The Essence / Core Teaching of the Buddha

Sabba papassa akaranang
Kusalassa upasampada
Sachitto pariyo depanang
Etang Buddhanusasanang

Not to do any evilness
To cultivate goodness
Purify the heart & mind
This is the teaching of the Buddha

Not to do any evilness, To cultivate goodness: sila / precepts
Purify the heart & mind: samadhi / meditation
After doing sila & samadhi emerge paññā / wisdom

Sila

The most basic sila is pancasila:
1. Panatipata veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami: I undertake the training rule to abstain from killing any living being
2. Adinnadana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami: I undertake the training rule not to take that which is not freely given
3. Kamesumicchacara veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami: I undertake the training rule to abstain from sexual misconduct
4. Musavada veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami: I undertake the training rule to abstain from wrong speech
5. Surameraya majja pamadatthana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami: I undertake the training rule not to take substances that cloud the mind

Samadhi

Samadhi equal to bhavana:
1. samatha-bhāvanā, meaning meditation for the development of tranquility
2. vipassanā-bhāvanā, meaning meditation for the development of insight.

Panna

The Essence / Core Teaching of the Buddha

I. Cattari Ariya Saccani (Pali)/ Catur Arya Satyani (Sanskrit) / The Four Noble Truths

1. Thus is the Noble Truth of Suffering ( dukkha )
2. Thus is the Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering ( dukkha samudaya )
3. Thus is the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering ( dukkha nirodha )
4. Thus is the Noble Truth of the Path that leads to the Cessation of Suffering ( dukkha nirodha gaminipatipada )
This is also called majjhimā patipadā ( middle way / middle path ) or ariya atthangika magga / hasta ariya marga ( noble eightfold path )
Wisdom--Panna
1. Right Understanding--samma ditthi
2. Right Thought--samma sankappa
Morality--Sila
3. Right Speech--samma vaca
4. Right Action--samma kammanta
5. Right Livelihood--samma ajiva
Concentration--Samadhi
6. Right Effort--samma vayama
7. Right Mindfulness--samma sati
8. Right Concentration--samma samadhi

II. Kamma (Pali) / Karma (Sanskrit): Law of cause and effect

Punabbhava (Pali) / Punarbhava (Sanskrit): rebirth / some people call it reincarnation

III. Tilakkhana (Pali) / Tri laksana (Sanskrit): Three marks of existence

1. Sabbe sankhara anicca: all conditioned things are in a constant state of flux
2. Sabbe sankhara dukkha: all conditioned things are dissatisfaction
3. Sabbe dhamma anatta: all phenomena are not, or are without, a permanent self

IV. Paticcasamuppada (Pali) / Pratityasamutpada (Sanskrit): Dependent Origination

1. Avijja paccaya sankhara: With Ignorance as condition, arise Mental Formations
2. sankhara paccaya vinnanam: With Mental Formations as condition, arise Consciousness
3. vinnana paccaya namarupam: With Consciousness as condition, arise Mind and Form
4. namarupa paccaya salayatanam: With Mind and Form as condition, arise Six Sense Bases
5. salayatana paccaya phasso: With Six Sense Bases as condition, arise Contact
6. phassa paccaya vedana: With Contact as condition, arise Feeling
7. vedana paccaya tanha: With Feeling as condition, arise Craving
8. tanha paccaya upadanam: With Craving as condition, arise Clinging/sustenance
9. upadana paccaya bhavo: With Clinging/sustenance as condition, arise Becoming
10. bhava paccaya jati: With Becoming as condition, arise Birth
11. jati paccaya jaramaranam: With Birth as condition, arise Decay, Death, Sorrow, Lamentation, Pain, Grief, and Despair

Buddha said:

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

See also: Cattari Ariya Saccani, Kamma & Punabbhava, Tilakkhana, Paticcasamuppada