Buddhism is the world’s fourth largest religion with 350 million practitioners. Buddhism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha who lived in the 6th century B.C.E. The goal of Buddhist practice is to end suffering in ourselves and others. The practice of meditation helps awaken the practitioner to the realization of true reality, the achievement of liberation. Great empha¬sis is placed upon non-harming and the practice of compassion extended to all beings.

Albert Einstein described Buddhism in the following way: “Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.”