Reddit mentions of The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya (The Teachings of the Buddha)

>I'd love to do the Vedas or the Tripiṭaka, but from what I'm reading, these are almost impossible to understand without the formal training and would take more than a year to complete (if you can even find English translations of them).


The Tripitaka actually has a lot of very accessible parts -- reading the entire thing would be a massive undertaking (this would be thousands and thousands of pages), but the Majjhima Nikaya (the middle length discourses of the Buddha) and the Digha Nikaya (the long length discourses of the Buddha) are IMO extremely accessible and cover most of the non-Mahayana Buddhist teachings. Both come with very good forwards which serve as a good introduction for understanding the rest of the text.

For Mahayana Buddhism, there are a number of sutras translated, but probably the most foundational/important would be the Bodhicharyavatara (the way of the Bodhisattvas) which is amazing, but really needs more unpacking to fully appreciate. For that I'd recommend The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech which is an excellent and detailed commentary on it.

The introduction to this translation of the Digha Nikaya talks about this at some length.

In short, before the Buddha, there were early versions of the castes, but there was also a Sramana tradition of those that basically left society.

In general, the Brahmins were respected, but the Sramanas were also given a good deal of honor.

These Sramanas did not follow a particular code, but were of many different mindsets, codes of conduct, etc. This ranged from wanderers to atheists to any number of other ways of thinking and conduct.

When the Buddha 'went forth' from the home life into homelessness, he entered this group of Sramanas. He worked with various teachers at the time, and ultimately found that their teachings were basically limited.

After his enlightenment and the establishment of the Sangha, the 'monks' at the time were basically homeless wanderers, generally. However, at times, they would reside in one place, sometimes for a short period and sometimes for a longer period, often because they were basically sponsored by lay disciples.

Some, like Mahakaccana I believe, resided in one place for the majority of the time. Others, like Mahakassapa perhaps, lived in the wilderness basically all of the time.

In general, some of them basically resided in the wilderness, some would wander, gathering alms at various towns and cities and the like.

In some cases, I think, there were cases where various townspeople, city people, kings, etc, would basically set up a more long-lasting system of giving alms, which allowed there to be a bit more established areas where monastics could stay, more or less. Also, various disciples would basically give retreat places, some of which are featured prominently in the suttas in terms of places where the Buddha gave discourses.

Also, it may be worth considering that northern India has monsoons related to the Himalayas, and so often times during the rains, the monastics would kind of settle in for a time, I think.

It seems like a very interesting life, to me. Very inspiring. Some of the poems that are written in the Theragatha give some sense of the lives of these individuals, including those that frequented the wilderness.

It depends on which school of Buddhism you are interested in. Different schools of Buddhism have different scriptures. For example, the school of Theravada Buddhism cherishes the Pali Canon, which consists of Vinaya Pitaka (monastic rules and disciplines), Sutta Pitaka (Buddha's discourses) and Abhidhamma Pitaka (philosophical treaties). The school of Mahayana Buddhism cherishes the Tripitaka, while the school of Tibetan Buddhism also has their own scriptures.

If you are into the Theravada school of Buddhism, which is the oldest school and also closest to the original teaching of the Buddha, then I'd recommend the following books:

The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya

The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya

The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya

The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: A Complete Translation of the Anguttara Nikaya

The Suttanipata: An Ancient Collection of the Buddha’s Discourses Together with Its Commentaries

Middle length discourses

Long discourses

Connected Discourses


Those 3 make up the Nikayas and will keep you busy until infinity. They're also a bit pricey.

I have a copy of Buddhist Suttas that contains many of the key suttas in it.

A Buddhist Bible contains some of the more important Mahayana suttas as they relate to Zen especially.

And then of course there is the Lotus Sutra, an epic classic unto itself.

Bhikkhu Bodhi's collection of sutras.

http://www.amazon.com/Buddhas-Words-Anthology-Discourses-Teachings/dp/0861714911

http://www.amazon.com/The-Middle-Length-Discourses-Buddha/dp/086171072X/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0JGB8GYHNJYWS360RV6E

http://www.amazon.com/The-Connected-Discourses-Buddha-Translation/dp/0861713311/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0JGB8GYHNJYWS360RV6E

http://www.amazon.com/The-Long-Discourses-Buddha-Translation/dp/0861711033/ref=pd_sim_b_8?ie=UTF8&refRID=0JGB8GYHNJYWS360RV6E

They have commentaries, but they are seperate from the sutras themselves.

Just don't read the commentaries if you are opposed to them, but if you have questions about the meanings of the sutras, you should read the commentaries as Bhikkhu Bodhi is a very well established pali translator, and thus can discern subtle differences in the pali that don't come across in English.

Open Heart, Clear Mind by Thubten Chodron, great book and easy to read, I have to say the best beginner book on Buddhism I have ever read. She has her email at the end and she will actually write back to you.

Open Heart, Clear Mind: An Introduction to the Buddha's Teachings https://www.amazon.com/dp/0937938874/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_WIw7CbRQ6T3N0

If you are looking for something more studious you can get the Buddha's discourses, they are a bit dry at times but they are the closest thing to the Buddha's own words you will be able to find.

The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya (The Teachings of the Buddha) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0861711033/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_jIw7Cb6WRBSMW