"Twenty-four hundred years ago, out of solitary meditation upon the pain and the mystery of being, the mind of an Indian pilgrim brought forth the highest truth ever taught to man, and in an era barren of science anticipated the uttermost knowledge of our present evolutionary philosophy regarding the secret unity of life, the endless illusions of matter and of mind, and the birth and death of universes. He, by pure reason, - and he alone before our time, - found answers of worth to the questions of the Whence, the Whither, and the Why; - and he made with these answers another and a nobler faith than the creed of his fathers."

Lafcadio Hearn, In Ghostly Japan

Welcome to Buddhism.Works!

Over 507 Million People Worldwide are Buddhists*

Buddhism is the 4th-largest religion** in the world.

Considered by many to be more of a philosophy than a religion, Buddhism has no creator-god and its founder claimed neither to be a deity nor a prophet.

Instead, it began as the product of the rational analysis of the human condition - combined with a great deal of meditative effort - on the part of a man known to history as Gautama Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply the Buddha.

* Estimated.
** The term “religion” is used because that’s how it is commonly seen.

It is said that Siddhārtha realized that one needed neither extreme (hedonism or asceticism) but would fair better on "the middle path" of a balanced life.

Born a prince, it is said that his birth was accompanied by a prophecy that he was destined either to become a great king or a great spiritual leader.  Desiring the former, it is said that his father strove to keep young Siddhārtha from the harsher realities of the world.  Nevertheless, the young man soon came to see the suffering of the people who’d been born in less fortunate environments, and he sought out on a spiritual quest to find answers to the questions that arose within him.

Legend has it that after six years of asceticism, Siddhārtha was in a near-death state.  He had grown frustrated that traditional spiritual methods of his time had failed to give him the answers he sought, and he sat down at the base of a tree, had a meal, and abandoned the path of extreme self-denial upon which he’d trod.  It was there, in that state, that the answers finally came.

Simple Truths

Over the centuries, the original message of Buddhism has picked up a lot of baggage.

The purpose of this site is to share, in plain and human terms, the value of the historical Buddha’s realization and message.