Footsteps of Buddha
7 Nights / 8 Days

Buddhism (also known as Buddha Dharma, "the teachings of the awakened one") is a religion, a practical philosophy, and arguably a psychology, focusing on the teachings of Gautama Buddha (Pali: Gotama Buddha), who lived on the Indian subcontinent most likely from the mid-6th to the early 5th century BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the subcontinent in the five centuries following the Buddha's passing, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and East Asia over the next two millennia. Today, Buddhism is divided primarily into three traditions: Theravāda (Sanskrit: Sthaviravāda), Mahāyāna, and Vajrayāna. Buddhism continues to attract followers worldwide, and it is considered a major world religion. According to www.adherents.com, "World estimates for Buddhists vary between 230 and 500 million, with most around 350 million." However, other sources give approximately 708 million adherents. Buddhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world behind Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and traditional Chinese religion, respectively.[1] Buddhism is the fourth-largest organised religion in the world.

When used in a generic sense, a Buddha is generally considered to be a person who discovers the true nature of reality through years of spiritual cultivation, investigation of the various religious practices of his time, and meditation. This transformational discovery is called bodhi - literally, "Awakening" (more commonly called "Enlightenment"). Any person who has become awakened from the "sleep of ignorance" by directly realizing the true nature of reality is called a Buddha. Śākyamuni is said to have been only the latest of many of these; there were other Buddhas before him and there will be others in the future. According to the Buddha, any person can follow his example and become enlightened through the study of his words "Dharma" and putting them into practice, by leading a virtuous, moral life, and purifying his mind. Concisely put, the aim of Buddhist practice is to put an end to the stress of existence. "I teach one thing and one thing only: suffering and the end of suffering" (The Buddha). To achieve this state (Nirvana), adherents train and purify the mind by following the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the Middle Way, eventually arriving at an understanding of the true nature of all things, thus ending (nirodha) all ignorance and unhappiness and attaining liberation: nirvana(Pāli nibbāna). Buddhist teaching encourages individuals to practice and verify the Buddha's teachings based on their own personal experience, to question whether they are valid or not, and if so, to apply them in a practical form into their daily life if they so wish.

Kapilvastu, formerly Taulihawa (or, Kapilbastu Kapilvastu District), aprox. 30,000 inhabitants, is a Nepali municipaliy in Lumbini Zone (Terai), appox. 250kms west of Kathmandu near the Indian border. The village of Lumbini, 25kms east of Kaplivastu is the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama in the sixth century B.C. and is a site of pilgrimage for Buddhists from all over the world. The Buddha is thought to have grown up and lived there to the age of 29. Siddhartha spent his early life in Kapilavastu as a prince, mostly oblivious of worldly miseries. He was married to Yashodhara and had a son named Rahula. Upon confronting worldly miseries such as disease, aging and death, he left Kapilavastu in search of enlightenment and in quest of answers to his questions about such miseries, pain and sufferings.