Buddhism originated in Northern India, or present-day Nepal. It was here that the historical Buddha, known as Prince Siddhartha (later Gautama Buddha), was
born and lived in the sixth century BC.
Becuase his father, King Suddhodana, strongly believed in the predictions that his son would be a world monarch, he had Gautama
instructed by Visvamitra in the extensive curriculum befitting such a prince, including the Vedas and all systems of mysticism then current.
It is noteworthy that the young man was taught to decipher pictographs
(Egyptology) as well as the sign language of cave dwellers and those plying the seas. In fact, from the vivid descriptions in ancient Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhist works, and even from those in the rival literatures of the Jains and Vedantins, we may safely deduce that the Buddha had mastered all the sciences, arts, and languages
in known known world at that time.
In China, his contemporaries were Confucius and Lao-tzu (the founder
of Chinese Taoism), and only slightly later in the West comes Plato (427? - 347 BC).
When Buddhism arrived in Japan in the 6th and 7th centuries AD via Korea and China, Siddhartha became known in Japan as the "Shaka" or as "Sakyamuni," which means "Sage of the Shaka Clan" (his actual birth clan).
Like Bhishma in the Mahabharata, Buddha taught that individual exertion is mightier than inexorable destiny.
Karma is not unalterable fatalism, but rather the universal operation of Dharma, which implies the integrity as well as the intelligibility of Nature. To alter course, to turn around and to inaugurate a course of wisdom and light, one can benefit enormously by contemplating the Vow, the Compassion, the Renunciation and the Enlightenment of Buddha.
Reverence for Buddha, reliance upon the Dharma (and, therefore, karma) and refuge in the true Sangha are invaluable aids in gaining clarity of mind, preserving continuity of effort, and regenerating oneself at all stages of the Path to Enlightenment.
The Triple Gem – Buddha, Dharma and Sangha – can release the triune force which removes the false spell of conditioned existence and induce an ever deeper insight into the unconditioned reality, the 'Untrodden Land' of Nirvana (XXIII.4). Thus Buddha, freed from all conditions and forms, freed from collective ignorance and all craving, asked:
"By what track can you trace that trackless Buddha?" (XIV.1). As the distilled essence of the Buddhavachana, the Dhammapada is replete with the guru's guidance in stripping away everything that leaves tracks, that taints the tranquil harmony of all things and thereby generates needless
karma, reinforcing the inexorable cycle of involuntary rebirths.
"Empty this boat", Buddha enjoined." Emptied, it will move lightly"
(XXV. 10).
Age does not ensure wisdom, speech is not gnosis, mere silence does not make a Sage, and neither austerities nor rituals bring one closer to complete renunciation.
In mainland Asia, the Shaka Nyorai image is pictured seated on a lotus with four petals, representing the four great countries of Asia (India, China, Central Asia, and Iran) during the early centuries of Buddhism's introduction.
The lotus is a symbol of purity. Although a beautiful flower, the lotus grows out of the mud at the bottom of a pond.
The Buddha is an enlightened being who "grew" out of the "mud" of the material world. Like the lotus, the Buddha is beautiful and pure even though he existed in the material world.
