What is important in Buddhism is that it is not necessarily need someone to become a Buddhist to follow Buddhism.  According to the teachings of the Buddha, Buddhism is self realization of the life with by understanding the nature of life.  The nature of life means that understanding the impermanence of life of any living beings as well as non-living beings. It is common to any religion. Regardless of your religion or race, life is uncertain death is certain to any living being. What Buddha discovered was that how to escape from the death in the cycle of life. Death exists as long as life exists, so Buddha showed that in order to stop the death, rebirth must be stopped. He found out that if someone dies, rebirth is the nature of the world that exists just as setting sun in one country is raising sun in another country. Therefore; what the Buddha taught was very universal and  true and not limited to any religious background. Anyone can follow the teachings of the Buddha because it is the ultimate truth that any living being faces. So someone who recognizes the truth, follows the path, the path to stop the cycle of the life cease dissatisfaction and death. It is clearly explained by the Buddha, the Enlightened one, about the four Noble truths more than two thousand five hundred years ago:

1. Suffering
2. Origin of suffering
3. Cease suffering
4. The path to cease suffering

 * Suffering:

Some may argue that they live happily everyday and they do not suffer at all. However; they would only realize it when they actually face suffering someday. If someone who is involved in a car accident, he/she may not be able to walk for the rest of the life and living with pain and suffering. Someone else may lose their children someway that he/she maybe mentally suffering. There are two categories of suffering, mental and physical suffering can happens to any living being.

 * Origin of suffering:

Buddha saw that origin of suffering is the existence of life. If there is a life exists, suffering is there.

* Cease suffering:

Halt of suffering can be attained by the word meaning Nirodha. Nirodha means that detachment of sensual desire and abstract attachment. For example, we may buy a new phone; as soon as we buy we are looking at it, thinking about it about and keep trying different things. Some of us may see the phone in our dreams. This is only first couple of days. Then the desire we had for the phone suddenly decrease and we start use it yet we may not think about as much as we did. This does not mean that we cannot use anything because anything we use can bring us desire or attachment to it. However; the trick is to use an object or talk to someone, yet not brings ourselves desire or abstract attachment that mentioned above.

 *  The path to halt suffering:

While travel in the path of purification, the self understanding or realization of the life may improve gradually. This leads to end the circle of the life that Buddha explained. Circle of the life means that Buddha explored that every living being that die would reborn again. Hypnotism and other science studies have shown that life after life does indeed exist in a different form. Buddha understood that only way to end suffering is to attain Nirvana which means  stop the circle of the life by practicing these concept of self realization with meditation and reach different mental levels of realization with the guidance of Buddhist monks.

There are many religions do exist and all most all the religions encourage peace, generosity and loving kindness. However; Buddhism is the only religion that defines how to end the circle of the life so that suffering would end. Therefore; as layman must attempt to travel in the path of purification and attain Nirvana is the only goal that we should hope for in the life journey. As you may have noticed, Buddha’s journey finding the truth ends when he found how to stop the effect of the cause. Through out the four Nobel truths, we see this cause and effect clearly. This is the foundation of Buddhism is to realize this four Nobel truths and travel in the path correct to attain Nirvana.