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Buddhism is a religion, a practical philosophy, and arguably a psychology, focusing on the teachings of Gautama Buddha, who lived on the Indian subcontinent most likely from the mid-6th to the early 5th century BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the subcontinent in the five centuries following the Buddha's passing, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and East Asia over the next two millennia. Today, Buddhism is divided primarily into three traditions: Therava-da (Sanskrit: Sthavirava-da), Maha-ya-na, and Vajraya-na. Buddhism continues to attract followers worldwide, and, with approximately 708 million adherents, it is considered a major world religion. Buddhism is the fifth-largest religion in the world behind Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and traditional Chinese religion, respectively
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