Siddhartha Gautama, also know as Buddha or the enlightened one. Is credited with the founding of Buddhism, Siddhartha was most likely born in 563 b.c. according to scholars. The son of a king of a petty kingdom, he was said to become a great leader and man at birth according to sages that were present. He was raised in seclusion form the world in a palace until the age o twenty-nine. Siddhartha felt that his life to this point had been meaning less. Upon feeling this he set out on quest for peace, knowledge, and release from rebirth. At first he he practiced yoga and radical ascetism. He soon dropped this path and adopted one of middle –path as what he called it. His new life style was one of indulgence and self-denial. Meditating under a bo tree one day, Siddhartha began to rise in what he felt where spiritual levelss of enlightenment. After achiecivng what he felt was the highest level, he pronounced himslef released from the coils of rebirth. This is where the name Buddha has orginated from, Buddha meens the enlightened one. For the rest of his life Buddha walked about the land spreading he word of his new faith. As he stopped in town s he organized people and told them of the elnighttenment he had found thru his rituals. Followers quickly picked up this new faith and Buddha began organizing monatic communities.
             Shortly after Buddha's death, a great counsil was held to recite and agree on Buddha's teachings. The direct result of this counsil was the creation of eighteen different Buddhist school all having slightly different bleiefs on Buddhas teachings. Today through many counsils only one school reamins form the original eighteen. In the third century b.c. another great counsil was called. This gathering was to identify false monks and reject their teachings. Another goal of this counsil was to send missonary monks to spread the teachings of Buddha. The sending of missonary monks helped Budd
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