Buddhism

I am reading a fantastic book which Sayadaw gave to me: "What the Buddha Taught" by Walpola Rahula (1959). I recommend it if you want to learn. This is the best quote I have found which summarises Buddhism (if it can be at all summarised, which it cannot):

"According to Buddhism, the Absolute Truth is that there is nothing absolute in the world, that everything is relative, conditioned and impermanent, and that there is no unchanging, everlasting, absolute substance like Self, Soul or Atman within or without. This is the Absolute Truth. Truth is never negative, though there is a popular expression of a negative truth. The realization of this Truth, i.e., to see things as they are (yathabhutam) without illusion or ignorance (avijja), is the extinction of craving 'thirst' (Tanhakkhaya), and the cessation (Nirodha) of dukka [suffering*], which is Nirvana."

*the First Noble Truth (Dukkha-ariyasacca) cannot be simply translated as "suffering" it is more complex than that.