The teacher Shakyamuni, or Buddha-Bhagavan, was born in fifth century BCE in Lumbini as the son of Shuddodana and Mahamaya. He looked after the kingdom until age twenty-nine, at which time he saw samsara as without essence. He went forth as a monastic in front of the Stupa of Great Purity and for six years practice austerities on the banks of the River Naranja. He became a complete buddha in before the bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya. In Varanasi, he first turned the wheel of Dharma by teaching the four noble truths to the excellent group of five initial disciples. He taught the second cycle of teachings, on non-characteristics, on Vulture’s Peak, and simultaneously turned the Dharma wheel of secret mantra at the Rice-Heap Stupa in South India. At Vaishali he turned the wheel of the third cycle, the teachings on excellent differentiation. With these teachings and others, he taught profound and extensive Dharma to limitless trainees without regard to time or place, establishing well the tradition of Buddhist teachings. His direct disciples included Ananda, Mahakasyapa, Upali, and countless others. Finally, when he had reached his eight-first year, he showed the aspect of passing beyond sorrow, entrusting the entirety of his teaching to the hearer Mahakasyapa. Having transferred authority to him, he showed the aspect of passing beyond sorrow in Kushinagar. The latter generations continuously persevered his teachings, and all of these, especially the baskets of sutra, vinaya, and Abhidharma that were preserved by Hearer Ananda, Arya Upali, and Mahakasyapa, were translated into over one hundred volumes in Tibetan, without a single verse left out. From the time of the Buddha, these teachings spread and flourished throughout many countries in Asia, and latter students spread them further, such that today the teachings of the Buddha flourish across the whole world. What’s more, the Dharma tradition that represents nonviolence rooted in love and compassion, and many small and large statues of the Buddha symbolizing the teacher whose essence is peace and tranquillity, exist throughout the world.