The sage known as Buddha is also known by many other names. Sometimes he is called Gautama, Shakyamuni, or by his birth name, Siddhartha. Gautama was said to have lived somewhere between 600 BCE and 400 BCE, around five hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Hundreds of millions of people adhere to the teachings of this sage today, millions more simply have a little brass Buddha statue as a good luck charm.

The name Buddha translates to "awakened one". The awakened one was said to have traveled and taught somewhere in the northeast region of India. His beliefs and teachings were a middle ground between two extremes of the time and his words became the foundation of the religion we now know of as Buddhism. Many of the stories of his life and his doings were passed down by oral tradition before they could be written down hundreds of years after his death.

Born into royalty and groomed to become a great king and leader of people, Siddhartha was actually very sheltered during his time as a prince. His father believed in keeping the knowledge of pain and suffering away from his son and it was only after Siddhartha stepped outside his palace walls did he acknowledge the concept of human suffering. This realization started a movement that would become the foundation of a religion that has survived to this day.

Historically Siddhartha was born a man and died a man. Buddhists have always believed that their great sage had superhuman abilities and was capable of miracles and omniscience. Buddhist scriptures depict the sage as having demi-god abilities and never having actually been mortal.

Nepal claims to be the birthplace of the great Siddhartha. There is no proof to his actual place and time of birth but modern followers of the religion celebrate his day of birth on April 8th. His short life as a prince was followed by a departure onto a quest for enlightenment and understanding of the human condition.

Gautama gained many followers on his quest and with his disciples he set out to attain enlightenment through self-deprivation. He and his disciples would deny themselves basic comforts and needs such as shelter, food, and water. Eventually Gautama realized the error of his actions when he grew ill from such efforts. The results of Buddha's efforts gave him a new path, a path of divine meditation.

Approximately twenty-give hundred years after Gautama's death it is estimated that his teachings became the basis of spiritual following for over 300 million people world wide. It is the fourth largest religion preceded by Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. It is difficult to ascertain how many true followers of Buddhism there are as there are few ways to measure a belief system that is often entangled with others.

Having a statue of their religion's founder at home is tradition and considered to be good luck for Buddhists. Usually it comes in the form of a little brass Buddha statue somewhere within plain sight. The figurines come in different shapes, sizes, and poses. They range from the fat laughing Buddha that the western culture is more familiar with, to the calm meditative one. Having one of these statuettes isn't exclusive to adherents of the religion, many westerners also keep one as a good luck symbol or a decoration.