The Dhammapada

The Dhammapada is the most widely read Buddhist scripture — a collection of 423 short verses, organised into 26 chapters by theme, traditionally regarded as the direct teaching of the Buddha himself. It belongs to the oldest surviving body of Buddhist scripture and is, for most ordinary Theravāda Buddhists across more than two millennia, the form in which they first met the Buddha's words.

The verses condense early Buddhist teaching to its essentials: the centrality of mind, the path of non-attachment, the discipline of the senses, the freedom that follows the cooling of craving. It is short enough to read in one sitting and substantial enough to be the work of a lifetime.