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Buddhism is a philosophy of life expounded by Gautama Buddha ("Buddha" means "enlightened one"), who lived and taught in northern India in the 6th Century BC. The Buddha was not a god and the philosophy of Buddhism does not entail any theistic world-view. The teachings of the Buddha are aimed solely at liberating sentient beings from suffering. Gautama Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths: that there is suffering, that suffering has a cause, that suffering has an end and that there is a path that leads to the end of suffering. He saw that all phenomena in life are impermanent and that our attachment to the idea of a substantial and enduring self is an illusion which is the principle cause of suffering. Freedom from self liberates the heart from greed, hatred, and delusion and opens the mind to wisdom and the heart to kindness and compassion.