This documentary tells the story of the Buddha's life, a journey especially relevant to our own bewildering times of violent change and spiritual confusion. It features the work of some of the world's greatest artists and sculptors, who across two millennia, have depicted the Buddha's life in art rich in beauty and complexity. Hear insights into the ancient narrative by contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin and...

Join historian Bettany Hughes as she explores the different beliefs and practices that form the core of the Buddhist philosophy and investigates how Buddhism started and where it travelled to, through visits to seven of the most spectacular monuments built by Buddhists across the globe. Her journey begins at the Mahabodhi Temple in India, where Buddhism was born. At Nepal's Boudhanath Stupa, she looks deeper into the concept of dharma, the teaching...

Buddhism challenges some of the most important Western ideas about God, human life, and the self. In Buddhism, there is no single almighty God who created the world. Instead, Buddhism teaches that all of life is suffering, and there is no permanent self. Moreover, it teaches that in accepting that all life is suffering, bliss can be achieved in this life. Buddhism's core philosophy that nothing is permanent--all is change--has made it an astonishingly...