There is disagreement among scholars about the dates of the Buddha's birth and death. Buddhism, like many of the sects that developed in northeastern India at the time, was constituted by the presence of a charismatic teacher, by the teachings this leader promulgated, and by a community of adherents that was often made up of renunciant members and lay supporters. In the centuries following the founder's death, Buddhism developed in two directions. One, usually called Theravada by its present-day adherents, remained relatively faithful to what it considered to be the true tradition of the Buddha's teachings. It may be said that the Buddha based his entire teaching on the fact of human suffering.
Existence is painful.
The conditions that make an individual are precisely those that also give rise to suffering. It is the impermanence of the object of craving that causes disappointment and sorrow. By following the path taught by the Buddha, the individual can dispel the ignorance that perpetuates this suffering. The Buddha's doctrine was not one of despair. The question arises as to how one may escape the continually renewed cycle of birth, suffering, and death.