Who was the Buddha's first meditation teacher?

The Buddha’s first meditation teacher was Āḷāra Kālāma, commonly written Alara Kalama.

According to early Buddhist accounts, the ascetic Gotama sought out Alara Kalama during his quest for liberation before enlightenment. Alara taught a refined meditative attainment called the sphere of nothingness, or ākiñcaññāyatana. Gotama mastered the practice quickly enough that Alara regarded him as an equal and invited him to help lead the community.

Gotama nevertheless left because he concluded that this attainment did not permanently end suffering, rebirth, or saṃsāra. His next teacher was Uddaka Rāmaputta, who taught a still subtler meditative state, associated with neither-perception-nor-non-perception. Gotama again found that meditation alone had not produced final awakening.

This sequence is an important part of the Buddha’s biography because it shows that he did not reject meditation; rather, he distinguished profound concentration from complete liberation. A frequent quiz mistake is choosing Uddaka Rāmaputta: he was the second major teacher in this account, not the first. Later tradition says the Buddha searched for Alara after enlightenment, hoping to teach him, but learned that Alara had recently died.