Daily Wisdom: Buddhism

What is inside

Three hundred and sixty-five days on the practical core of Buddhism: attachment and what it costs, impermanence and what accepting it actually changes, compassion as a practice rather than a feeling, and attention as something you can train.

This volume is structured slightly differently from the rest of the series. Its sections are named The Insight, The Pause, and Daily Mantra, and unlike the Tao, Stoicism and Bhagavad Gita volumes it does not open each day with a quoted passage. If the quoted passage is the part of the series you want, start with one of those three.

Who this book is for

This book is for the reader who is holding on. To a version of a conversation. To how things were supposed to go. To a person who has already left.

There is no religion in it. No refuge, no rebirth, no requirement to believe anything. Buddhism has a psychological core that works whether or not you accept its cosmology, and that core is what this book uses.

What sources does this book use?

Daily Wisdom: Buddhism quotes only public domain translations, and names the translator on every passage. Every source below can be read for free in full.

Work	Translator
The Dhammapada	F. Max Müller

The Dhammapada is free to read in full in Müller’s translation. If you want to read further into the tradition, Daily Wisdom: Tao covers the other half of what Zen inherited, since Zen grew from Buddhism meeting Taoism in China.

Frequently asked

Do I have to be Buddhist to read this?

No. Nothing in the book asks you to believe anything, take refuge, or accept any claim about rebirth. It uses the psychological material and leaves the cosmology alone.

Does each day open with a passage, like the other volumes?

No, and this is the one real structural difference in the series. This volume opens each day with The Insight rather than a quoted passage. The Stoicism, Tao and Bhagavad Gita volumes all open with a passage from their public domain source.

Is meditation required?

No. The Pause is a short practice, usually under two minutes, and most of them are not seated meditation at all.