-Founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha Gautama. He rejected all the Hindu Gods and objected to the Hindu/Brahmin idea that heredity blood lines should determine social positions.
-Siddhartha Gautama’s title “Buddha” means “the Awakened One.” He gained this title because people did not ask “Who are you?” but rather by asking “What are you?” Which meant to what order of being he belonged to or what species did he represent? The Buddha would then answer, “I am neither a god, an angel, nor a saint. I am awake.”
-There are about 365 million followers which is 6% of the world's population.
-Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world. It is exceeded in numbers only by Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.
-Buddhism eventually died out in India but become established in Sri Lanka. It then expanded across Asia, growing into two or three main forms:
1.) Theravada Buddhism (sometimes called Southern Buddhism) has been the dominant school of Buddhism in most of Southeast Asia since the thirteenth century, with the establishment of the monarchies in Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Laos.
2.) Mahayana Buddhism (sometimes called Northern Buddhism) is largely found in China, Japan, Korea, Tibet and Mongolia.
3.) Vajrayana Buddhism which some consider this to be a part of Mahayana Buddhism; others view it as a third Buddhist path.