user19642: Back in the late 1980s I was in San Francisco on business. My hotel room had, of course, a Gideon Bible but surprisingly to me, it also had a book on Buddhism, I think it was called "The Way of the Buddha" but I'm not sure. It was put out, I believe, by an organization called something like The Buddhist Society of San Francisco.
I took and read it multiple time years later. It served as my really basic introduction to Buddhism and it led me down the path to discovering mindfulness meditation. Note, I don't consider myself a Buddhist now but I'm open to learning.
I'd like to find that book again. I'm not sure it was a Dhammapada but some googling suggests that it may be. I may be wrong but a Dhammapada sounds fairly scholarly, this book had an easy reading feel to it.  It did remind me some of a Christian Bible, containing stories about the Buddha.

user254: I can't help you find that specific edition.
The Dhammapada can be an easy read. It's a collection of verses, they're a kind of (a partial summary of) Buddhist doctrine. There are several translations (on paper and online), including an example here. The Preface starts ...

The Dhammapada is the best known and most widely esteemed text in the Pali Tipitaka, the sacred scriptures of Theravada Buddhism.

... and the Introduction ...

From ancient times to the present, the Dhammapada has been regarded as the most succinct expression of the Buddha's teaching found in the Pali canon and the chief spiritual testament of early Buddhism.

I like it as a summary. It can be easy to understand at least superficially -- more difficult in detail as a first and only introduction, so it's often published with some introduction and explanatory commentary.
I once found a book too (as well as a Bible and a Koran): in a hotel room in Singapore. Not about "mindfulness meditation", this one was structured as a "Life of the Buddha" -- a biography or hagiography -- including some of the most important lessons or doctrines (things he said). I think there are several books (in English) like that.
In case you're interested there have had a lot of questions on this site, almost too many, asking for various book recommendations -- see here.

user43: Wild guess: The Way of Zen, by Alan Watts.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_of_Zen

user19156: Did some googling.
The Buddha Way
by Harper San Francisco
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-buddha-waya-folding-screen-book_harper-san-francisco/2596039/item/13174882/#isbn=0062511394&idiq=13174882
Is this it?

user16635: My best guess: What the Buddha Taught, by Walpola Rahula. It's early enough (published in '59, and revised in '74), and is widely respected as an introductory text. If I were going to put something in a hotel drawer, that's what I'd choose.
Second guess: The Teaching of Buddha, a collection published by the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism. It is (apparently) extremely common to find these texts in hotels in Japan, but I'm not much of a traveler, so I can't speak to that, or to how far that practice might have spread internationally. But it is possible a translated edition made its way to San Francisco.

19642: <p>Back in the late 1980s I was in San Francisco on business. My hotel room had, of course, a Gideon Bible but surprisingly to me, it also had a book on Buddhism, I think it was called &quot;The Way of the Buddha&quot; but I'm not sure. It was put out, I believe, by an organization called something like The Buddhist Society of San Francisco.</p>
<p>I took and read it multiple time years later. It served as my really basic introduction to Buddhism and it led me down the path to discovering mindfulness meditation. Note, I don't consider myself a Buddhist now but I'm open to learning.</p>
<p>I'd like to find that book again. I'm not sure it was a Dhammapada but some googling suggests that it may be. I may be wrong but a Dhammapada sounds fairly scholarly, this book had an easy reading feel to it.  It did remind me some of a Christian Bible, containing stories about the Buddha.</p>
 254: <p>I can't help you find that specific edition.</p>
<p>The Dhammapada can be an easy read. It's a collection of verses, they're a kind of (a partial summary of) Buddhist doctrine. There are several translations (on paper and online), including <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.intro.budd.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">an example here</a>. The Preface starts ...</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Dhammapada is the best known and most widely esteemed text in the Pali Tipitaka, the sacred scriptures of Theravada Buddhism.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>... and the Introduction ...</p>
<blockquote>
<p>From ancient times to the present, the Dhammapada has been regarded as the most succinct expression of the Buddha's teaching found in the Pali canon and the chief spiritual testament of early Buddhism.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I like it as a summary. It can be easy to understand at least superficially -- more difficult in detail as a first and only introduction, so it's often published with some introduction and explanatory commentary.</p>
<p>I once found a book too (as well as a Bible and a Koran): in a hotel room in Singapore. Not about &quot;mindfulness meditation&quot;, this one was structured as a &quot;Life of the Buddha&quot; -- a biography or hagiography -- including some of the most important lessons or doctrines (things he said). I think there are several books (in English) like that.</p>
<p>In case you're interested there have had a lot of questions on this site, almost too many, asking for various book recommendations -- <a href="https://buddhism.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2462/reference-lists">see here</a>.</p>
 43: <p>Wild guess: The Way of Zen, by Alan Watts.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_of_Zen" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_of_Zen</a></p>
 19156: <p>Did some googling.</p>
<p>The Buddha Way
by Harper San Francisco</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-buddha-waya-folding-screen-book_harper-san-francisco/2596039/item/13174882/#isbn=0062511394&amp;idiq=13174882" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-buddha-waya-folding-screen-book_harper-san-francisco/2596039/item/13174882/#isbn=0062511394&amp;idiq=13174882</a></p>
<p>Is this it?</p>
 16635: <p>My best guess: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Buddha_Taught" rel="nofollow noreferrer">What the Buddha Taught</a>, by Walpola Rahula. It's early enough (published in '59, and revised in '74), and is widely respected as an introductory text. If I were going to put something in a hotel drawer, that's what I'd choose.</p>
<p>Second guess: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1621249.The_Teaching_of_Buddha" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Teaching of Buddha</a>, a collection published by the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism. It is (apparently) extremely common to find these texts in hotels <em>in Japan</em>, but I'm not much of a traveler, so I can't speak to that, or to how far that practice might have spread internationally. But it is possible a translated edition made its way to San Francisco.</p>
