Suthras

Three Cardinal Discourses Of The Buddha - This booklet contains the first three discourses that the Buddha gave after his Awakening.In these three discourses the Buddha displays the fundamental, cardinal teachings on the Four Noble Truths from which all of his teachings branch and to which they all point back.

Kalama Sutta - The discourse to the Kalama is well known for its encouragement of inquiry. It sets forth the principles that should be followed by a seeker of truth and contains a standard by which spiritual teachings can be judged. In this discourse the Buddha shows that the reason for a virtuous life does not necessarily depend on beliefs, but on mental well-being acquired through the overcoming of greed, hatred and delusion.

The Suttanipata - The Suttanipata, or “Group of Discourses” is a collection of discourses ascribed to the Buddha that includes some of the most popular suttas of the Pali Canon, among them the Discourse on Loving-Kindness Sutta. The suttas are primarily in verse, though several are in mixed prose and verse. The Suttanipata contains discourses that extol the figure of the muni, the illumined sage, who wanders homeless completely detached from the world.

The Long Discourses Of The Buddha - Venerable Sumedho Thera writes in his foreword: "[These suttas] are not meant to be 'sacred scriptures' that tell us what to believe. One should read them, listen to them, think about them, contemplate them, and investigate the present reality, the present experience, with them. Then, and only then, can one insightfully know the truth beyond words." Introduced with a vivid account of the Buddha's life and times and a short survey of his teachings, The Long Discourses of the Buddha brings us closer in every way to the wise and compassionate presence of Gotama Buddha and his path of truth.

The Numerical Discourses Of The Buddha - The Numerical Discourses  contains a full translation of the Anguttara Nikaya. The Anguttara arranges the Buddha's discourses in accordance with a numerical scheme intended to promote retention and easy comprehension. In an age when writing was still in its infancy, this proved to be the most effective way to ensure that the disciples could grasp and replicate the structure of a teaching.

The Lotus Sutra - Buddhism has a large corpus of scripture and "The Lotus Sutra" is regarded as the most important of the Mahayana Buddhism which spread in most parts of the then know world, including China, Korea and Japan, where it served as the  basis of Tien- tai, Tendai and Nichiren schools, the latter now very popular in the West under the name of Soka Gakkai led by the famous Daisaku lkeda.  The work " bears the character of a dramatic performance, Sakyamuni Load Buddha himself , consisting of a series of dialogued, brightened by the magic effects of a would - be supernatural scenery."

The Mahanidana Sutta, “The Great Discourse on Causation,” is the longest and most detailed of the Buddha’s discourses dealing with dependent arising (paticca samuppada), a doctrine generally regarded as the key to his entire teaching. The Buddha often described dependent arising as deep, subtle, and difficult to see, the special domain of noble wisdom. So when his close disciple Ananda comes to him and suggests that this doctrine might not be as deep as it seems, the stage is set for a particularly profound and illuminating exposition of the Dhamma.
This book contains a translation of the Mahanidana Sutta together with all the doctrinally important passages from its authorized commentary and sub commentary. A long introductory essay discusses the rich philosophical implications of the sutta; an appendix explains the treatment of dependent arising according to the Abhidhamma system of conditional relations.

In the Pali Canon the Buddha often compares himself to the lion, the king of beasts, and one of the epithets the Buddhist tradition ascribes to him is Sakyasiha, the lion of the Sakyan clan. The Buddha describes his proclamation of the Dhamma as his " lion's roar," a designation the commentaries say implies the qualities of supremacy, fearlessness, and unchallengeable ness. 
The two sutta were originally translated by the eminent English scholar-mon, Bhikku Nanamoli, in his draft translation of the entire Majjima Nikaya. The translations have been edited and revised by Bhikku Bhodi, who has also provided introductions and notes.

What should be the goal of human life? What course of conduct should we follow to free ourselves from suffering? This inquiry into the good has always been the spur to the spiritual development of man, and the different answers sages and saints have given have been the seeds out of which the great religions have grown. As the answers are diverse, so the spiritual system that have grown from them are also diverse.

In this booklet we will discuss why we should take an interest in what the Buddha taught and the significance of these teachings as part of Buddhist practice. Hopefully some of you will get encouraged to start reading the sutta and get inspired by the very words of the Buddha himself. 

One of the most common unquestioned assumptions among Buddhist meditators is that Satipatthana is synonymous with Vipassana. This assumption, it seems, often is a result of reading the Satipatthana Suttas in isolation without carefully considering the context in which satipatthana is used throughout the Sutta. When the broader view of the entire Sutta Pitaka is taken into account, it becomes clear that such an assumption, at best, is only partially correct. In this short study he will investigate the various contexts in which satipatthana appears and particularly consider is relationship with samadhi.

This book is a great gift from Bhante Dewananda in conveying his ideas on the Metta Sutta. A pearl is hidden inside the shell of an oyster. While most deliverances of the Metta Sutta are given in the shape of an oyster, Bhante Dewananda has peeled the layers away in order for us to see the beauty of the pearl within. This is the greatest gift that one can receive.

This slim volume is really just a collection of connected essays.

Ratana Sutta

A historical analysis of the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Digha Nikaya of the Pali Canon. The Mission Accomplished is undoubtedly an eye opening contribution to Buddhist analytical Pali studies. In this analytical and critical work Ven. Dr. Pategama Gnanarama enlightens us in many areas of subjects hitherto unexplored by scholars. His views on the beginnings of the Bhikkhuni Order are interesting and refreshing. They might even be provocative to traditional readers, yet be challenging to the feminists to adopt a most positive attitude to the problem. Prof. Chandima Wijebandara, University of Sri Jayawardhanapura, Sri Lanka.

Vimalakirti is a Bodhisattava who appears as a layman in order to help 'all living beings'. A worker of wonders, he reveals distant universes, feeds thousands of beings with a single bowl of nectar, and wins a philosophical debate with a thunderous silence,. Because he is enlightened the means he uses are highly skillful yet utterly inconceivable.

Bhikkhu Bodhi’s sophisticated and practical instructions on how to read the Pali of the Buddha’s discourses will acquaint students of Early Buddhism with the language and idiom of these sacred texts. Here the renowned English translator of the Pali Canon opens a window into key suttas from the Samyutta Nikaya, giving a literal translation of each sentence followed by a more natural English rendering, then explaining the grammatical forms involved. In this way, students can determine the meaning of each word and phrase and gain an intimate familiarity with the distinctive style of the Pali suttas—with the words, and world, of the earliest Buddhist texts.
Ven. Bodhi’s meticulously selected anthology of suttas provides a systematic overview of the Buddha’s teachings, mirroring the four noble truths, the most concise formulation of the Buddha’s guide to liberation. Reading the Buddha’s Discourses in Pali shares with readers not only exceptional language instruction but also a nuanced study of the substance, style, and method of the early Buddhist discourses.

The Lankavatara Sutra is one of the most important Mahayana texts, and the Napalese Buddhists consider it to be one of the nine canonical texts. The text contains almost all the main ideas, both philosophical and theological, of Mahayana Buddhism. The Yogacara School of Mahayana considers this text to be its fundamental text, as it contains all those ideas of idealism, like Mind-only, store-house-consciousness, which would form the basis of the philosophy of this school.

The sermon on the Foundation of Mindfulness Maha Sathipattana Sutta is the twenty second of the Long-length Discourses Collection of the discourses of the Buddha. There is yet another version of it, ten in the collection of Middle Length Discourses, which differs only by the absence of detailed explanation of the Four Noble Truth.

Discourses in Buddhist Classics is primarily designed with twofold objective viz. (a) to serve as the tool for post-graduate teaching of the Course in Philosophy of the Buddha; and (b) to sustain the interest of the enterprising student by providing comprehensive understanding of Theravada and Mahayana schools of Buddhism. Divided into six chapters, the first chapter gives an account of the missionary life and object of Buddha's teachings from Pali and Sanskrit sources; the second surveys the evolution of Pali language and its significant contribution; the third and fourth provide a brief sketch of Pali Tripitakas, the salient features as well as the Philosophical doctrines of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism by comparison and contrast. The last two chapters discuss the historiography of the two representative Buddhist Classics each from Thervada and Mahayana philosophical schools of Buddhism viz., Dhammapada, Sutta-Nipata, Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita and Saddharma Punóarika Sutra while throwing light on their central teachings. This work serves as a useful companion for the scholars and researchers who are seriously interested in the history of Buddhist literature.

Review by Ratnaprabha of The Vimalakirti Sutra, translated by Burton Watson.

The Nyaya Sutra of Gotama is an important treatise on Indian logic and is regarded as the earliest work of Nyaya philosophy. Written in the aphoristic style, it is believed to have been comprised by Gotama, Gautama or Aksapada who is also considered to be the founder of the Nyaya system of philosophy. That the Nyaya Sutra was an important work is also evident from the numerous commentaries on the texts which were written throughout the centuries. The Nyaya Sutra is divided into five blocks, each containing two chapters called ahnikas or Diurnal portions.

Printed in Devanagari script. From inside cover: This book represents the whole of what is the best of Buddhism. The Sutta-Nipata is an anthology and contains among others, a large number of verses from the different Nikayas. This is the first time that it is printed in Devanagari script.