Founder of Buddhism Warning: Page using Template:Infobox religious biography with unknown parameter "burmese_name" (this message is shown only in preview). Warning: Page using Template:Infobox religious biography with unknown parameter "sanskrit_name" (this message is shown only in preview). Warning: Page using Template:Infobox religious biography with unknown parameter "pali_name" (this message is shown only in preview). The Buddha (also known as Siddhārtha Gautama),[note 3] was a mendicant, meditator, and spiritual teacher who lived in northeast India (c. 5th to 4th century BCE).[note 4] The world religion of Buddhism was founded by the efforts of him and his followers. For forty-five years he built a large following, both monastic and lay. His teaching is based on an insight into suffering and the end of suffering (nirvāṇa). The Buddha was born in Lumbini, near Kapilavastu, which was part of the Shakya country, to an aristocratic family. He renounced lay life and after several years of mendicancy, meditation and asceticism, Gautama is reported to have had a spiritual awakening. He is thus known by the title Buddha which means “Awakened One”. He then traveled throughout the Ganges plain teaching and building a religious community. The Buddha taught a middle way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement. He taught a spiritual path that included ethical training and meditative practices such as jhana and mindfulness. The Buddha also critiqued the practices of brahmin priests, such as animal sacrifice. After his death, the Buddhist community compiled his teachings into extensive collections, the Discourses (Suttas) and Monastic Codes (Vinaya). These teachings were passed down in Middle-Indo Aryan dialects through an oral tradition in the various communities that spread over India. Later generations composed additional texts, such as systematic treatises (Abhidharma), biographies of the Buddha, collections of folk tales (Jataka) and additional discourses (Mahayana sutras). Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).