Bob Schwartz

Do not what is evil. Do what is good. Keep your mind pure. This is the teaching of Buddha.

There is no formal or official Golden Rule in Buddhism.

There is no formal or official Bible in Buddhism. The closest may be the Dhammapada, a concise and widely read and studied collection of what the Buddha said, or what others heard him say, or what others heard he said. There are many translations, each worthy in its way. Even without further teaching, it is a straightforward way to begin understanding Buddhism.

There are many Buddhist teachers in many traditions, some of them well-known even in the non-Buddhist world. Ajahn Chah (1918 –1992) was a Thai Buddhist monk and teacher in the Theravada tradition. He is not as well-known as some, particularly among students in the Mahayana traditions such as Zen, but he is the equal of any.

Food for the Heart is one of the few collections of his talks, though his centers cover the globe. He is not alone in offering his wisdom in a style that is inspiring and inviting, though I defy any student and seeker of any religious tradition not be de-lighted.

He comments on verse 183 of the Dhammapada:

Do not what is evil. Do what is good. Keep your mind pure. This is the teaching of Buddha.
Dhammapada 183
–Translated by Juan Mascaró

“Only three lines, hardly anything to it. The first is—Sabba pāpassa akaraṇaṁ: refraining from all wrongdoing. That’s the teaching of all the buddhas. This is the heart of Buddhism. But people keep jumping over it; they don’t want this one. The renunciation of all wrongdoing, great and small, from bodily, verbal, and mental actions—this is the teaching of the buddhas.”
–Ajahn Chah