Buddhism
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Buddhism (also known as Buddha Dharma, meaning approximately Law of the Awakened One) is a religion, a practical philosophy, and arguably a psychology, focusing on the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Siddhārtha Gautama), who lived in ancient India most likely from the mid-6th to the early 5th century BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the Indian subcontinent in the five centuries following the Buddha's passing, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and East Asia over the next two millennia. Today, Buddhism is divided primarily into three traditions: Theravāda (Sanskrit: Sthaviravāda), Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna. Buddhism continues to attract followers worldwide, and, with about 708 million adherents, it is considered a major world religion. Buddhism is the fourth-largest religion in the world.
When used in a generic sense, a Buddha is generally considered to be a person who discovers the true nature of reality through years of spiritual cultivation, investigation of the various religious practices of his time, and meditation. This transformational discovery is called bodhi - literally, "Awakening" (more commonly called "Enlightenment"). Any person who has become awakened from the "sleep of ignorance" by directly realizing the true nature of reality is called a Buddha. Śākyamuni is said to have been only the latest of many of these; there were other Buddhas before him and there will be others in the future. According to the Buddha, any person can follow his example and become enlightened through the study of his words "Dharma" and putting them into practice, by leading a virtuous, moral life, and purifying his mind. Concisely put the aim of Buddhist practice is to put an end to this mass of suffering we call existence. "I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering" (The Buddha). To achieve this state, adherents train and purify the mind by following the Noble Eightfold Path, and the Middle Way, eventually arriving at an understanding of the true nature of all things, thus ending (nirodha) all ignorance and unhappiness and attaining liberation: }|}}} Portal]]