Buddhism is the English name for the religion based on the teachings of the Buddha. The name was first penned in 1801 by an Englishman writing in Sri Lanka, and for some decades afterwards was spelled either Bouddhism or Booddhism. The Buddha always called his philosophy of life The Noble Ones' Teachings (Aryadhamma) or Truth and Training (Dhamma vinaya) and asked his disciples to refer to themselves as Offspring of the Sakyan, i.e. the Buddha (Sakyaputta, Mijjhima Nikaya I,1; Samyutta Nikaya I,192). Someone once asked Ananda what sort of monk he was and he replied: 'I am a Sakyaputta monk.' (Anguttara Nikaya V,196). Sometimes the first Buddhists were known by others simply as Gotama's disciples (Gotama savaka, Dhammapada 296).
Buddhism is the fourth largest religion after Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism and there are about 500 million Buddhist in the world.
---A Guide to Buddhism A to Z, by S. Dhammika---
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