Plain Dharma

Six of the Buddha's foundational teachings, rendered in plain modern English — clear enough to read in an afternoon, faithful enough to take seriously.

This is not a scholarly translation bristling with Pali and footnotes. It is a plain reading: the same teachings working scholars have translated for decades, set down in everyday language so a first-time reader can actually follow them — without watering down the substance.

The suttas began as an oral tradition and were only later written down by monks. Plain Dharma takes the liberty of translating them back toward the spoken word.

Inside:

1. The Buddha's First Talk (Dhammacakkappavattana) — the middle path, the four noble truths, and the eightfold way to live.
2. The Buddha's Second Talk: Not-Self (Anattalakkhana) — why the body, feelings, perceptions, and even awareness aren't you.
3. The Fire Sermon (Adittapariyaya) — everything is on fire; what is burning, and how to cool down.
4. On Loving-Kindness (Metta) — hold the wish that every living thing, without exception, be at ease.
5. The Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipatthana) — watch the body, feelings, mind, and experience clearly.
6. How to Decide What to Believe (Kalama) — don't take anything on authority; test it for yourself.

Each teaching opens with a one-line distillation and a simple illustration, and the book closes with a Sources & Further Reading appendix pointing to the rigorous scholarly translations (SuttaCentral, Access to Insight, Bhikkhu Bodhi) behind every plain-English rendering.

Released into the public domain under CC0 1.0. Copy it, print it, translate it, give it away — no permission needed, no attribution required, in keeping with the Buddhist tradition of free dharma distribution.

A note on how it was made: the plain-English rendering was drafted with AI from the original Pāli, then refined by hand — argued out line by line, word by word, against the 2,600-year-old text. The full story is at plaindharma.com/how-it-was-made.