This is a guide to Buddhism built for beginners and intermediate practitioners who want a clear, well-sourced map of the tradition without the marketing tone of most online Buddhist resources. It is not a substitute for a teacher, a monastery, or a personal practice. It is a starting point.

Who is on the editorial team #

The team is small: one editor in chief and two or three reviewers with expertise in the relevant traditions. The full description, including the limits, is on the About the project page.

How the articles are written #

Every article goes through the following steps before publication:

  1. Draft. A first draft is written by the editor in chief, drawing on the standard scholarly literature and the specific primary sources for the article.
  2. Editorial review. The editor in chief reviews the article for accuracy, tone, and the right level of detail for the target audience. Templated or generic prose is rewritten.
  3. Source pass. The article is checked against at least three scholarly sources. Where a claim is contested, the article names the contestation. Where a claim is unverified, the article is rewritten or the claim is removed.
  4. Scholarly apparatus. A Sources & further reading section is added at the end, with 3–5 references to the standard scholarly literature, with page numbers where applicable.
  5. Last-review date. The article is given a lastReviewed date. After one year, the article is reviewed again.
  6. Attribution. The article is attributed to the editorial team, with a named reviewer where appropriate.

Where a fact is corrected, the correction is logged on the Corrections page. Where a reader writes in with a substantive question, the response is logged on the Corrections page or in the relevant article.

What this site is not #

  • It is not a substitute for a teacher. The single most common advice in any Buddhist tradition is find a teacher. This site will not give you that, and it cannot.
  • It is not a complete Buddhist studies curriculum. The standard introductions — Harvey, Gombrich, Williams & Tribe, Lopez — cover far more ground in far more depth.
  • It is not a confession of any particular school. Where Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana differ, we say so. Where they agree, we say so.
  • It is not an academic publication. It is an educational guide, written for general readers, with the scholarly apparatus kept light. Where you want depth, the Sources & further reading section will take you there.

How to use the site #

The site is organised in three levels: main topics (broad areas like Core Teachings, Meditation, and Traditions), sub-topics (more focused pages within each main topic), and specific articles (the detailed long-form pieces on particular teachings, practices, or texts). Most readers will do well to start with a main topic and follow the links into the sub-topics that interest them.

A short path through the site:

Corrections and feedback #

We take corrections seriously. If you find a factual error, a missing source, or an article that could be improved, please open an issue or contact us. The contact form is at the foot of every page. The Corrections page is the public record of what we have got wrong, what we have done about it, and what we are still uncertain about.

Sources #

The articles draw on the following reference works, which are cited individually in the Sources & further reading sections of each article:

  • Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism (Cambridge, 2nd ed., 2013)
  • Donald S. Lopez Jr., ed., Buddhist Scriptures (Penguin Classics, 2004)
  • Richard Gombrich, Theravāda Buddhism: A Social History (Routledge, 2nd ed., 2006) and What the Buddha Thought (Equinox, 2009)
  • Paul Williams with Anthony Tribe, Buddhist Thought (Routledge, 2nd ed., 2000)
  • Edward Conze, Buddhist Thought in India (Allen & Unwin, 1962)
  • John Powers, Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism (Snow Lion, 2nd ed., 2007)
  • Christopher Queen, ed., Engaged Buddhism in the West (Wisdom, 2000)
  • David McMahan, The Making of Buddhist Modernism (Oxford, 2008)
  • Bhikkhu Bodhi, trans., In the Buddha’s Words (Wisdom, 2005)
  • Thanissaro Bhikkhu, trans., The Wings to Awakening (Metta Forest Monastery, 2010) and various suttas at dhammatalks.org
  • His Holiness the Dalai Lama, The World of Tibetan Buddhism (Wisdom, 2005)

A note on the site itself #

This site is built with Hugo and served from Cloudflare’s edge. It is updated periodically; the last review of each article is shown at the top. We do not collect personal data. We do not run advertising. The site is intended as a public good.

— The editorial team