The Bare Bones Dhammapada: Big Mind Big Love

The well loved Dhammapada is one of the oldest Buddhist texts on walking the path of enlightenment, love, integrity, and kindness. It contains four hundred twenty-three aphorisms attributed to Buddha, although they were most likely compiled by many. Poet and Zen priest Tai Sheridan transforms the original using contemporary and minimalistic images that cut to the chase of Buddha's wisdom.

Even though the Dhammapada is a Buddhist classic of great beauty and wisdom, it is burdened by the stylistic and conceptual dust of the early and middle ages. This version strips the Dhammapada of monasticism, literalness, chauvinism, anachronisms, and concepts of evil, shame, and sensual denial. It presents the path of wisdom as universal truths for a contemporary audience of any gender, lifestyle, or spiritual inclination.