Buddha, before the Religion

“It is fitting that you are uncertain. Doubt has arisen in you about what is genuinely doubtful. Do not go by oral tradition. Not by the thought: this recluse is our teacher. When you yourselves know — then you should abandon them.”

Which words in the Pali Canon actually came from the Buddha?

Scholars have debated this for 150 years using grammar, manuscript evidence, and textual criticism. This book uses something different: an algorithm — without being told what to look for.

What it found goes beyond what scholarship expected. The algorithm heard a voice. This book translates it.

Eighty-four retrieved passages, alongside the complete Aṭṭhakavagga and Pārāyanavagga. Modern English bold enough to sound as these words must have sounded when first heard. Every translation choice justified in scholarly endnotes. The methodology is reproducible. The translations are alive.

What you are reading is the Buddha before the religion had a name.