I would wish the Reader to know that The Word of the Buddha is not intended as an introduction to the teaching of the Buddha, or as a book on Buddhism merely to be read through and then laid aside. Its aims are, to pro vide a systematically arranged outline of the Buddha's doc trine for the benefit of such as are already acquainted with its fundamental ideas, and to bring under a single aspect the various parts of that doctrine which at first sight appear to have no connection with one another, but which in fact, when viewed from this aspect, are found all to converge upon a single point, — Deliverance from Suffering, — as ex pressed by the Buddha Himself in the words I have used as motto One thing only, Brothers, do I make known Suffering and Deliverance from Suffering. Thus it is that the teaching of the Eightfold Path leading to the cessation of suffering constitutes the real essence of Buddhist doctrine, and only from the standpoint of that teaching do the different details find their due place.