The Buddha's teachings are often summarize in the Four Noble Truths, which form the basis of the first lecture he delivered after attain explanation, and the Eightfold Path, which provide a basic points for how to live in the world. Over the course of its 2500-year history, Buddhism has knowledgeable many schism and modification; there are currently three main branches of the tradition — the Theravada ("Doctrine of the Elders"), the Mahayana ("Great Vehicle), and the Vajrayana ("Diamond Vehicle," often simply called "Tibetan Buddhism"), although there are many sects and groups within each of these branches.
The Buddhist canon consists of a huge corpus of texts that cover idealistic, devotional, and ascetic matters, and each of the main divisions of Buddhism has its own separate version of what it considers to be canonical scriptures. Buddhism has spread from its roots in India to almost every place of the world, and in each place it has extend it has adopt and personalized local practice and beliefs.
Although Buddhism is a distinct religious ritual, a lot of people in the existing West have adopt theoretical and practical aspects of Buddhism and built-in them into their religious and social practices; thus there are people who classify themselves "Buddhist Christians," "Buddhist Jews," and "Buddhist Atheists."
