Buddhism is an Indian religious tradition based on a collection of original writings attributed to Gautama Buddha. It originally originated in India as a Sramana religion sometime between the 5th and 4th century BCE, spreading to most of Asia. Some historians believe that Buddhism went into a decline around the fifth century CE when the Buddhist kings started promoting Hellenization, which resulted in many of the Sramana Buddhist schools disappearing into history. Today, many of the vestiges of these Sramana schools exist in the form of Buddhist monasteries.
Buddhism covers a wide spectrum of beliefs and philosophies regarding life and the universe. The original philosophy of Buddhism is written in a dialectical way in the Mahayana Buddhist scriptures. However, modern day Buddhism applies more towards a simplified spiritual path where concepts like good and evil are seen as purely subjective rather than objective. It also tries to find a common ground for all believers by emphasizing the inalienable nature of reality.
Some of the most noteworthy characteristics of this religion include its emphasis on compassion and its non-resistant attitude to change. It also emphasizes a life without debts and wishes to lead an easy and tranquil existence. In addition to these basic beliefs, Buddhism adds its own concepts like ethical truth, right living, meditation and yoga. These concepts are unique to its religion and are taken from Buddhism’s original teachings.