buddhism

Even though I want to learn more about Buddhism I have done some basic research but that will not give me first hand experience to what the religion is really about to the people who believe in it.

Buddhism is a religion to about 300 million people around the world. The word comes from 'budhi', 'to awaken'. It has its origins about 2,500 years ago when Siddhartha Gotama, known as the Buddha, was himself awakened (enlightened) at the age of 35.

Buddhism explains a purpose to life, it explains apparent injustice and inequality around the world, and it provides a code of practice or way of life that leads to true happiness.

Siddhartha Gotama was born into a royal family in Lumbini, now located in Nepal, in 563 BC. At 29, he realised that wealth and luxury did not guarantee happiness, so he explored the different teachings religions and philosophies of the day, to find the key to human happiness. After six years of study and meditation he finally found 'the middle path' and was enlightened. After enlightenment, the Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching the principles of Buddhism — called the Dhamma, or Truth — until his death at the age of 80.

He was not, nor did he claim to be. He was a man who taught a path to enlightenment from his own experience 

I think this is why I find Buddhism so interesting he was not a god he was a man unlike so many religions this seem more realistic

Because Buddhism does not include the idea of worshipping a creator god, some people do not see it as a religion in the normal, Western sense.