Estimate from Pew Research Center — The Future of World Religions↗ (opens in a new tab).
Overview
Buddhism traces to a historical individual, traditionally called Gautama, whom modern scholars identify as its founder.1 The title Buddha means “awakened”, and is conferred on someone who discovers the path to nirvana — the cessation of suffering — and teaches that discovery so others may reach it too.2 The teachings preserved in the earliest texts, known as the Nikāyas or Āgamas, concern the quest for liberation from suffering.3
History and origins
Gautama was born into a family of some wealth and power, members of the Śākya clan, in the area of the present border between India and Nepal.4 His dates were long put at approximately 560–480 BCE, though many scholars now hold that he died around 405 BCE.5 Tradition has it that he lived to the age of 80.6
The story is that in early adulthood he abandoned his comfortable life as a householder, along with his wife and young son, in order to seek a solution to the problem of existential suffering.7 He first took up with a number of wandering ascetics who claimed to know the path to liberation from suffering.8 Finding their teachings unsatisfactory, he struck out on his own, and through a combination of insight and meditational practice attained the state of enlightenment said to represent the cessation of all further suffering.9
What is taught
The basic teachings are usually summarised using the device of the Four Nobles’ Truths, the first of which is that there is suffering.10 Suffering here is understood to mean not mere pain but existential suffering: the sort of frustration, alienation and despair that arise out of the experience of transitoriness.11 The last of the four holds that there is a path to the cessation of suffering.12
The Buddha held that it is ignorance about our identity that is responsible for suffering.13 Those who have not yet achieved enlightenment are held to be reborn as sentient beings of some sort after they die.14 Rebirth is governed by karma, which functions as a kind of cosmic justice: those born into fortunate circumstances do so as a result of good deeds in prior lives, while unpleasant births result from evil past deeds.15
References
- “This entry concerns the historical individual, traditionally called Gautama, who is identified by modern scholars as the founder of Buddhism.” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “The title ‘Buddha’, which literally means ‘awakened’, is conferred on an individual who discovers the path to nirvana, the cessation of suffering, and propagates that discovery so that others may also achieve nirvana.” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “concern the quest for liberation from suffering” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “He was born into a family of some wealth and power, members of the Śākya clan, in the area of the present border between India and Nepal.” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “Up until recently his dates were thought to be approximately 560–480 BCE, but many scholars now hold that he must have died around 405 BCE.” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “Tradition has it that Gautama lived to age 80.” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “The story is that in early adulthood he abandoned his comfortable life as a householder (as well as his wife and young son) in order to seek a solution to the problem of existential suffering.” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “He first took up with a number of different wandering ascetics” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “Finding their teachings unsatisfactory, he struck out on his own, and through a combination of insight and meditational practice attained the state of enlightenment” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “The Buddha’s basic teachings are usually summarized using the device of the Four Nobles’ Truths: There is suffering.” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “the sort of frustration, alienation and despair that arise out of our experience of transitoriness” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “There is a path to the cessation of suffering.” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “it is ignorance about our identity that is responsible for suffering” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “persons who have not yet achieved enlightenment will be reborn as sentient beings of some sort after they die” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
- “rebirth is governed by karma, something that functions as a kind of cosmic justice: those born into fortunate circumstances do so as a result of good deeds in prior lives, while unpleasant births result from evil past deeds” — Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Buddha, source page↗ (opens in a new tab)
Individual sourced statements
Statements recorded one at a time, each shown with the words it rests on. They sit alongside the account above rather than beneath it.
Forest Sangha states that the Theravada tradition is grounded in the discourses recorded in the Pali Canon, the oldest Buddhist scriptures.
“The Theravada tradition is grounded in the discourses recorded in the Pali Canon, the oldest Buddhist scriptures.”
Forest Sangha states that Theravada means the Way of the Elders, named for its adherence to the original teachings and monastic discipline expounded by the Buddha.
“Theravada literally means the Way of the Elders, and is named so because of its strict adherence to the original teachings and rules of monastic discipline expounded by the Buddha.”
Forest Sangha describes Theravada Buddhism, also called the Southern School, as present throughout Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka.
“Theravada Buddhism, also known as the Southern School of Buddhism, is present throughout Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka.”
Forest Sangha describes the Thai Forest tradition as one branch of the Theravada Buddhist tradition.
“The Thai Forest tradition is one branch of the Theravada Buddhist tradition.”
Every quotation above was checked against its source on 5 September 2026.
Authority
Buddhism has no central authority.
No authority governs Buddhism as a whole. Festival dates are set nationally and differ between Theravāda countries and between the Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese calendars.
Traditions
How these dates are worked out
This is the part that decides whether a date in your rota is right. Every observance below is computed from a published rule rather than copied from anyone’s list, and the rule is what explains why a date moves, why two calendars can disagree, and how far ahead you can safely plan.
The pañcāṅga
- What sets the date
- The date is found from the positions of the sun and moon rather than from a table. The key quantity is the tithi, a lunar day defined by the moon gaining twelve degrees of elongation on the sun, so its length varies between roughly nineteen and twenty-six hours.
- Why it falls where it does
- Because a tithi is not a solar day, it can begin and end at any hour, and a festival attached to one may touch two Gregorian dates or none. Which date is kept then depends on a rule about the time of day the tithi has to be current: sunrise for some observances, midday, evening or midnight for others. Two calendars can therefore disagree by a day while both applying their rules correctly. Regional practice differs too, and a month may be reckoned as ending at the new moon or at the full moon depending on where you are.
- What that means for planning
- Expect a day of variation between regions and between calendars, and expect the observance to move by several weeks against the Gregorian calendar from one year to the next.
Observances in 2026
Sources
No expert review. Accuracy here rests on continuous machine verification of every quotation against its source. Spotted an error? Corrections are answered within five working days.