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History of Buddhism
Buddhism began with one person's search for the end of suffering in ancient India, and grew into one of the world's major religious and philosophical traditions. Exact dates are debated by historians and vary between traditions, so the dates below follow common traditional chronology.
c. 563–483 BCE
The life of Siddhārtha Gautama
Born a prince in Lumbinī (present-day Nepal), Siddhārtha Gautama renounces palace life at 29, spends years in ascetic practice, and attains awakening under a bodhi tree in Bodh Gayā, becoming “the Buddha”, the Awakened One. Traditional dates vary by tradition and modern scholarship places some events later.
c. 528 BCE
The First Sermon
At Sarnath, the Buddha teaches the Four Noble Truths to five former companions, setting “the wheel of the Dharma” in motion and founding the Sangha, the community of monastics.
c. 483 BCE
The First Buddhist Council
Following the Buddha's death (parinirvāṇa), senior monks convene at Rājagṛha to recite and preserve his teachings orally, the beginning of what becomes the Pāli Canon.
3rd century BCE
Emperor Ashoka and the spread beyond India
The Mauryan emperor Ashoka converts to Buddhism after a violent military campaign, and sponsors missions that carry the teaching to Sri Lanka, Central Asia, and beyond, the first great wave of Buddhism's spread.
1st century BCE – 1st century CE
Mahāyāna emerges
New sūtras and teachings emphasizing the bodhisattva path and the emptiness of all phenomena begin to circulate, giving rise to the broad movement that becomes Mahāyāna Buddhism.
1st–6th centuries CE
Buddhism travels the Silk Road
Buddhism spreads into Central Asia and China via trade routes, and later reaches Korea and Japan, absorbing and blending with local philosophies including Daoism and Confucian thought.
7th–9th centuries CE
Tantric and Tibetan Buddhism take shape
Vajrayāna methods develop in India and are transmitted to Tibet, notably through the arrival of Padmasambhava, laying the foundation for Tibetan Buddhist lineages.
12th–13th centuries CE
Decline in India, flourishing elsewhere
Buddhism gradually fades in the land of its origin amid social change and the destruction of major monastic universities, even as it continues to flourish and diversify across Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and East Asia.
19th–20th centuries CE
Buddhism reaches the West
Translations of Buddhist texts, teachers traveling abroad, and post-war interest in meditation introduce Buddhist ideas to Europe and the Americas, eventually seeding the modern mindfulness movement.
Today
A living, global tradition
Buddhism is practiced by hundreds of millions of people worldwide, spanning traditional monastic communities and lay practitioners, alongside a growing secular interest in meditation and mindfulness.
Carry the history with you
Bodhi's teaching library expands on every era of this timeline: texts, teachers, and turning points, alongside your daily meditation practice.