Shakyamuni

Timeline

1. c. -563–-534Lumbini · LumbiniSiddhartha was born at Lumbini and raised in Kapilavastu, traditionally recorded as the son of King Suddhodana. Enjoying a privileged royal life, he later witnessed the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death, which prompted his wish to renounce the world and seek the Way.
2. c. -534–-528Magadha · MagadhaHe left the palace to become a wanderer, studying under several schools of thought. After experiencing extreme asceticism, he concluded that the Middle Way was the path to liberation, and continued meditating alone in the region of Magadha.
3. c. -528Bodh Gaya · Bodh GayaMeditating beneath the bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, he is traditionally said to have attained complete awakening upon seeing the morning star, achieving perfect enlightenment and becoming the Buddha, grasping core teachings such as the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path.
4. c. -528–-527Sarnath · SarnathAt Sarnath he turned the Dharma wheel for the first time before his five former companions, teaching the Four Noble Truths and converting them into the first bhikshus. The Buddhist sangha was thereby founded, and the teachings began to spread in northern India.
5. c. -527–-483Ganges basin · Ganges basinFor over forty years he traveled and taught throughout the states of the Ganges basin, converting princes, merchants, and common people, establishing the monastic system and vinaya rules, and engaging in doctrinal debates with Brahmanism and the six heretical teachers, as Buddhist influence steadily expanded.