Notes

When Siddhartha Gautama passed away his followers began an organized a religious movement.
When Siddhartha was 29 he started to question his sheltered, luxurious life in the palace so when he was 29 he left the palace an saw four people a sick man, an old man, a dead man and a monk. After seeing these people he believed that even a prince cannot stay out of illness and death. After seeing the monk Siddhartha thought to leave his life and become a holy man.

Despite never developing a missionary movement, Buddha’s teachings spread afar over the centuries: first to Southeast Asia, then through Central Asia to China and the rest of East Asia, and finally to Tibet and the further reaches of Central Asia. Often it developed in these regions organically, because of local interest in foreign merchant’s Buddhist beliefs. Sometimes rulers adopted Buddhism to help bring ethics to their people, but no one was forced to convert.

The Buddha’s teachings spread peacefully across the Indian subcontinent, and from there far and wide throughout Asia. Whenever it reached a new culture, the Buddhist methods and styles were freely modified to fit the local mentality, without compromising the essential points of wisdom and compassion.