Buddhism, or the spiritual tradition of the awakened one, Buddha, (Buddha-dharma) is regarded as one of the three most widespread major world religions. Buddhism was founded by the historical Buddha Shakyamuni or Gautama, in the 5th or the 6th centuries B.C.E.
The basic teachings of the Buddha can be recapitulated in the Tripitaka – the three collections of: Vinaya-pitaka (the collection of discipline), Sutra-pitaka (collection of discourses), and Abhidharma-pitaka (collection of abhidharma or metaphysics). The main subject matter or the purpose of these teaching is, respectively, the development of the three higher trainings of discipline, concentration and transcendental knowledge, while their function is to remedy the three poisons of desire, anger and delusion.