Theravadin Resource guide
Forum rules
Last edited by BlackBird on Fri May 09, 2014 6:19 am, edited 47 times in total.
Last edited by Laurens on Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Last edited by DNS on Tue May 24, 2011 3:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: corrected Buddhism A to Z link and number of articles at Dhamma Wiki
I have never had a high opinion of Microsoft software (not since first working on a Mac, anyway), so I’m with you on that.
Firefox is probably the way to go for a browser, though Opera has its fans, too. No problems at all.
If you want to go really radical for the New Year, download OpenOffice and say ‘bye, bye’ to Word, Excel and the rest.
OpenOffice works very well but there is are occasional problems exchanging documents with the rest of the world.
If you want to go really really radical for the New Year, get Linux and say ‘bye, bye’ to Windows as well.
But it’s good to have a friend nearby who has already done it.
Theravadin Resource Guide
The goal of the Theravadin Resource Guide is to produce an easy
reference directory of Theravadin and Early Buddhism resources on the
internet. Where there is practical application to the Theravadin
practitioner, Mahayana based links will be included. It is the
compiler’s hopes that this resource will include many contributions by
other members of the site and thus any bias on my part will be
minimized, however it is inevitable that some bias towards resources
will remain, and for that I apologise.
Please let me know if any links are dead, or have moved. Also if you
feel there is a website that should be added to the Resource Guide,
please just let me know here in this thread or via pm. The Resource
guide will be periodically updated to include new websites and or
fix/remove dead links.
Dhamma search engine
The goal of the Theravadin Resource Guide is to produce an easy
reference directory of Theravadin and Early Buddhism resources on the
internet. Where there is practical application to the Theravadin
practitioner, Mahayana based links will be included. It is the
compiler’s hopes that this resource will include many contributions by
other members of the site and thus any bias on my part will be
minimized, however it is inevitable that some bias towards resources
will remain, and for that I apologise.
Please let me know if any links are dead, or have moved. Also if you
feel there is a website that should be added to the Resource Guide,
please just let me know here in this thread or via pm. The Resource
guide will be periodically updated to include new websites and or
fix/remove dead links.
Dhamma search engine
- Google Saffron - Theravada search engine, searching Dhamma pages across the web for the information you need.
Tipitaka and Discourse
- Access to Insight - Large collection of English translations of Suttas, and many essays from esteemed Buddhist writers.
- Sutta Central - A
fantastic site including collections of translations of Suttas, not
just of the Pali Canon but also of the Chinese Agamas, Sanskrit and the
Tibetan texts, of great interest is the inclusion of suggestion of
parallels between Pali suttas and their Agama counterparts. Now includes
access to the Vinaya pitakas. - Metta net - Includes a work in progress translation of the Tipitaka, articles by Buddhist writers and information on Sri Lankan Buddhism.
- Wikipitaka - A wiki based work in progress translation of the Tipitaka, currently over 700 suttas have been translated.
- Tipitaka.org - Online Burmese Tipitaka in Pali, various scripts, includes a very thorough exposition on “the gist” of the Tipitaka.
- eTipitaka quotation - Well organised online Pali tipitaka of the 6th Buddhist council
- Pali Text Society Translations downloads - Large parts of the Tipitaka available online, PTS translations
- Buddha Vacana - Quite a number of suttas available translated from the pali, also resources for learning pali.
- Pali Canon.org - Another
good translation project. Contains many suttas from the Canon
translated by Ariya Zhong, Chris Burke & Alonso Martinez.
General Dhamma
- Buddhanet - Buddhist information network, contains an e-library, info on meditation audio, magazine, and directory of Buddhist centres
- Aimwell - The
Association for Insight Meditation website is run by Venerable Bhikkhu
Pesala, and contains all his own works free for reproduction,
translations and expositions of several important suttas, as well as a
variety of works by esteemed Mahasi lineage teachers. Bhante is
currently transfering his content to a new website. - Beyond the Net - Beyond
the net is another great site for resources, it has a lot of audio, e
books, and teachings by various Sri Lankan monks, as well as some stuff
by Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi. Highly recommended - Dhammatalks.org - Ven. Thanissaro’s website - Don’t
let the name fool you, this website has much more than just Dhamma
talks by Ven. Thanissaro, various ebooks are also available on site,
including anthologies by Ven. Thanissaro, but also Dhamma talks by
Forest Ajahns, various Ajahn [auto]biographies, the BMC (for ordained
members) and a variety of other Dhamma related goodies. Thoroughly
recommended. - Nibbana.com - Burmese Buddhist mega site (in english, of course) contains a hefty lot of Dhamma related materials
- Nibbanam Dhamma portal- Nibbanam
is a resource portal, kind of similar to this, but an actual website
with fancy javascript and all kinds of goodies including a great wee
intro video with replete with gongs and chanting! You’re bound to find a
few things that are missing here, especially german resources. - Bhavana Society -
Bhavana Society website, the home of Bhante G(unaratana). Many
resources available here, including information on how to get to the
centre, ordination, audio, ebooks - Including his well known title
‘Mindfulness in Plain English’, all sorts of good stuff! - Sadhu Dhamma directory -
Sadhu Dhamma directory is a Dhamma directory run and maintained by
Dhammawheel member Dmytro, he has worked hard to make the list very
inclusive, and it has many good links that are not yet available here,
so it is well worth checking out.
Specific Dhamma
- The Nibbana Sermons - Venerable
Nyanananda’s revolutionary Nibbana Sermons have struck a chord with
Theravadin practitioners across the globe, receiving praise at large -
especially here at Dhamma Wheel. - Forest Sangha Publications - Forest
Sangha Publications are dedicated to the free distribution of Ajahn
Chah and disciples teachings, you can access audio and ebooks on site,
or request to be sent out hard copies to your address. - Nanavira Thera Dhamma page - An
existential approach to the Dhamma. Ven. Nyanavira was an English monk
who lived in Sri Lanka, he wrote a book entitled Notes on Dhamma which
he intended to provide certain clarifications on the Suttas, especially
because he considered the commentarial ‘Mahavihara’ tradition to have
made some serious errors in their interpretations of important doctrinal
points such as Paticcasamupada and Sankhara. It is certainly an
interesting and rewarding read for those who are intrigued by different
approaches to Dependent Origination than the commentarial edition, the
website has recently received an huge overhaul. - Path Press blog/website -Website
and blog of the Path Press, established by Samanera Bodhesako as an
organisation to disseminate the writings of Ven. Nyanavira Thera, it has
since grown into a vehicle for the Nyanavirian message, the website
contains various essays, articles a few translations of Suttas e.g. the
Atthakavaga of the Sutta Nipata, Ven. Nyanamoli Thera’s original draft
of his Majjhima Nikaya translation and also (and quite importantly) the writings of Ven. Samanera Bodhesako. - Ian Andrew’s recommendations and reading list - Dhamma Wheel member IanAnd gives us an important list of doctrinal points and Dhamma books to further one’s understanding.
- Michael Kewley’s Dhamma site - Dhamma-site of teacher Michael Kewley, includes audio, video and a good bio
Dhamma E-books
- What-Buddha-Taught - Extensive collection of e books from contemporary meditation masters and Dhamma teachers
- BuddhaSasana - Hidden
in the recesses of Buddhanet is this hefty collection of articles and
e-books on Dhamma and meditation, well deserved of it’s own description. - Buddhist Publication Society - Well
known and highly regarded, the Buddhist Publication Society founded in
1958 has been a bastion of light in producing Buddhist texts for the
world at large, the website has a broad library of online reading material available including much of their ‘The Wheel’ and ‘Bodhi leaves’ Buddhist Journals. - Forest Dhamma books - E-library of the writings of Luang Por Maha Boowa
- Santipada - A collection of Bhante Sujato’s books available for download in epub/pdf or order of paperback.
- Holybooks - Buddhism -Holybooks is an ebook repository and has a decent Buddhism section.
Dhamma audio
- Dharma Seed - Dharma
seed has been around since the 1980’s providing talks by way of tapes
and cds, with the advent of the internet they have brought a vast amount
of Dhamma talks online, specializing in Vipassana. - Dhammatalks.org.uk - A large collection of talks given by various teachers within the Thai Forest tradition in the Ajahn Chah lineage
- Buddhist Society of Western Australia - The
BSWA has an abundant supply of Dhammatalks given by Ajahn Brahmavamso
and fellow monks and nuns residing at Bodhinyana and Dhammasara forest
monasteries - Audiodharma - Talks given by Gil Fronsdal, and guest speakers at the Insight meditation centre in Redwood City, California
- Ven. Thanissaro Bhikkhu @ dhammatalks.org - A website dedicated to talks given by Ven. Thanissaro Bhikkhu, also includes books and essays
- Birken collection - Birken
Forest Monastery are maintaining a collection of over 3000 Dhamma talks
(over 45gb) available for download at their website - Dhammaweb - Site
featuring talks from the Burmese and Thai traditions, many in Burmese,
but also many in English, good source of some hard to find talks. - Bhavana Society - Talks given by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana (of Mindfulness in plain English renown)
- Aruno - Talks given by Ajahn Munindo, Ajahn Abhinando and Ajahn Puรฑรฑo from Aruna Ratanagiri
- Introduction to Buddhism - Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi delivers 10 lectures as an introduction to Buddhism
- Majjhima Nikaya lectures - Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi delivers lectures on the Majjhima Nikaya (the middle length discourses) of the Pali Canon.
- Ayya Khema Dhamma talks - Talks
by the wonderful Ayya Khema. She is a brilliant orator, and her talks
are available on the website for download, including a torrent for the
entire 7.6 gigs of the site. - Bhavana Society’s Dhamma talks - Talks given at the Bhavana Society. Many talks by Bhante Gunaratana of ‘Mindfulness in plain english’ fame.
Dhamma-video
- Dhammatube - Dhammatube has an wide range of Dhamma-video available for viewing on Youtube, Google video and Veoh.
- Dhammaweb video database - In a similar refrain to their audio section, Dhammaweb bring a collection of Dhamma videos from various speakers.
- BBC: The Life of the Buddha - An inspiring documentary on the early life of the Buddha by the BBC.
Important Dhamma-wheel topics
- Dhamma Wheel terms of service - Important and succinct rules for the forum.
- Introductory Resources - Resources the community have deemed great ’starting’ points for learning about Buddhism.
- Recommended reading (meditation) - A comprehensive list of books that will provide the reader with an understanding on how to meditate effectively.
- Abhidhamma Resources - Resources for learning about the Abhidhamma - The ‘higher’ doctrine in Theravada Buddhism.
- Good resources in non-english languages - Title says it all, if you speak anything other than English then this thread’s for you.
- Ordination in Thailand - Thread for all resources pertaining to ordination in Thailand, visas, monasteries, teachers, considerations etc.
- Dana - Suggested places to make donations - Websites of charities and NGOs to make donations to.
- Dhammawheel Meditation Challenge - Set you meditation goals and share your results, support etc.
- What book are you reading right now? - A thread for discussing what book you’re reading, whether or not you like it and why.
- Daily Dhamma drops from Ceylon - Venerable Bhikkhu Samahita’s daily teachings on the Dhamma.
- The great rebirth debate - Thread for discussing your views on the Buddhist concept of rebirth.
- The great Abhidhamma authenticity debate - A thread for discussing your views on the Abhidhamma and whether or not you believe it to be authentic Buddhavacana.
- Pali Terms - A solid list of pali terms, with definitions available through hyperlink
- Dhamma Wheel Memorization Challenge - A thread for those who are in the process of memorizing passages from the Suttas.
- Lectures by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi - Lectures centred around the Venerable’s anthology ‘In the Buddha’s words.
- The Great Jhana Debate - A thread for discussing your views on Jhana and the specifics of what defines it.
Dhamma encyclopedias and wikipedia pages of note
- Dhamma Wiki - Theravada Buddhist encyclopedia with over 10,000 articles and links.
- Buddhism A to Z - A Buddhist encyclopedia with over 500 entries by Ven. Dhammika, focusing on the Pali Canon and early teachings of Buddhism.
- Wikipedia entry for Theravada Buddhism - Self explanatory, far from comprehensive and in need of some TLC
- Wikipedia entry for Outline of Buddhism - Comprehensive list of Buddhist concepts
News and Journalism
- Buddhist Channel.tv - The
Buddhist Channel is a news source website for news articles that relate
to Buddhism or present news stories from a Buddhist angle. - Tricycle - Tricycle
is perhaps one of the most well known Buddhist publications, bringing
you all manner of articles on faith and practice, and life in general
from both Mahayanic and Theravadin perspectives. - The Buddha Dharma Quarterly - The
Buddha Dharma is the online edition of the quarterly magazine produced
by Shambala (Tibetan) but intended for a general Buddhist audience,
while many articles are written from a Mahayana perspective there is
quite a lot of valuable general Buddhist content contained within.
Dhamma Apps for Android & iOS
- Insight Timer (Android - Free version), Insight Timer (Apple iOS - Free version) - Insight
Timer is a great app for using while meditating, it has some beautiful
bell sounds to start and end the session, and there can be interval
bells too the time and length of which you can adjust for each. It is
very multifaceted, collecting metrics on your meditation sessions e.g.
graphs on time over days, weeks, months. Longest time spent meditating,
average session length etc. It also has a social aspect, one which a
number of us here at DW use. - Access To Insight (Android), Access To Insight (Apple iOS) - Access
To Insight comes to your mobile device in offline mode, allowing you to
access all of the Sutta translations, articles, essays and books
available on the website using your Android or iOS device. A Brilliant
app for when you’ve run out of data or outside the range of a wifi
point. - Buddhist chant 1 (Android) - This
App has Pali Sutta chanting, 17 in all, includes the text with the
audio so you can chant along too. Contains all the common Pujas, no
parittas as of yet it would seem, see the link for full list.
Dhamma blogs
- Theravadin - Blog by an anonymous practitioner, a lot of good stuff crops up here
- Sujato’s Blog - Venerable Sujato’s blog, posts on reform of Theravada and Bhikkhuni ordination
- Bhikkhu’s blog - Blog by Ajahn Punnadhammo, covers a wide range of issues
- Path press blog - Blog of the Path Press, includes the writings of Ven. Nanavira Thera, Ven. Bodhisako and Sister Vajira.
- Dhamma Musings - Blog of Ven. Shravasti Dhammika, a long standing and well known monk, he is an author of serveral books on Buddhism.
- Genkaku again - Adam Genkaku Fisher’s blog, Dhammawheel member and Zen practitioner since ages ago.
- Jayarava’s Raves - Jayarava
is a member of the Triratna Buddhist order (formerly FWBO) he has
knowledge of pali, and a very strong interest in Dhamma, especially with
how it fits into our modern world.
Misc
Last edited by BlackBird on Fri May 09, 2014 6:19 am, edited 47 times in total.
“For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher’s message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
‘The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I.” - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta
Path Press - รฤแนavฤซra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli’s Dhamma talks
‘The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I.” - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta
Path Press - รฤแนavฤซra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli’s Dhamma talks
Post
by BlackBird ยป Fri Dec 18, 2009 7:52 am
Righto, lest my browser crash, i’m posting what I’ve done so far, will revise again soon.
To add:
- General Dhamma sites eg. Buddhanet, Aimwell, Nibbanadotnet
- Specialist Dhamma sites eg. Nibbana Sermons, Pathpress etc
- Important blogs eg. Theravadin
- Discussion sites
- Misc
metta
Jack
To add:
- General Dhamma sites eg. Buddhanet, Aimwell, Nibbanadotnet
- Specialist Dhamma sites eg. Nibbana Sermons, Pathpress etc
- Important blogs eg. Theravadin
- Discussion sites
- Misc
metta
Jack
“For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher’s message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
‘The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I.” - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta
Path Press - รฤแนavฤซra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli’s Dhamma talks
‘The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I.” - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta
Path Press - รฤแนavฤซra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli’s Dhamma talks
Post
by Laurens ยป Fri Dec 18, 2009 12:54 pm
Nice work 
http://www.aruno.org - there’s some audio teachings there too, if you wanted to add it to the list?
http://www.aruno.org - there’s some audio teachings there too, if you wanted to add it to the list?
Last edited by Laurens on Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
“If only it were all so simple! If
only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds,
and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and
destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart
of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own
heart?”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds,
and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and
destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart
of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own
heart?”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
-
- Posts: 1602
- Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:47 am
- Location: Bridge on the River Kwae
Post
by appicchato ยป Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:46 pm
Looking very good Jack… 
Post
by DNS ยป Sat Dec 19, 2009 4:43 pm
May I suggest, also:
General Dhamma and Encyclopedias
General Dhamma and Encyclopedias
- Dhamma Wiki - Theravada Buddhist encyclopedia with over 10,000 articles and links.
- Buddhism A to Z - A Buddhist encyclopedia with over 500 entries by Ven. Dhammika, focusing on the Pali Canon and early teachings of Buddhism.
Last edited by DNS on Tue May 24, 2011 3:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: corrected Buddhism A to Z link and number of articles at Dhamma Wiki
Post
by Laurens ยป Sat Dec 19, 2009 5:07 pm
“If only it were all so simple! If
only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds,
and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and
destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart
of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own
heart?”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds,
and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and
destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart
of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own
heart?”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Post
by BlackBird ยป Sat Dec 19, 2009 6:22 pm
Sounds good, will set a side an hour after I get home from work tonight.
“For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher’s message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
‘The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I.” - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta
Path Press - รฤแนavฤซra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli’s Dhamma talks
‘The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I.” - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta
Path Press - รฤแนavฤซra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli’s Dhamma talks
Post
by Laurens ยป Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:18 pm
Just as a random useful thing:
http://www.jetcityorange.com/meditation/timer/ - An online meditation timer which you can set to go off after 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45 or 60 minutes
http://www.jetcityorange.com/
“If only it were all so simple! If
only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds,
and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and
destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart
of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own
heart?”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds,
and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and
destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart
of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own
heart?”
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Post
by Ben ยป Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:36 pm
Nice work jack!
โNo lists of things to be done. The
day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later.
All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one’s heart
have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.โ
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) โข Buddhist Global Relief โข UNHCR
e: ben.dhammawheel@gmail.com..
day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later.
All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one’s heart
have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.โ
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) โข Buddhist Global Relief โข UNHCR
e: ben.dhammawheel@gmail.com..
Post
by IanAnd ยป Tue Dec 29, 2009 3:46 pm
NIce thread, Blackbird.
I’ve posted the following on two different forums to help direct people
to relevant readings that may help them begin to put the pieces of the
puzzle together. Perhaps some here will benefit also from this reading
list.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Apropos of some recent posts here in question of explanations about the
Dhamma, I thought to put together a brief reading list of books which
might help the poor old sod struggling to make out what the Dhamma is
teaching, despite all the complex archaic commentarial literature there
is to read and to figure out.
At one point in my training, I came to the “realization” that reading
and contemplating anything other than the direct words of the Buddha
(read that as: books other than the translations of the Pali canon) was
for me at that time a waste of my time. I therefore put down any outside
reading I was then doing and shifted my focus to the discourses of the
Buddha. What I had realized was that I really had no way of verifying
what others (in their books and essays) were espousing that the Buddha
taught because I hadn’t yet finished reading the discourses themselves.
There were questions that I had which were cleared up during the course
of that exercise in reading and contemplation of the discourses, as well
as other questions which resulted (arose) from that same reading. I’ve
spent a great deal of time in study, contemplation, and observation of
my own practice experience in getting to the point I’m at today, and it
hasn’t always been an easy or smooth journey. What I can say, though, is
that if one has a practice in meditation and is willing to wade through
all the discourses and a few modern commentarial books, one stands a
chance of being able to begin making some sense of this thing called the
Dhamma.
It took a good two years to go through the Digha Nikaya, Majjhima
Nikaya, and the anthology of the Anguttara Nikaya that I had obtained.
It took over a year to undertake and complete a reading of the Samyutta
Nikaya, which is some 2000 pages in Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation,
including stopping to read and understand the relevant footnotes in each
of these volumes, of which there are many. This may look and sound like
some kind of Chinese torture test, until one realizes that there
actually is some light at the end of the
tunnel waiting for one to discover it. All that reading, study,
contemplation, and meditation eventually paid off, because I was able to
say at the end of it all that I had read and understood from my own
experience of it what the Buddha taught according to its presentation in
the Theravada tradition, which I believe to be the closest to the
original teachings as they were spoken.
The main teachings to focus on coming to understand and realize are the following:
1. The Four Noble Truths
2. The Noble Eightfold Path
3. The Five Aggregates (this is especially important for insight into beginning to understand the teaching of anatta)
4. The Three Characteristics of Existence (also known as the tilakkhana or anicca, dukkha, and anatta)
5. Dependent Co-Arising (or Dependent Origination โ paticca-samuppada)
Other important teachings to become aware of during the course of practice include:
1. The Five Hindrances (especially as they pertain to meditation โ
sensuous lust, aversion and ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and
worry, and skeptical doubt)
2. The Seven Factors of Enlightenment (these also as they pertain to the
meditation technology โ of mindfulness, investigation of states,
energy, rapture, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity)
3. The Five Spiritual Faculties (the Indriyas โ of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom)
4. The Ten Fetters of Existence (as they relate to the path and the
fruit of the path: self delusion, doubt, clinging to ritual and
observances, sensuous lust, ill will, greed for fine material existence,
greed for immaterial existence, conceit, restlessness, and ignorance)
As for the books themselves, the four main Nikayas are as follows:
The Long Discourses of the Buddha, The Digha Nikaya, trans. by Maurice Walshe.
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, The Majjhima Nikaya, trans. by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi.
The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya, translated and edited by Nyanaponika Thera and Bhikkhu Bodhi.
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, The Samyutta Nikaya, trans. by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
Select volumes from the Khuddhaka Nikaya (The Shorter Collection of Discourses) which can be very helpful to understanding are:
The Udana & The Itivuttaka, trans. by John D. Ireland
The Sutta Nipata, trans. by H. Saddhatissa
The Dhammapada, trans. by Narada Thera
Other modern commentarial books include:
The Great Discourse on Causation, The Mahanidana Sutta and Its Commentaries, Introduction and translation from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi
The All-Embracing Net of Views, The Brahmajala Sutta and Its Commentaries, Introduction and translation from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi
The Root of Existence, The Mulapariyaya Sutta and Its Commentaries, Introduction and translation from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi
The Noble Eightfold Path, Way to the End of Suffering, by Bhikkhu Bodhi
Concept and Reality in Early Buddhist Thought, by Bhikkhu Nanananda
The Magic of the Mind, An Exposition of the Kalakarama Sutta, by Bhikkhu Nanananda
The Heart of Buddhist Meditation, by Nyanaponika Thera
Satipatthana, The Direct Path to Realization, by Ven. Analayo
What the Buddha Taught, by Walpola Rahula
For some insightful scholarly and academic books, the first three listed
here are very helpful in understanding about the aggregates and anatta:
The Five Aggregates: Understanding Theravada Psychology and Soteriology, by Mathieu Boisvert. Also can be found here when in stock.
Identity and Experience, The Constitution of the Human being According to early Buddhism, by Sue Hamilton
Selfless Persons, by Steven Collins
How Buddhism Began, The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings, by Richard Gombrich
I’ve posted the following on two different forums to help direct people
to relevant readings that may help them begin to put the pieces of the
puzzle together. Perhaps some here will benefit also from this reading
list.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Apropos of some recent posts here in question of explanations about the
Dhamma, I thought to put together a brief reading list of books which
might help the poor old sod struggling to make out what the Dhamma is
teaching, despite all the complex archaic commentarial literature there
is to read and to figure out.
At one point in my training, I came to the “realization” that reading
and contemplating anything other than the direct words of the Buddha
(read that as: books other than the translations of the Pali canon) was
for me at that time a waste of my time. I therefore put down any outside
reading I was then doing and shifted my focus to the discourses of the
Buddha. What I had realized was that I really had no way of verifying
what others (in their books and essays) were espousing that the Buddha
taught because I hadn’t yet finished reading the discourses themselves.
There were questions that I had which were cleared up during the course
of that exercise in reading and contemplation of the discourses, as well
as other questions which resulted (arose) from that same reading. I’ve
spent a great deal of time in study, contemplation, and observation of
my own practice experience in getting to the point I’m at today, and it
hasn’t always been an easy or smooth journey. What I can say, though, is
that if one has a practice in meditation and is willing to wade through
all the discourses and a few modern commentarial books, one stands a
chance of being able to begin making some sense of this thing called the
Dhamma.
It took a good two years to go through the Digha Nikaya, Majjhima
Nikaya, and the anthology of the Anguttara Nikaya that I had obtained.
It took over a year to undertake and complete a reading of the Samyutta
Nikaya, which is some 2000 pages in Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation,
including stopping to read and understand the relevant footnotes in each
of these volumes, of which there are many. This may look and sound like
some kind of Chinese torture test, until one realizes that there
actually is some light at the end of the
tunnel waiting for one to discover it. All that reading, study,
contemplation, and meditation eventually paid off, because I was able to
say at the end of it all that I had read and understood from my own
experience of it what the Buddha taught according to its presentation in
the Theravada tradition, which I believe to be the closest to the
original teachings as they were spoken.
The main teachings to focus on coming to understand and realize are the following:
1. The Four Noble Truths
2. The Noble Eightfold Path
3. The Five Aggregates (this is especially important for insight into beginning to understand the teaching of anatta)
4. The Three Characteristics of Existence (also known as the tilakkhana or anicca, dukkha, and anatta)
5. Dependent Co-Arising (or Dependent Origination โ paticca-samuppada)
Other important teachings to become aware of during the course of practice include:
1. The Five Hindrances (especially as they pertain to meditation โ
sensuous lust, aversion and ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and
worry, and skeptical doubt)
2. The Seven Factors of Enlightenment (these also as they pertain to the
meditation technology โ of mindfulness, investigation of states,
energy, rapture, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity)
3. The Five Spiritual Faculties (the Indriyas โ of faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom)
4. The Ten Fetters of Existence (as they relate to the path and the
fruit of the path: self delusion, doubt, clinging to ritual and
observances, sensuous lust, ill will, greed for fine material existence,
greed for immaterial existence, conceit, restlessness, and ignorance)
As for the books themselves, the four main Nikayas are as follows:
The Long Discourses of the Buddha, The Digha Nikaya, trans. by Maurice Walshe.
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, The Majjhima Nikaya, trans. by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi.
The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya, translated and edited by Nyanaponika Thera and Bhikkhu Bodhi.
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, The Samyutta Nikaya, trans. by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
Select volumes from the Khuddhaka Nikaya (The Shorter Collection of Discourses) which can be very helpful to understanding are:
The Udana & The Itivuttaka, trans. by John D. Ireland
The Sutta Nipata, trans. by H. Saddhatissa
The Dhammapada, trans. by Narada Thera
Other modern commentarial books include:
The Great Discourse on Causation, The Mahanidana Sutta and Its Commentaries, Introduction and translation from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi
The All-Embracing Net of Views, The Brahmajala Sutta and Its Commentaries, Introduction and translation from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi
The Root of Existence, The Mulapariyaya Sutta and Its Commentaries, Introduction and translation from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi
The Noble Eightfold Path, Way to the End of Suffering, by Bhikkhu Bodhi
Concept and Reality in Early Buddhist Thought, by Bhikkhu Nanananda
The Magic of the Mind, An Exposition of the Kalakarama Sutta, by Bhikkhu Nanananda
The Heart of Buddhist Meditation, by Nyanaponika Thera
Satipatthana, The Direct Path to Realization, by Ven. Analayo
What the Buddha Taught, by Walpola Rahula
For some insightful scholarly and academic books, the first three listed
here are very helpful in understanding about the aggregates and anatta:
The Five Aggregates: Understanding Theravada Psychology and Soteriology, by Mathieu Boisvert. Also can be found here when in stock.
Identity and Experience, The Constitution of the Human being According to early Buddhism, by Sue Hamilton
Selfless Persons, by Steven Collins
How Buddhism Began, The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings, by Richard Gombrich
“The gift of truth exceeds all other gifts” โ Dhammapada, v. 354 Craving XXIV
Post
by BlackBird ยป Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:47 pm
Thank you Ian, always enjoy reading your posts. I’ll link this post to the OP, in case viewers don’t read down this far
Also hope to get a bit of a blogroll section going today, just got a bit of work to do first.
Edit: Just spend the last half hour on an update, hit ctrl+r instead of
ctrl+t and lost everything… I’m never using IE again, from now on it’s
SRware Iron all the way
metta
JAck
Also hope to get a bit of a blogroll section going today, just got a bit of work to do first.
Edit: Just spend the last half hour on an update, hit ctrl+r instead of
ctrl+t and lost everything… I’m never using IE again, from now on it’s
SRware Iron all the way
metta
JAck
“For a disciple who has conviction in the Teacher’s message & lives to penetrate it, what accords with the Dhamma is this:
‘The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I.” - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta
Path Press - รฤแนavฤซra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli’s Dhamma talks
‘The Blessed One is the Teacher, I am a disciple. He is the one who knows, not I.” - MN. 70 Kitagiri Sutta
Path Press - รฤแนavฤซra Thera Dhamma Page - Ajahn Nyanamoli’s Dhamma talks
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- Posts: 6636
- Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 10:31 pm
- Location: Ellan Vannin
- Contact:
Post
by Cittasanto ยป Thu Dec 31, 2009 11:54 am
here is my teachers site, he has just started a
blog on their not sure if it is going to be weekly or monthly as both
have been mentioned, in our discussions.
http://www.puredhamma.org/index.php ” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;
blog on their not sure if it is going to be weekly or monthly as both
have been mentioned, in our discussions.
http://www.puredhamma.org/
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.
He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His
reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side,
if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for
preferring either opinion โฆ
…
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them โฆ he
must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His
reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side,
if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for
preferring either opinion โฆ
…
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them โฆ he
must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
Post
by Cittasanto ยป Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:47 pm
http://www.chantpali.org/” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;
spme pali chanting resourses
spme pali chanting resourses
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.
He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His
reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side,
if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for
preferring either opinion โฆ
…
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them โฆ he
must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His
reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side,
if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for
preferring either opinion โฆ
…
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them โฆ he
must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
John Stuart Mill
Post
by Kim OHara ยป Thu Dec 31, 2009 11:39 pm
BlackBird wrote:
Edit: Just spend the last half hour on an update, hit ctrl+r instead of
ctrl+t and lost everything… I’m never using IE again, from now on it’s
SRware Iron all the way
I have never had a high opinion of Microsoft software (not since first working on a Mac, anyway), so I’m with you on that.
Firefox is probably the way to go for a browser, though Opera has its fans, too. No problems at all.
If you want to go really radical for the New Year, download OpenOffice and say ‘bye, bye’ to Word, Excel and the rest.
OpenOffice works very well but there is are occasional problems exchanging documents with the rest of the world.
If you want to go really really radical for the New Year, get Linux and say ‘bye, bye’ to Windows as well.
But it’s good to have a friend nearby who has already done it.