New to Buddhism? Start here.
No background needed, and nothing to join. Begin with whatever question brought you.
Two minutesThis week's reflection: one idea, and a question to carry around for the day.Read this week's reflectionTen minutesThe teaching the Buddha gave first, and the shape of everything after it.Read the four noble truthsAn afternoonTwo and a half thousand years, fifteen eras, told as one journey.Explore the timeline
If you are completely new
- What is Buddhism, in one page?The four truths the Buddha taught, in plain English.
- Is it a religion or a philosophy?It behaves like both, and the question is more recent than you would think.
- Who was the Buddha, really?A man of the Sakya clan, and what history can and cannot establish about him.
- What do people get wrong about it?Ten common misunderstandings, from karma to the laughing Buddha.
The questions people ask most
- Why do we suffer?What dukkha actually means, and why 'life is suffering' is a poor translation.
- What is karma?Not fate, not punishment, and not the reason bad things happened to you.
- Do I have to believe in rebirth?What the texts say, how teachers differ, and the one thing worth avoiding.
- What does enlightenment actually mean?The four stages of awakening, and the psychic powers that are not the point.
If you want to practise
- How do I begin?The eightfold path: the whole of the practice, in eight parts.
- How do I actually start meditating?Five minutes, a chair, and what counts as doing it right.
- My mind will not stop. What then?The complaint everyone has, and the five methods the Buddha gave for it.
- What does Buddhism say about anger?What the texts ask of an angry person, and what to do in the moment.
- How do I meditate on kindness?Metta step by step, including what to do when the warmth will not come.
- What should I change first?Most teachers say speech. Three questions to ask before you say anything.
- Which tradition is for me?Theravāda, Zen and the Tibetan schools: where each comes from and what it emphasises.
When you want to go deeper
- Gate 1: the history traces Buddhism from before the Buddha to today, with sources on every event, and biographies of the people who carried it.
- Gate 2: the teachings covers the core concepts one at a time, with stories and reflections.
- Gate 3: talk it through is the paid part: two AI guides who help you think about what you are actually carrying. Your conversations are never saved.
Gates 1 and 2 are free, with no account and no advertising. Every article says where its information comes from, and keeps what historians can establish apart from what tradition remembers.