Building a relationship with the Buddhist Scriptures of the Sutta Pitaka
Citations are a standard way we can refer to specific suttas.
The most common citation for the Anguttara Nikaya is AN, although sometimes it is just an A. The numbered part of the citation has two parts—a chapter number and then a sutta number.
Even if we do most of our reading in print books or ebooks, we will need to go on-line and look up suttas. Here are some videos to help you use the resources on SuttaCentral.net.
Look up sutta DN 16
Digha Nikaya, Long Discourses
https://suttacentral.net/dn16/en/sujato
Look up sutta SN 56:11
Samyutta Nikaya, Connected/Linked Discourses
https://suttacentral.net/sn56.11/en/sujato
This video explains the three text control icons on a SuttaCentral.net translation:
ⓘ Publication details (including copyright)
⚙ Text settings (including side by side Pali)
⌄ View Parallels and references (Suttaplex Card)
Here are the URLs for the suttas in the example:
suttacentral.net/sn56.11/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn56.11/en/bodhi
This is a complete audio recording of the Dhammapada translated by Ven. Buddharakkhita. You can download a print and ebook version here. If you want to use the audio recordings for a Dhammapada Per Day Practice, you may want to download the Khuddakanikaya checklist.
Here is a sample of the first track, Yamaka Vagga: Pairs
Download individual files below. You may need to right click and and select save link.
Usually, typography focuses on making text easy to read. But this new font makes reading just difficult enough so we have slows down to process more deeply what is being read.
The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University has developed a font that their scientists claim will help with memory: Sans Forgetica. It works on the principle of “desirable difficulty.” Usually typography focuses on making text easy to read. But this font makes reading just difficult enough so the reader slows down to process more deeply what is being read. At least that’s the theory.
Here is an edition of the Dhammapada that makes use of this unusual font. Try it out and see what you think. Often when a text like the Dhammapada is so familiar to us, it is easy to move too quickly through the verses. Share your experience reading in the comments.
If you have the latest firmware on your Kindle reader, you can now load your own fonts. Just look for the /fonts/ folder and follow the instructions in the readme file. Most other e-ink readers have had this feature for some time. You can download Sans-Forgetica from the RMIT.
Not sold on the font? You can download the regular version of this translation instead.
Here is a simple handout that explains the four stages of enlightenment. As you read the suttas, the Buddha will refer to these stages so it is good to have this chart on hand when reading.
You can use these sutta checklists to keep track of the suttas that you have read. If you like to skip around, this will help to make sure that you eventually read them all.
You may also like to keep track of the whole nikayas you have read. For that you can use a Sutta Practice Life List.
This is the detailed table of contents of In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon by Bhikkhu Bodhi, published by Wisdom Publications, but linked to the free translations available on SuttaCentral.net. Most of the translations are by Bhikkhu Sujato. Translations from the Udana are by Ven. Anandajoti and those from the Itivuttaka are by John D. Ireland.
We highly recommend that you purchase the print copy of the original book from the publisher, Wisdom Publications. You can read a book review of why this book is so important.
You can also download a printable checklist of these suttas:
The introductions below are linked to the Internet Archive saved pages of the publisher’s website.
1. Old Age, Illness, and Death
(1) Aging and Death (SN 3.3)
(2) The Simile of the Mountain (SN 3.25)
(3) The Divine Messengers (from AN 3.35)
2. The Tribulations of Unreflective Living
(1) The Dart of Painful Feeling (SN 36.6)
(2) The Vicissitudes of Life (AN 8.6)
(3) Anxiety Due to Change (SN 22.7)
3. A World in Turmoil
(1) The Origin of Conflict (AN2. iv, 6, abridged) [AN 2.37]
(2) Why Do Beings Live in Hate? (from DN 21)
(3) The Dark Chain of Causation (from DN 15)
(4) The Roots of Violence and Oppression (from AN 3.69)
4. Without Discoverable Beginning
(1) Grass and Sticks (SN 15.1)
(2) Balls of Clay (SN 15.2)
(3) The Mountain (SN 15.5)
(4) The River Ganges (SN 15.8)
(5) Dog on a Leash (SN 22.99)
1. One Person (AN 1. xiii, 1, 5, 6) [AN1.170-186]
2. The Buddha’s Conception and Birth (MN 123, abridged)
3. The Quest for Enlightenment
(1) Seeking the Supreme State of Sublime Peace (from MN 26)
(2) The Realization of the Three True Knowledges (from MN 36)
(3) The Ancient City (SN 12.65)
4. The Decision to Teach (from MN 26)
5. The First Discourse (SN 56.11)
1. Not a Secret Doctrine (AN 3.129)
2. No Dogmas or Blind Belief (AN 3.65)
3. The Visible Origin and Passing Away of Suffering (SN 42.11)
4. Investigate the Teacher Himself (MN 47)
5. Steps toward the Realization of Truth (from MN 95)
1. Upholding the Dhamma in Society
2. The Family
(1) Parents and Children
(2) Husbands and Wives
3. Present Welfare, Future Welfare (AN 8.54)
4. Right Livelihood
(1) Avoiding Wrong Livelihood (AN 5.177)
(2) The Proper Use of Wealth (AN 4.61)
(3) A Family Man’s Happiness (AN 4.62)
5. The Woman of the Home (AN 8.49)
6. The Community
(1) Six Roots of Dispute (from MN 104)
(2) Six Principles of Cordiality (from MN 104)
(3) Purification Is for All Four Castes (MN 93, abridged)
(4) Seven Principles of Social Stability (from DN 16)
(5) The Wheel-Turning Monarch (from DN 26)
(6) Bringing Tranquillity to the Land (from DN 5)
1. The Law of Kamma
(1) Four Kinds of Kamma (AN 4.232)
(2) Why Beings Fare as They Do after Death (MN 41)
(3) Kamma and Its Fruits (MN 135)
2. Merit. The Key to Good Fortune
(1) Meritorious Deeds (It 22)
(2) Three Bases of Merit (AN 8.36)
(3) The Best Kinds of Confidence (AN 4.34)
3. Giving
(1) If People Knew the Result of Giving (It 26)
(2) Reasons for Giving (AN 8.33)
(3) The Gift of Food (AN 4.57)
(4) A Superior Person’s Gifts (AN 5.148)
(5) Mutual Support (It 107)
(6) Rebirth on Account of Giving (AN 8.35)
4.Moral Discipline
5. Meditation
(1) The Development of Loving-Kindness (It 27)
(2) The Four Divine Abodes (from MN 99)
(3) Insight Surpasses All (AN 9.20, abridged)
1. Four Wonderful Things (AN 4.128)
2. Gratification, Danger, and Escape
(1) Before My Enlightenment (AN 3.101 §§1–2) [3.103]
(2) I Set Out Seeking (AN 3.101 §3) [3.104]
(3) If There Were No Gratification (AN 3.105)
3. Properly Appraising Objects of Attachment (MN 13)
4. The Pitfalls in Sensual Pleasures
(1) Cutting Off All Affairs (from MN 54)
(2) The Fever of Sensual Pleasures (from MN 75)
5. Life Is Short and Fleeting (AN 7.70) [AN 7.74]
6. Four Summaries of the Dhamma (from MN 82)
7.The Danger in Views
(1) A Miscellany on Wrong View (AN 1. xvii, 1, 3, 7, 9) [AN1.306-308]
(2) The Blind Men and the Elephant (Ud 6.4)
(3) Held by Two Kinds of Views (It 49)
8. From the Divine Realms to the Infernal (AN 4.125)
9. The Perils of Saṃsāra
(1) The Stream of Tears (SN 15.3)
(2) The Stream of Blood (SN 15.13)
1. Why Does One Enter the Path?
(1) The Arrow of Birth, Aging, and Death (MN 63)
(2) The Heartwood of the Spiritual Life (MN 29)
(3) The Fading Away of Lust (SN 45.41–48, combined Part 1 Part 2 Part3)
2. Analysis of the Eightfold Path (SN 45.8)
3. Good Friendship (SN 45.2)
4. The Graduated Training (MN 27)
5. The Higher Stages of Training with Similes (from MN 39)
1. The Mind Is the Key (AN 1. iii, 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10) [AN1.21-30]
2. Developing a Pair of Skills
(1) Serenity and Insight (AN2. iii, 10) [AN2.31]
(2) Four Ways to Arahantship (AN 4.170)
(3) Four Kinds of Persons (AN 4.94)
3. The Hindrances to Mental Development (SN 46.55, abridged)
4. The Refinement of the Mind (AN 3.100 §§1–10) [AN 3.101]
5. The Removal of Distracting Thoughts (MN 20)
6. The Mind of Loving-Kindness (from MN 21)
7. The Six Recollections (AN 6.10) [Related: AN11.12 ]
8. The Four Establishments of Mindfulness (MN 10)
9. Mindfulness of Breathing (SN 54.13)
10. The Achievement of Mastery (SN 28.1–9,combined)
1.Images of Wisdom
(1) Wisdom as a Light (AN 4.143)
(2) Wisdom as a Knife (from MN 146)
2. The Conditions for Wisdom (AN 8.2, abridged)
3. A Discourse on Right View (MN 9)
4. The Domain of Wisdom
(1) By Way of the Five Aggregates
(a) Phases of the Aggregates (SN 22.56)
(b) A Catechism on the Aggregates (SN 22.82 = MN 109, abridged)
(c) The Characteristic of Nonself (SN 22.59)
(d) Impermanent, Suffering, Nonself (SN 22.45)
(e) A Lump of Foam (SN 22.95)
(2) By Way of the Six Sense Bases
(a) Full Understanding (SN 35.26)
(b) Burning (SN 35.28)
(c) Suitable for Attaining Nibbāna (SN 35.147, SN 35.148, SN 35.149, combined)
(d) Empty Is the World (SN 35.85)
(e) Conscious Too Is Nonself (SN 35.234)
(3) By Way of the Elements
(a) The Eighteen Elements (SN 14.1)
(b) The Four Elements (SN 14.37, SN 14.38, SN 14.39, combined)
(c) The Six Elements (from MN 140)
(4) By Way of Dependent Origination
(a) What Is Dependent Origination? (SN 12.1)
(b) The Stableness of the Dhamma (SN 12.20)
(c) Forty-Four Cases of Knowledge (SN 12.33)
(d) A Teaching by the Middle (SN 12.15)
(e) The Continuance of Consciousness (SN 12.38)
(f) The Origin and Passing of the World (SN 12.44)
(5) By Way of the Four Noble Truths
(a) The Truths of All Buddhas (SN 56.24)
(b) These Four Truths Are Actual (SN 56.20)
(c) A Handful of Leaves (SN 56.31)
(d) Because of Not Understanding (SN 56.21)
(e) The Precipice (SN 56.42)
(f) Making the Breakthrough (SN 56.32)
(g) The Destruction of the Taints (SN 56.25)
5. The Goal of Wisdom
(a) What is Nibbāna? (SN 38.1)
(b) Thirty-Three Synonyms for Nibbāna (SN 43.1– 44, combined)
(c) There Is That Base (Ud 8.1)
(d) The Unborn (Ud 8.3)
(e) The Two Nibbāna Elements (It 44)
(f) The Fire and the Ocean (from MN 72)
1. The Field of Merit for the World
(1) Eight Persons Worthy of Gifts (AN 8.59)
(2) Differentiation by Faculties (SN 48.18) [Related: SN 48.10 ]
(3) In the Dhamma Well Expounded (from MN 22)
(4) The Completeness of the Teaching (from MN 73)
(5) Seven Kinds of Noble Persons (from MN 70)
2. Stream-Entry
(1) The Four Factors Leading to Stream-Entry (SN 55.5)
(2) Entering the Fixed Course of Rightness (SN 25.1)
(3) The Breakthrough to the Dhamma (SN 13.1)
(4) The Four Factors of a Stream-Enterer (SN 55.2) [Related: (SN 55.1) ]
(5) Better than Sovereignty over the Earth (SN 55.1)
3. Nonreturning
(1) Abandoning the Five Lower Fetters (from MN 64)
(2) Four Kinds of Persons (AN 4.169)
(3) Six Things that Partake of True Knowledge (SN 55.3)
(4) Five Kinds of Nonreturners (SN 46.3)
4. The Arahant
(1) Removing the Residual Conceit “I Am” (SN 22.89)
(2) The Trainee and the Arahant (SN 48.53)
(3) A Monk Whose Crossbar Has Been Lifted (from MN 22)
(4) Nine Things an Arahant Cannot Do (from AN 9.7)
(5) A Mind Unshaken (from AN 9.26)
(6) The Ten Powers of an Arahant Monk (AN 10.90)
(7) The Sage at Peace (from MN 140)
(8) Happy Indeed Are the Arahants (from SN 22.76)
5. The Tathāgata
(1) The Buddha and the Arahant (SN 22.58)
(2) For the Welfare of Many (It 84)
(3) Sāriputta’s Lofty Utterance (SN 47.12)
(4) The Powers and Grounds of Self-Confidence (from MN 12)
(5) The Manifestation of Great Light (SN 56.38)
(6) The Man Desiring Our Good (from MN 19)
(7) The Lion (SN 22.78)
If you find this information useful, we highly recomment that you purchase the print copy of the original book from the publisher, Wisdom Publications.
In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon by Bhikkhu Bodhi, published by Wisdom Publications, 2005.
Many people have an interest in learning more about Buddhism. This is a book that gives the most direct path to finding out what the Buddha actually taught in his own words. This book contains 287 pages of translations of the most ancient teachings of the Buddha, preserved in the Pali language. Each individual scripture is known as a sutta.
The suttas are organized into ten chapters:
1. The Human Condition
2. The Bringer of Light
3. Approaching the Dhamma
4. The Happiness Visible in This Present Life
5. The Way to a Fortunate Rebirth
6. Deepening One’s Perspective on the World
7. The Path to Liberation
8. Mastering the Mind
9. Shining the Light of Wisdom
10. The Planes of Realization
Each one has an introduction to explain any concepts that might be unfamiliar to the reader. The organization quickly reveals that the Buddha’s teachings span a wide range of topics ranging from ordinary happiness in this life to complete liberation from all suffering.
Here are some samples from the original book. You can also see the detailed table of contents linked to freely available translations on line here.
“Bhikkhus (monks), the uninstructed worldling feels a pleasant feeling, a painful feeling, and a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. The instructed noble disciple too feels a pleasant feeling, a painful feeling, and a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. Therein, bhikkhus, what is the distinction, the disparity, the difference between the instructed noble disciple and the uninstructed worldling?”
“Venerable sir, our teachings are rooted in the Blessed One, guided by the Blessed One, take recourse in the Blessed One. It would be good if the Blessed One would clear up the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from him, the bhikkhus will remember it.”
“Then listen and attend closely, bhikkhus, I will speak.”
“Yes, venerable sir,” the bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:
“Bhikkhus, when the uninstructed worldling is being contacted by a painful feeling, he sorrows, grieves, and laments; he weeps beating his breast and becomes distraught. He feels two feelings—a bodily one and a mental one. Suppose they were to strike a man with a dart, and then they would strike him immediately afterwards with a second dart, so that the man would feel a feeling caused by two darts. So too, when the uninstructed worldling is being contacted by a painful feeling … he feels two feelings—a bodily one and a mental one.
“Being contacted by that same painful feeling, he harbours aversion towards it. When he harbours aversion towards painful feeling, the underlying tendency to aversion towards painful feeling lies behind this. Being contacted by painful feeling, he seeks delight in sensual pleasure. For what reason? Because the uninstructed worldling does not know of any escape from painful feeling other than sensual pleasure. When he seeks delight in sensual pleasure, the underlying tendency to lust for pleasant feeling lies behind this. He does not understand as it really is the origin and the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of these feelings. When he does not understand these things, the underlying tendency to ignorance in regard to neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling lies behind this.
“If he feels a pleasant feeling, he feels it attached. If he feels a painful feeling, he feels it attached. If he feels a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he feels it attached. This, bhikkhus, is called an uninstructed worldling who is attached to birth, aging, and death; who is attached to sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair; who is attached to suffering, I say.
“Bhikkhus, when the instructed noble disciple is contacted by a painful feeling, he does not sorrow, grieve, or lament; he does not weep beating his breast and become distraught. He feels one feeling—a bodily one, not a mental one. Suppose they were to strike a man with a dart, but they would not strike him immediately afterwards with a second dart, so that the man would feel a feeling caused by one dart only. So too, when the instructed noble disciple is contacted by a painful feeling … he feels one feeling—a bodily one, not a mental one.
“Being contacted by that same painful feeling, he harbours no aversion towards it. Since he harbours no aversion towards painful feeling, the underlying tendency to aversion towards painful feeling does not lie behind this. Being contacted by painful feeling, he does not seek delight in sensual pleasure. For what reason? Because the instructed noble disciple knows of an escape from painful feeling other than sensual pleasure. Since he does not seek delight in sensual pleasure, the underlying tendency to lust for pleasant feeling does not lie behind this. He understands as it really is the origin and the passing away, the gratification, the danger, and the escape in the case of these feelings. Since he understands these things, the underlying tendency to ignorance in regard to neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling does not lie behind this.
“If he feels a pleasant feeling, he feels it detached. If he feels a painful feeling, he feels it detached. If he feels a neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, he feels it detached. This, bhikkhus, is called a noble disciple who is detached from birth, aging, and death; who is detached from sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair; who is detached from suffering, I say.
“This, bhikkhus, is the distinction, the disparity, the difference between the instructed noble disciple and the uninstructed worldling.”
The wise one, learned, does not feel
The pleasant and painful mental feeling.
This is the great difference between
The wise one and the worldling.
For the learned one who has comprehended Dhamma,
Who clearly sees this world and the next,
Desirable things do not provoke his mind,
Towards the undesired he has no aversion.
For him attraction and repulsion no more exist;
Both have been extinguished, brought to an end.
Having known the dust-free, sorrowless state,
The transcender of existence rightly understands.
The Dart—SN 36:6
© Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2000) This excerpt from The Connected Discourses of the Buddha by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
“Bhikkhus (monks), these eight worldly conditions revolve around the world, and the world revolves around these eight worldly conditions. What eight? Gain and loss, disrepute and fame, blame and praise, and pleasure and pain. These eight worldly conditions revolve around the world, and the world revolves around these eight worldly conditions.
“Bhikkhus, an uninstructed worldling meets gain and loss, disrepute and fame, blame and praise, and pleasure and pain. An instructed noble disciple also meets gain and loss, disrepute and fame, blame and praise, and pleasure and pain. What is the distinction, the disparity, the difference between an instructed noble disciple and an uninstructed worldling with regard to this?”
“Bhante, our teachings are rooted in the Blessed One, guided by the Blessed One, take recourse in the Blessed One. It would be good if the Blessed One would clear up the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from him, the bhikkhus will retain it in mind.”
“Then listen, bhikkhus, and attend closely. I will speak.”
“Yes, Bhante,” those bhikkhus replied. The Blessed One said this:
“(1) Bhikkhus, when an uninstructed worldling meets with gain, he does not reflect thus: ‘This gain that I have met is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change.’ He does not understand it as it really is. (2) When he meets with loss … (3) … fame … (4) … disrepute … (5) … blame … (6) … praise … (7) … pleasure … (8) … pain, he does not reflect thus: ‘This pain that I have met is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change.’ He does not understand it as it really is.
“Gain obsesses his mind, and loss obsesses his mind. Fame obsesses his mind, and disrepute obsesses his mind. Blame obsesses his mind, and praise obsesses his mind. Pleasure obsesses his mind, and pain obsesses his mind. He is attracted to gain and repelled by loss. He is attracted to fame and repelled by disrepute. He is attracted to praise and repelled by blame. He is attracted to pleasure and repelled by pain. Thus involved with attraction and repulsion, he is not freed from birth, from old age and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and anguish; he is not freed from suffering, I say.
“But, bhikkhus, (1) when an instructed noble disciple meets with gain, he reflects thus: ‘This gain that I have met is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change.’ He thus understands it as it really is. (2) When he meets with loss … (3) … fame … (4) … disrepute … (5) … blame … (6) … praise … (7) … pleasure … (8) … pain, he reflects thus: ‘This pain that I have met is impermanent, suffering, and subject to change.’ He thus understands it as it really is.
“Gain does not obsess his mind, and loss does not obsess his mind. Fame does not obsess his mind, and disrepute does not obsess his mind. Blame does not obsess his mind, and praise does not obsess his mind. Pleasure does not obsess his mind, and pain does not obsess his mind. He is not attracted to gain or repelled by loss. He is not attracted to fame or repelled by disrepute. He is not attracted to praise or repelled by blame. He is not attracted to pleasure or repelled by pain. Having thus discarded attraction and repulsion, he is freed from birth, from old age and death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, dejection, and anguish; he is freed from suffering, I say.
“This, bhikkhus, is the distinction, the disparity, the difference between an instructed noble disciple and an uninstructed worldling.”
Gain and loss, disrepute and fame,
blame and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions that people meet
are impermanent, transient, and subject to change.
A wise and mindful person knows them
and sees that they are subject to change.
Desirable conditions don’t excite his mind
nor is he repelled by undesirable conditions.
He has dispelled attraction and repulsion;
they are gone and no longer present.
Having known the dustless, sorrowless state,
he understands rightly and has transcended existence.
The World—AN 8:5
© Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2012) This excerpt from The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Then the householder Anāthapiṇḍika approached the Blessed One…. The Blessed One said to him:
“Householder, there are these four kinds of happiness that may be achieved by a layperson who enjoys sensual pleasures, depending on time and occasion. What four? The happiness of ownership, the happiness of enjoyment, the happiness of freedom from debt, and the happiness of blamelessness.
(1) “And what, householder, is the happiness of ownership? Here, a clansman has acquired wealth by energetic striving, amassed by the strength of his arms, earned by the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained. When he thinks, ‘I have acquired wealth by energetic striving … righteously gained,’ he experiences happiness and joy. This is called the happiness of ownership.
(2) “And what is the happiness of enjoyment? Here, with wealth acquired by energetic striving, amassed by the strength of his arms, earned by the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained, a clansman enjoys his wealth and does meritorious deeds. When he thinks, ‘With wealth acquired by energetic striving … righteously gained, I enjoy my wealth and do meritorious deeds,’ he experiences happiness and joy. This is called the happiness of enjoyment.
(3) “And what is the happiness of freedom from debt? Here, a clansman has no debts to anyone, whether large or small. When he thinks, ‘I have no debts to anyone, whether large or small,’ he experiences happiness and joy. This is called the happiness of freedom from debt.
(4) “And what is the happiness of blamelessness? Here, householder, a noble disciple is endowed with blameless bodily, verbal, and mental action. When he thinks, ‘I am endowed with blameless bodily, verbal, and mental action,’ he experiences happiness and joy. This is called the happiness of blamelessness.
“These are the four kinds of happiness that a layperson who enjoys sensual pleasures may achieve, depending on time and occasion.”
Having known the happiness of freedom from debt,
one should recall the happiness of ownership.
Enjoying the happiness of enjoyment,
a mortal then sees things clearly with wisdom.
While seeing things clearly, the wise one
knows both kinds of happiness.
The other is not worth a sixteenth part
of the bliss of blamelessness.
Freedom From Debt—AN 4:62
© Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2012) This excerpt from The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
If you want to get the deepest benifit of reading this book, it is best to read just a few of the suttas each day. This allows time for the meaning to seep into your day to day life.
Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Theravada Buddhist monk, ordained in 1972. In addition to this book, he has published a complete translation of two of the canonical collections of suttas and edited a third. His deep Buddhist faith comes through in the precision and beauty of his translation work. He is also a popular teacher of the Buddhist suttas.
You can buy the print edition as well as electronic edition directly from the publisher at WisdomPubs.org. If you are planning to buy the electronic edition, buy it from them because it contains all three formats (Epub, Kindle and PDF) without any DRM restrictions. The print edition is available from on-line shop and your local bookseller can order it in if they don’t carry it.
The following hnadouts are perfect to use in classes or workshops on the Sutta Pitaka. They show the structures of the Nikayas and give some highlights of topics covered.
In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon has long been the best way to begin reading the suttas. You can read a short book review here that explains why.
This e-book contains the main introduction as well as the introduction to each of the ten chapters. While no substitute for reading the book with the actual suttas, this can give you a good idea of the book’s contents as well as Bhikkhu Bodhi’s writing style. If you would like to start exploring the suttas included in this book now, you can use this on-line guide that links to SuttaCentral.org’s translations of the same suttas.
You can buy the complete book from Wisdom Publications as a print or electronic edition. It is also available from on-line and regular bookshops.
These selections have been made available for non-commercial distribution by Wisdom Publications.
