Buddha Purnima: Here’s how the West discovered the Buddha

Buddhism is the third largest (and fastest growing) religion in Australia with approximately half a million adherents.

The celebration of the Buddha’s birthday here (on or around May 15) has become a major cultural event and the Buddhist doctrine of “mindfulness” is now a part of mainstream culture. But how and when did the West discover the Buddha?

The facts about the Buddha’s life are opaque but we can assume he was born no earlier than 500 BCE and died no later than 400 BCE. He was said to be the son of an Indian king, so distressed by the sight of suffering that he spent years searching for the answer to it, finally attaining enlightenment while sitting under a bodhi (sacred fig) tree.