Buddhism is a major world religion with approximately 350 million followers worldwide. The original Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, was born 2500 years ago as a prince in India who renounced his life of royalty to find spiritual enlightenment. Through his teachings and the establishment of Buddhism, anyone can strive to achieve nirvana and escape reincarnation according to Buddhist beliefs.

1. Buddhism

2. How many Buddhists are there today? Buddhism is a major world religion. There are about 350 million Buddhists around the world today. Schober, Juliane. "Buddhism." World Book Student. World Book, 2010. Web. http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar081080&st=buddhism

3. How did Buddha establish Buddhism? The “original” Buddha, Buddha Shakyamuni was born 2,500 years ago as an Indian prince He put all his royalty behind him and set out on a spiritual journey to become enlightened. In his lifetime he contributed 84,000 teachings which became the basis of Buddhism. The word Buddha means “awakened one,” and anyone can become a Buddha. A Buddha is someone who is in a state of everlasting happiness, free from faults and mental distractions. “Awakened one,” refers to being awakened from a sleep of ignorance, and being able to see things for what they really are.

4. Who Is Buddha? From a Buddhist’s perspective: He was a prince who knew no suffering. One day he snuck out of his palace walls and realized that people outside of his world did suffer. He then began a quest as to why people suffered and wanted to find a way to escape suffering. It is really complex but Buddha found a way to escape reincarnation/living with suffering. It can then lead to a state of nirvana.

5. What is reincarnation? From a Buddhist’s perspective: It's when your soul is reborn. We believe that everyone is born with a soul and throughout life, through your actions, you build karma. That then determines what you will reincarnate to, such as another human or an animal. Depending on your karma you can be a rich person or a poor person in the next life.If you live a life like Buddha, you reach nirvana and can escape the cycle reincarnation.

6. What are Buddhist beliefs about Jesus? From a Buddist’s perspective: Buddha was before Jesus's time. Buddha is not a god, it is a state of being. It is hard to answer because he existed much earlier before Jesus.

7. Do Buddhists have any sort of written word that they follow? From a Buddhist’s perspective: There are a variety of books that is more for prayer that guides people to have better karma. The goal of Buddhism is to reach nirvana, even though it is very hard to. There is no story of Buddhism, the way there is a story in the Bible. Buddha believed that anybody could become a Buddha so there is no story to tell because he was not a god.