Buddhist philosophy refers to the philosophical investigations and systems of inquiry that developed among various
Buddhist schools in India following the death of the
Buddha and later spread throughout Asia.
Buddhism's main concern has always been freedom from
dukkha (unease), and the path to that ultimate freedom consists in ethical action (
karma),
meditation and in understanding the nature of reality (
prajña). Indian Buddhists sought this understanding not just from the revealed teachings of the Buddha, but through philosophical analysis and rational deliberation. Buddhist thinkers in India and subsequently in
East Asia have covered topics as varied as
phenomenology,
ethics,
ontology,
epistemology,
logic and
philosophy of time in their analysis of this path.