The first religion to be discussed is Buddhism. The origin of this primary religion of the Silk Road is actually from northern India. The founder is called Siddhartha Gautama, who later known as the Buddha, or "Enlightened One". His teaching is based on Four Noble Truths, "that life is suffering; that there is a cause of that suffering, namely desire; that there is a way to end suffering; and that the way is by following an Eightfold Path of right opinion, right though, right speech, right activity, right livelihood, right effort, right attention, and right concentration" (Foltz, 37). Buddha's ultimate goal is to escape from the vicious cycle of life and death and enter Nirvana, a transcendent state of freedom from desire and consciousness.