Buddhism. 1. Buddhism is a major world religion, founded in northeastern India and based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who is known as the Buddha, or Enlightened One. Buddhism today is divided into two major branches known to their respective followers as Theravada, the Way of the Elders, and Mahayana, the Great Vehicle. 2. Religion and philosophy (of Buddhism) founded in India in the 6th and 5th cent. B.C. by Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha. One of the great Asian religions, it teaches the practice of Meditation and the observance of moral precepts 3. The basic doctrines include the four noble truths taught by the Buddha: existence is sufferi