Siddhartha Gautama,

The Enlightened One, "Shakyamuni"
The Buddha

The man, the myth,

the legend:

I'm not saying that the Buddha's followers did him wrong by any means, but they did stray from the path of factual understanding when they incorporated nonscientific views, like reincarnation.  All this to say - I try to write the facts here so that you can learn them.  If I don't include something mystical, it's because the Buddha did not believe in mysticism being true, real, or scientific.  The Buddha himself stated that if Buddhism disagrees with proven Science, then Buddhism must change to fit within Science.  

For instance, Karma is not a force, but rather an explanation of cause and effect.  For instance, if a person consistently reacts positively to the other people and their surroundings, they are much more likely to receive positive reactions and effects.  Conversely, karma states that if a person is consistently negative, they are much more likely to experience negative outcomes since a)anger hijacks the brain so that it can no longer be logical, directly causing unskilled behavior and b)anger and aggression cause other animals (including humans) to typically react with FIGHT (anger), flight, freeze, fawn, or flop, as they say.

It is my hope to teach people the truth about The Buddha and his teachings so that they, too, can reap the benefits of his epiphanies and wisdom.  He taught how to be happy even when while we endure great suffering and while life is difficult.  To quote the Buddha and for you to learn more about how, "There is no path to happiness.  Happiness is the path," continue reading on:

Despite his privileged upbringing, Siddhartha eventually encountered the realities of human suffering. These encounters, known as the "Four Sights" (an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a holy man), deeply affected him and led him to renounce his life as a prince at the age of 29. He left his wife and son at their palace home to go seek a spiritual solution to the problem of suffering.  You see, in his eyes, suffering seemed to be not only inescapable, but also universally experienced by all humans.  To end suffering is to connect to contentment and maybe even happiness.  He decided to dedicate his life to finding an end to suffering for humans.

To accomplish clarity on suffering, the Buddha spent six years practicing near-constant meditative states and severe asceticism where he would sit meditating - motionless for hours on end.  In case you didn't know, his asceticism practices involved enduring other severe self-mortification as well, including prolonged fasting, intense breath-holding, and denying himself basic needs, resulting in a severely emaciated state. 

It took him six years to fully understand that asceticism and self-denial were not the path to awakening.  So, finally, at the age of 35, he sat under a Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India, and meditated for hours on end in order to reimagine what truly causes and ends suffering.  Luckily, on the third day, he achieved enlightenment, or "Bodhi," which I will explain the meaning of shortly... From that point on, he became known as the Buddha, which means "the awakened or enlightened one." 

"Enlightenment" is the name of the epiphany that the Buddha had that explained both the causes and extinguishers of suffering.  In an instant, he knew how to explain suffering to anyone and how to help anyone learn to separate themselves from their own suffering.  As part of his enlightenment, the Buddha realized that suffering is caused by desire and attachment and "the three poisons" of greed, hate, and delusion.

He taught that in order to combat desire, attachment, greed, hate, and delusion, one must recognize a few very important facts of life:
1. Suffering only exists when we desire things, are attached to things (even concepts and living beings), want more than we actually physically need (greed), hate, and when we accept anything less than fact as fact (delusional thinking).
2. With all things, walk halfway between logic and empathy.  When you combine this carefully designed method with the rest of the teachings of the Buddha, you create a path to becoming the best version of yourself.
3. Being logical and fact-driven is not as important as being empathetic.  Additionally, there are 8 aspects to ones life that - when done skillfully -  helps a person be truly happy (The 8-Fold Path, as pictured above).  The 8-Fold Path includes the VIEW that the 4 Noble Truths are true and must be constantly observed to reach nibbana.  As the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice, nibbana represents a complete extinguishing of suffering.

*For some, it becomes important to distinguish that nibbana is not a physical place but rather a deeply personal, mental, transcendent state of ultimate liberation, profound peace, and freedom from all forms of bondage, including the aggregates of consciousness, materiality, and self-view.  One is free from suffering during nibbana because they experience acute gratitude like they've never experienced before.  The profound state of gratitude people experience directly following some near-death experiences can be defined as a type of nibbana in my opinion and it's the easiest way to realize how grateful a person needs to be to feel nibbana.

IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE NIBBANA/NIRVANA THEN YOU CAN DO IT RIGHT NOW.  YOU JUST NEED TO BE SO INCREDIBLY grateful THAT YOU EVEN EXIST RIGHT NOW.  YOU EXIST AND ONE DAY YOU WILL DIE.  IT IS A SCIENTIFIC FACT THAT THE BUDDHA KNEW THAT WHEN YOU DIE YOU WILL CEASE TO EXIST.  THIS IS THE ONLY LIFE YOU WILL EVER GET TO LIVE.  BECAUSE CHANGE IS INEVITABLE, YOU ARE GOING TO EXPERIENCE BIG CHANGES THAT WILL FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOR THE WORSE.  SUFFERING IS IN YOUR FUTURE.  So what do we do about that knowledge?  We use it to prepare ourselves and we realize that we're in the good part of our life right now.  Being perfectly grateful for exactly what you have while following the Buddha's other teachings here will lead you to momentary happiness and contentment.  It's that momentary happiness and contentment that is the goal.  With practice, humans are able to use gratitude and focus (also known as mindful meditation which is under number 8).

4. Change is inevitable and constant.

5. There is no self and there is no soul and we understand these as facts because of their strong involvement with the scientific method and their involvement with other obvious facts of life.

6. The greatest sources of enlightenment come from Loving-Kindness (metta), a goodwill towards everyone; Compassion (karuna), the desire to alleviate suffering; Sympathetic Joy (mudita), delight in others' happiness; and Equanimity (upekkha), balanced serenity and impartiality.

7. Pleasure and Pain, Gain and Loss, Fame and Disgrace, and Praise and Blame, are the The Eight Vicissitudes, also known as the Eight Worldly Winds or Eight Worldly Conditions.  They represent the never-ending fluctuation of humans between said states. 
8. Mindful meditation is the act of maintaining focus on the present moment in a meditative way that allows one to not be distracted by The Eight Vicissitudes from number 7 (pleasure, pain, gain, loss, fame, disgrace, praise, and blame.  Rumination, or a deep state of thought, is the opposite of mindful meditation.

After his enlightenment, the Buddha spent the remaining 45 years of his life teaching the path to liberation from suffering, which he called the Dharma (his personal teachings). His first sermon was delivered in Sarnath, India, where he taught the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, which are the cornerstones to Buddhism and reaching enlightenment and nibbana. He established a community of monks and nuns known as the Sangha to carry on his teachings. 

It is in three jewels that we find the easiest path to liberation from suffering:  The Buddha, The Teachings (Dharma), and The Buddhist Community (Sangha).

The Buddha died at the age of 80 in Kushinagar, India. His death is referred to as his parinirvana, or final nirvana, as death is considered final and everlasting peace and release from suffering. After his death, his teachings were preserved and spread by his followers, eventually developing into one of the world's major religions. The Buddha is not considered a god, but a great teacher who showed others the way to enlightenment.

Key Locations of the Buddha's life:

Lumbini: The Buddha's birthplace, located in present-day Nepal.

Bodh Gaya: The place where the Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.

Sarnath: The location of the Buddha's first sermon, where he taught the Four Noble Truths.

Kushinagar: The place where the Buddha passed away and attained parinirvana.

Shravasti: A city where the Buddha spent a significant amount of time teaching.

Rajgir: The capital of the Magadha kingdom and a major center for the Buddha's teachings.