Buddhism

Buddha is also called Sakyamuni or Tathagata.
Gautam Buddha was born at Lumbini (in present Nepal) in 563 BCE as Siddhartha Gautam.
His mother was Queen Maya and father was King Suddhodana and he belonged to the Sakyan kingdom under the Kshatriya Clan.
He was married to Princess Yashodhara and had a son named Rahul.
He was troubled by the signs of sickness, old age and death that he observed in worldly life.
At the age of 29, he left his house riding on his horse Kanthaka and along with the charioteer Channa, to find the truth of life and he wandered as an ascetic for the next six years of his life.
At the age of 35 on the same day of his birth, he attained enlightenment (Nirvana) under a Peepal tree in Gaya (Bihar) and became Buddha.
Buddha attained Mahaparinirvana at Kusinara (Kushinagar).

To avoid extremes of life, whether it is addiction to worldly pleasures or a life of painful asceticism and self-mortification.
Buddhism does not concern itself with metaphysical controversies.
Buddha emphasised on moral progress which was independent of any creator of the universe.
The essence of Buddhism lies in the realisation that life is transient
Buddha seems to have accepted the idea of transmigration.
Four noble truths of Buddhism are: The truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.
The path to nirvana or cessation of suffering is the Noble Eightfold path – Right understanding (Samma ditthi), Right thought (Samma sankappa), Right speech (Samma vaca), Right action (Samma kammanta), Right livelihood (Samma ajiva), Right effort (Samma vayama), Right mindfulness (Samma sati) and Right concentration (Samma samadhi).

Buddhist Council (time)	Place	Patronised by	President of the Council	Features
First Council (483 BC)	Rajagriha	Ajatashatru	Mahakassappa	Tripithakas were compiled
Second Council (383 BC)	Vaishali	Kalasoka	Sabakami	Division into Sthaviravada and Mahasanghika
Third Council (250 BC)	Pataliputra	Ashoka	Mogaliputta Tissa	Buddhist missionaries were sent to other countries
Fourth Council (1st CE)	Kashmir	Kanishka	Vasumitra	Divided into Mahayana and Hinayana

Hinayana	Mahayana	Vajrayana
It means ‘lesser path’	It means ‘Greater path’	It means “Vehicle of Thunderbolt”.
They are true to the teachings of Buddha	Mahayana has two main philosophical schools – the Madhyamika & Yogachara.	Established in Tibet in the 11th century CE.
Its scriptures are in Pali.	Its scriptures are in Sanskrit.	It believes that salvation can be attained by acquiring magical powers called vajra.
Doesn’t believe in idol worship.	It considers Buddha as God and worships idols of Buddhas & Bodhisattvas.	Importance is given to the role of the guru called Lama who has mastered the philosophical and ritual traditions.
Salvation through self-discipline and meditation	Salvation can be attained by means of faith and devotion to the mindfulness of the Buddha. It believes in the power of mantras.
It was patronised by Ashoka	It was patronised by Kanishka