I think the best place to start is to help you understand who the Buddha was/is. So here goes:
About 2500 years ago, India was a place of many kingdoms and clashing tribes. There was a group called the Sakya clan, led by a powerful King, who had a son. It had been predicted that this son would be either a great political leaders or a great spiritual leader. The King wanted the first one, so he made sure that the son was given everything a prince should enjoy.
But the young prince, named Siddhartha, became curious about the world outside the palace, and decided to sneak out at night to learn what he could.
During several of these trips, he saw people suffering from old age, diseases, and death. Siddhartha was deeply troubled by what he saw, and determined that he would find a way to end human suffering.
So he left the palace and joined a group of ascetics. These were spiritual men who believed that giving up all worldly pleasures was the way to be. They wore rags, didn't take care of themselves, and ate very little. (There are a few statues of Buddha during this time, and he looks like little more than a skeleton.)
After a time of this, Siddhartha was near death, when a young woman near a river gave him a bowl of milk and rice, which revived him. He resolved to sit under a tree and meditate, until the answer to human suffering came to him.
During this meditation, Siddhartha was tormented by the demons of Mara. They tried to get him to give up his quest, but they failed, and Siddhartha became enlightened. He rose from his meditation and was now resolved to share what he had learned with the world.
Great story, huh? That is just the basic outline, but we can take several things away from it:
The Buddha was a human being just like we are. We are like him, and have the potential for great things, called "Buddha-Nature."
The paths of extremes are not helpful. Neither being extremely rich or poor helped Siddhartha. The path of Buddhism is called "The Middle Way."
The Buddha never claimed to be divine, or a god. As I like to put it, he was just a guy who figured stuff out, and we are glad he decided to share it. We don't worship Buddha statues, we use them as reminders of his teaching and his example.
I think that's enough to start with. Questions welcome!!
