Buddha Is Born

Around 563 BCE, Siddhartha Gautama was born into a royal family in Lumbini (modern Nepal). He would eventually leave his palace life, seek enlightenment, and become the Buddha — founding one of the world's major religions. This was happening at almost the exact same time as the Babylonian Exile, when Judaism was being radically transformed. Two of the world's most influential spiritual traditions were being reshaped simultaneously on opposite ends of Asia.