"'To summarise what has been indicated above, our aim should be complete deliverance from suffering, or stated positively, the unconditioned and perfect happiness of Nibbāna; to be differentiated from other forms of happiness which are imperfect because ‘conditioned’ by impermanence, and thus liable to revert to suffering when circumstances or ‘the conditions’ change. By an understanding of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism we are set in the right direction to achieve this aim. But to reach this understanding the mind must be carefully prepared by moral discipline and other virtues, released from the grip of worldly pleasures and emotions and reach a state of clarity and purity through meditation and wise discrimination. Then by reflection on the three characteristics of existence, the impermanence, suffering and absence of an underlying entity, this understanding will arise giving assurance and confidence. The practical nature of the Buddha’s teaching is that it leads one gradually step by step, like a building raised brick by brick upon secure foundations.' —John D. Ireland"
"The Dhammapada, a collection of 423 verses in 26 chapters, is perhaps the most famous of all Buddhist texts. It presents the Buddha’s teachings in a clear and highly accessible form and has been used for personal instruction and teaching for centuries throughout the Buddhist world. It comes from the Khuddaka Nikaya section of the Pali Canon and is here collected with two other key texts from the same source.
The Udana (‘inspired utterance’) contains stories from the Buddha’s life, each of which conclude with a verse.
Among these are Bahiya of the bark-cloth and Meghiya, who wanted to meditate but had, perhaps, chosen an inappropriate time.
The Itivuttaka (‘it was said’) was reputedly recited to a queen at court by a lay female disciple of the Buddha who had listened to him teach.
It is a collection of 112 short discourses and is, again, very clear in form."
