The founder of Buddhism in this world is Buddha Shakyamuni. He was born as a royal prince in 624 BC in a place called Lumbini, which was originally in northern India but is now part of Nepal. Shakya is the name of the royal family into which he was born, and Muni means Able One. His parents gave him the name Siddhartha and there were many wonderful predictions about his future. In his early years he lived as a prince in his royal palace but when he was 29 years old he retired to the forest where he followed a spiritual life of meditation. After six years he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya, India.

He was subsequently requested to teach and as Venerable Geshe Kelsang says in Introduction to Buddhism:

As a result of this request, Buddha rose from meditation and taught the first Wheel of Dharma. These teachings which include the Sutra of the Four Noble Truths and other discourses, are the principal source of the Hinayana, or Lesser Vehicle, of Buddhism. Later, Buddha taught the second and third Wheels of Dharma, which include the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras and the Sutra Discriminating the Intention respectively. These teachings are the source of the Mahayana, or Great Vehicle, of Buddhism. In the Hinayana teachings Buddha explains how to attain liberation from suffering for oneself alone, and in the Mahayana teachings he explains how to attain full enlightenment, or Buddhahood, for the sake of others. Both traditions flourished in Asia, at first in India and then gradually in other surrounding countries, including Tibet. Now they are also beginning to flourish in the West.

In all Buddha Shakyamuni gave eighty-four thousand teachings. His intention in founding Buddhism was to lead living beings to permanent liberation from suffering. He realized temporary liberation from suffering and difficulties is not enough. Motivated by love and compassion his aim was to help living beings find lasting peace or nirvana.

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History of Buddhism | About Buddhism

By Phuntsok Yangchen

DHARAMSHALA, January 16: The Department of Religion and Culture of the Tibetan government in exile (known officially as the Central Tibetan Administration) will host an annual general discussion on religion titled Discussion amongst the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon.

The discussion will be held from March 1-3, 2015 at the Gyuto Tantric monastery at Sidhbari, Dharamshala.

According to the official website of the Tibetan government in exile, the annual discussion aims to foster the preservation and progression of Tibetan Buddhism, and to affirm harmonious relations between the different schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon religion.

The discussion invites one participant each from the monasteries with 50-100 monks/nuns, two participants from the monasteries with 101-500 monks/nuns, three from those with 501-1000 and four from the monasteries with more than 1000 monk/nuns.

The Department of Religion and Culture works at reviving, preserving, and promotion of Tibetan religious and cultural heritages that is being led to the verge of extinction in Tibet. It also supervises 262 monasteries and nunneries in India, Nepal, and Bhutan and oversees approximately 39,479 monks or clergies living in these institutions.

The rest is here:
Monks of four traditions and Bon to meet annually for religious harmony