What is What the Buddha Taught about?

What the Buddha Taught is widely considered the best short introduction to early Buddhism in the English language. Written by a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk and scholar, it was first published in 1959 and has remained in print continuously since, translated into numerous languages. Its authority comes from its fidelity to the Pali Canon — the earliest surviving Buddhist scripture — combined with a clarity of exposition that makes the core teaching accessible without distorting it.

Rahula begins by dispelling common misconceptions. Buddhism is neither pessimistic — it begins with suffering but aims at liberation — nor is it a devotional religion in the Western sense. The Buddha offered no creator god, no eternal soul, and no final authority other than direct investigation. His teaching was consistently framed as medicine: here is the disease (suffering), here is the diagnosis (its cause), here is the prognosis (it can be cured), and here is the treatment (the Eightfold Path). The famous simile of the poisoned arrow captures the spirit: if you were shot, you would not demand to know the archer's name and caste before accepting treatment.

The Four Noble Truths are presented systematically: suffering (dukkha) is pervasive and takes many forms; its origin is craving (tanha) — for sensual pleasure, for becoming, for cessation; its cessation is possible (nirvana); and the way to that cessation is the Noble Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path covers three domains: wisdom (right view, right intention), ethics (right speech, right action, right livelihood), and mental cultivation (right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration).

Particularly valuable are Rahula's chapters on no-self (anatta), dependent origination, and meditation. The doctrine of no-self — that there is no permanent, unchanging self or soul — is the most philosophically demanding element of Buddhist thought, and Rahula addresses it carefully, distinguishing the Buddhist position from both nihilism (there is nothing) and eternalism (there is a permanent soul). The chapter on meditation is practically oriented, drawing on classical Theravada techniques of mindfulness of breathing and clear comprehension.