Buddhism: Meaning and Definition of

Bud•dhism

1. a religion, originated in India by Buddha (Gautama) and later spreading to China, Burma, Japan, Tibet, and parts of southeast Asia, holding that life is full of suffering caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject. Cf. Eightfold Path, Four Noble Truths, Hinayana, Mahayana.