Editing Indian religions (section)

===== Buddhism =====
{{Main|Gautama Buddha|Buddhism|Pre-sectarian Buddhism|History of Buddhism|History of Buddhism in India}}
[[File:Buddhist Monks performing traditional Sand mandala made from coloured sand.jpg|thumb|Buddhist Monks creating a traditional sand mandala made from coloured sand]]

Buddhism was historically founded by [[Siddhartha Gautama]], a [[Kshatriya]] prince-turned-ascetic,<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica 1997 a829">{{cite web | title=Life of Gautama Buddha and the origin of Buddhism | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=July 1, 1997 | url=https://www.britannica.com/summary/Buddha-founder-of-Buddhism | access-date=February 1, 2024 | archive-date=1 February 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201164308/https://www.britannica.com/summary/Buddha-founder-of-Buddhism | url-status=live }}</ref> and was spread beyond India through missionaries.<ref name="Learman_2005">{{cite book |last=Learman L.(Ed.) |first=Linda |date=2005 |title=Buddhist Missionaries in the Era of Globalization |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvvn4jw |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |page= |jstor=j.ctvvn4jw |isbn=978-0-8248-2810-3 |access-date=1 February 2024 |archive-date=1 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201165225/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvvn4jw |url-status=live }}</ref> It later experienced a [[decline of Buddhism in India|decline]] in India, but survived in [[Nepal]]<ref name="Jain 2011 p955">{{cite web | last=Jain | first=Pankaj | title=Buddhism: Origin, Spread And Decline | website=HuffPost | date=September 1, 2011 | url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/buddhism-origin-spread-decline_b_939679 | access-date=February 1, 2024 | archive-date=1 February 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201165748/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/buddhism-origin-spread-decline_b_939679 | url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Sri Lanka]], and remains more widespread in [[Buddhism in Southeast Asia|Southeast]] and [[East Asian Buddhism|East Asia]].<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica 1998 d788">{{cite web | title=Buddhism | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=September 28, 1998 | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buddhism/The-demise-of-Buddhism-in-India | access-date=February 1, 2024 | archive-date=1 February 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201165748/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Buddhism/The-demise-of-Buddhism-in-India | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Gautama Buddha]], who was called an "awakened one" ([[Buddhahood|Buddha]]), was born into the [[Shakya]] clan living at Kapilavastu and Lumbini in what is now southern Nepal. The Buddha was born at Lumbini, as emperor [[Ashoka]]'s Lumbini pillar records, just before the kingdom of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]] (which traditionally is said to have lasted from c. 546–324 BCE) rose to power.  The Shakyas claimed [[Angiras]]a and [[Gautama Maharishi]] lineage,<ref>''The Life of Buddha as Legend and History'', by [[Edward Joseph Thomas]]</ref> via descent from the royal lineage of Ayodhya.

Buddhism emphasises enlightenment (nibbana, nirvana) and liberation from the rounds of rebirth. This objective is pursued through two schools, Theravada, the Way of the Elders (practiced in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, SE Asia, etc.)<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Keown |first1=Damien |title=A dictionary of Buddhism |last2=Hodge |first2=Stephen |last3=Jones |first3=Charles |last4=Tinti |first4=Paola |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-19-860560-7 |edition=1. publ |location=Oxford |chapter=Theravāda}}</ref> and Mahayana, the Greater Way (practiced in Tibet, China, Japan, etc.).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Keown |first1=Damien |title=A dictionary of Buddhism |last2=Hodge |first2=Stephen |last3=Jones |first3=Charles |last4=Tinti |first4=Paola |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-19-860560-7 |edition=1. publ |location=Oxford |chapter=Mahāyāna}}</ref> There may be some differences in the practice between the two schools in reaching the objective.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}