Buddha was born approximately 400 BCE in the districtof Lumbini, which is now modern-day Nepal, close to the Indianborder. He was brought up in a palace with all the comfortsand luxuries possible. Growing up a young noble prince, it issaid his father sought to shield the young prince Siddharthafrom the pain and suffering of the world. It is said his fatherhad a premonition that Siddhartha would one day renounce theworld.The Buddha would often give talks on enlightenment, buton one occasion, he simply held up a flower and maintainedsilence. Many left not understanding the point, but when laterquestioned, the Buddha replied that his real teaching couldonly be understood in silence. Talks could only give limitedintellectual information which was not real enlightenment.The Buddha sought to avoid deep philosophy, he avoidedusing the term God, preferring to talk about the practical waythat a person may escape the cycle of birth and rebirth andattain enlightenment. Like many spiritual teachers, he oftentaught in parables to keep his teachings simple and practical.Armed with his new knowledge, the Buddha was initiallyhesitant to teach, because what he now knew could not becommunicated to others in words. According to legend, it wasthen the king of gods, Brahma, convinced Buddha to teach, andhe got up from his spot under the Bodhi tree and set out todo just that.For the remainder of his 80 years, Buddha traveled,preaching the Dharma (the name given to the teachings of theBuddha) in an effort to lead others to and along the path of enlightenment. When he died, it is said that he told his disciplesthat they should follow no leader.The Buddha is undoubtedly one of the most influentialfigures in world history, and his teachings have affectedeverything from a variety of other faiths.