There is much confusion as to the identity of "the Buddha," the main figure of the Eastern religion of Buddhism

First of all, there are different forms of Buddhism, including the two main branches of Theravada and Mahayana, in the latter of which we find the familiar Zen and Tibetan traditions, among others

Secondly, as we shall see in this excerpt from my book Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled, there have also been many different Buddhas, including the figure also known as Siddhartha Gautama and Sakyamuni, who is frequently considered a "historical" personage

In this excerpt I provide many reasons to doubt the tradition of historicity for "the Buddha." Indeed, all factors combined, the evidence points to Buddha as a mythical, not historical, figure.

In Suns of God and this adaptation, I relate the fascinating debate among scholars over the past several centuries concerning the nature and dating of "the Buddha." For a more updated discussion, please refer to my forthcoming work The Christ Myth Anthology.

As the Hindu god Krishna was said to be an avatar of the solar deity Vishnu, so too was Buddha, who, according to common belief, was the founder of Buddhism in the 6th century BCE.

However, the tradition represented by "Buddhism" is in fact much older than the period attributed to "the Buddha," or Gautama, as there have been several sects of Buddhism, some dating back hundreds if not thousands of years before the "historical" Buddha

A number of researchers and scholars have evinced that what is termed "Buddhism," i.e., asceticism, is found around the globe, thousands of years prior to the common era.