Buddha
<p><b>Gautama Buddha</b>, also known as <b>Siddhārtha Gautama</b>,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-3">[note 1]</a></sup> <b>Shakyamuni</b>,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-5">[note 2]</a></sup> or simply the <b>Buddha</b>, was a sage<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEBaroni2002230_4-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBaroni2002230-4">[3]</a></sup> on whose teachings <a title="Buddhism" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism">Buddhism</a> was founded.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-6">[4]</a></sup> Born in the <a title="Shakya" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakya">Shakya republic</a> in the <a title="Himalayan foothills" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_foothills">Himalayan foothills</a>,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEwarder200045_7-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-FOOTNOTEwarder200045-7">[5]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-15">[note 3]</a></sup> Gautama Buddha taught primarily in northeastern <a title="India" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India">India</a>.
<b>Buddha</b> means "awakened one" or "the <a title="Enlightenment in Buddhism" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlightenment_in_Buddhism">enlightened</a> one." "Buddha" is also used as a title for the first awakened being in an <a title="Yuga" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuga">era</a>. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the <a title="Buddhahood" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhahood">Supreme Buddha</a> (<a title="Pali" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali">Pali</a> <i>sammāsambuddha</i>, <a title="Sanskrit" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a> <i>samyaksaṃbuddha</i>) of our age. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-16">[note 4]</a></sup>
Gautama taught a <a title="Middle Way" class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Way">Middle Way</a> between sensual indulgence and the severe <a title="Asceticism" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asceticism">asceticism</a> found in the <a title="Sramana" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sramana">Sramana</a> (renunciation) movement <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-17">[12]</a></sup> common in his region. He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as <a title="Magadha" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magadha">Magadha</a> and <a title="Kosala" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosala">Kośala</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-18">[13]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha#cite_note-19">[14]</a></sup>
Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and <a title="Monasticism" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monasticism">monastic</a> rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by <a title="Oral tradition" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_tradition">oral tradition</a>, and first committed to writing about 400 years later</p>