Stop comparing. Let go of anger. Set your mind free, even from yourself.

What would the Buddha say to us if he spoke in the language of today? In this book, Japanese Buddhist monk Ryunosuke Koike selects passages from the earliest Buddhist scriptures, including the Dhammapada, and renders them in plain, direct, contemporary words. Freed from archaic phrasing and religious formality, the Buddha emerges not as a distant saint but as a clear-eyed and deeply human teacher, speaking straight to the reader.

The teachings are gathered into twelve short chapters: not getting angry, not comparing, not craving, changing one's karma, choosing one's friends, knowing happiness, knowing oneself, observing the body, becoming free, practicing compassion, awakening, and facing death, closing with the Buddha's final words. Each passage takes only a minute to read. When a quarrel is about to flare up, remember that you and the other person will both one day be gone. No enemy can harm you as much as your own mind twisted by anger.

Calm, concise, and at times surprisingly witty, this is a book to keep on the desk or by the bed and open at any page. It offers a quiet reset for anyone worn down by anger, anxiety, comparison, and the noise of modern life.