Read, reflect, pray
Classics and teachings
Choose a book, then read one chapter or passage at a time. Each reader identifies its edition and distinguishes the historical text from this site’s explanation.
Dhammapada
Short verses on mind, conduct and awakening.
423 verses · 26 chaptersMüller, 1881Start reading →
Sutta Nipāta
Discourses and dialogues transmitted in Pali.
All five divisionsFausböll, 1881Start reading →
Taishang Ganying Pian
A Daoist moral text on actions and consequences.
24 sections from ourJapanese readerStart reading →
Kojiki: story reader →
22 selected stories with English bodies and notes. Follow the story sequence and compare related passages in the Nihon Shoki. This is a guide to currently published summaries, not the whole ancient book.
- The beginning of heaven and earthBefore the land had taken shape.
- Islands and kami are bornFrom the heavenly jeweled spear to the islands.
- The land of Yomi and the slope of partingBeyond the longing to meet again.
- Purification and the three noble childrenFrom the waters come light, night, and sea.
- Amaterasu and Susanoo’s oathDeities born from sword and jewels.
- The heavenly rock cave and returning lightDeliberation, mirror, jewels, and laughter.
- The great serpent and the palace at SugaEight heads and a trap of sake.
- The long journey of the kami who helped a hareFrom Ōnamuji to Ōkuninushi.
- The small kami and the light across the seaBuilding the land together, not alone.
- The transfer of the landEnvoys arrive, and the deities respond.
- The heavenly descendant and the kami who shows the wayParting the clouds toward Takachiho.
- Blossom and rock: two sistersKonohanasakuyahime and Iwanagahime.
- The lost fishhook and the sea palaceSearching for a lost fishhook.
- The eastern journey and YatagarasuThe road from Kumano to Yamato.
- The kami of Miwa and a single threadFrom a dream revelation to worship.
- The prince who traveled to IzumoWaiting for speech, and the deity’s palace.
- Yamatotakeru’s journey and song of homeThe Kusanagi sword, and a white bird.
- Jingū and the Sumiyoshi kamiOracles in a journey across the sea.
- People and a kami who came across the seaStories in skills, books, and jewels.
- The people’s hearths and Emperor NintokuLooking over a land without smoke.
- Hitokotonushi on Mount KatsuragiA royal party meets its mirror.
- Two princes reveal their namesA hidden identity entrusted to song.
Nihon Shoki: story reader →
17 selected stories with English bodies and notes. Main narrative and variant accounts are labeled separately. This is a guide to currently published summaries, not the whole ancient book.
- Heaven and earth divide; the kami appearA main narrative beginning with Kuninotokotachi, and a heavenly variant.
- From drops on a spear to the islandsIzanagi and Izanami give birth to the land.
- How the sun and moon were bornSun and moon born to two parents, and a mirror-based variant.
- Kukurihime at the boundary of YomiKukurihime’s name preserved in a brief passage.
- Purification in water and the birth of kamiSumiyoshi’s deities, the sea deities, and sun, moon, and Susanoo.
- Ukemochi and the separation of sun and moonA variant account of the origin of food.
- An oath with sword and jewelsMunakata’s three goddesses and five male deities.
- Kami gather before the rock cavePrayers welcoming light, in two tellings.
- The eight-headed serpent and the sword in its tailSusanoo, Kushinadahime, and a story of Izumo.
- Isotakeru and the green mountainsTwo variant accounts of spreading tree seeds.
- Two kami shape the land: the way to MiwaŌnamuchi, Sukunabikona, and the saki-mitama and kushi-mitama.
- Futsunushi and Takemikazuchi receive the landGoverning the visible world and governing sacred affairs.
- The heavenly descent and the welcoming kamiTraditions of Takamimusubi, Amaterasu, and Saruta.
- The life of blossom and the life of rockKonohanasakuyahime and Iwanagahime.
- The lost fishhook and the sea palaceSea fortune, mountain fortune, and Toyotamabime’s form.
- Kumano’s sword, Yatagarasu and the golden kiteDivine assistance in Jinmu’s journey.
- Yamatohime beside the Isuzu RiverA journey seeking a place to worship Amaterasu.