impurities and gaining perfect understanding into all realities. He then called " the Budda" which means "fully awake" or "enlightened." He continued to reflect on his insights for 7 weeks and determined to spend the rest of his life helping others to move toward the same. Budda preaced his first sermon called " Setting into Motion the Wheel of Dharma" and ordained the first diciples. He proclaimed " the four noble truths" which are 1) Existence is dukka ( life is unsatisfactory, full of suffering and emptiness.) 2) Dukkais caused by tanha ( sinful cravings, and good desires which cannot last.) 3) there is an end of dukka through obtaining nirvana( escape from the cycle of death and rebirth.) 4) the way to reac nirvana is by following the eightfold path. The eightfold path is a combination of maditation and good deeds that is intended to lead people to detatch themselves from all desires both good and bad. Buddist have written about each one of these and have practiced them extensively. there focus is on the inside of a person and what can be changed through self-effort. The eightfold path includes: 1) right understanding, 2) right thought, 3) right speech, 4) right action, 5) right livelihood, 6) right effort, 7) right mindfullness, 8) right concentration .    Its important to recognize that there is a huge diversity in beliefs and practices amoung Buddist. Many times Buddhists mix the above beliefs with local religions and the worship f spirits and gods. Some Buddhists practice Buddist philosophy without any belief in the unseen. Others are very secular in thier lifestyle and thought pattern basically buddhist in name only. The same can be said of Christians. Some seek to reach Nirvana, others simply try to improve  their future life by making merit. Buddha sent out 60 desciples to each others and spent 45 yrs in active ministry, dying at the age of 80 in 543 B.C his last words were " verily do I say unto you: Perishable are all conditional things. Work out your way with diligence."