FOUNDER: Siddhartha Gautama, a prince from northern India near modern Nepal who lived about 563–483B.C.
SCRIPTURES: Various, but the oldest and most authoritative are compiled in the Pali Canon.
ADHERENTS: 613 million worldwide; 1 million in the United States.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Buddhism is the belief system of those who follow the Buddha, the Enlightened One, a title given to its founder. The religion has evolved into three main schools:
1. Theravada or the Doctrine of the Elders (38%) is followed in Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia (Kampuchea), and Vietnam.
2. Mahayana or the Greater Vehicle (56%) is strong in China, Korea, and Japan.
3 . Vajrayana, also called Tantrism or Lamaism, (6%) is rooted in Tibet, Nepal, and