Earliest Buddhist Teaching

[xmp333]

Hi,


I am interested in the earliest exposition of Buddhist philosophy/religion in general. That is,
what have scholars dated as the earliest text that exposits Buddhism as a whole, as opposed to
a handling of a specific circumstance (like death)?

I'm interested in a single teaching and not a corpus. It need not go into detail either.

If no such thing exists (due to fragmentary texts), are there any proposed reconstructions?

Links to the (English) texts would be greatly appreciated.

I have done some web searches, but am unsure if the results are correct, especially given the more
recent Gandharan finds.


Thanks in Advance!

[Prasadachitta]

Hi,


I am interested in the earliest exposition of Buddhist philosophy/religion in general. That is,
what have scholars dated as the earliest text that exposits Buddhism as a whole, as opposed to
a handling of a specific circumstance (like death)?

I'm interested in a single teaching and not a corpus. It need not go into detail either.

If no such thing exists (due to fragmentary texts), are there any proposed reconstructions?

Links to the (English) texts would be greatly appreciated.

I have done some web searches, but am unsure if the results are correct, especially given the more
recent Gandharan finds.


Thanks in Advance!

I cant confirm this but I have been told that the following two suttas were found in a clay pot written on bark and are among some of the oldest actual copies of suttas. In addition I understand that the Sutta Nipata in general has some of the most accurately preserved texts based on the linguistic style. I am not a scholar so if anyone here knows better than me please chime in.

Prasadachitta





http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.03.than.html

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.02.than.html

[santa100]

Also check out Bhikkhu Bodhi's wonderful lectures series on Sutta Nipata at:

http://bodhimonastery.org/sutta-nipata.html

[Cittasanto]

The Sutta Nipata book of 8's is thought to be old, but I do not know about the earliest.

[ancientbuddhism]

Hi,


I am interested in the earliest exposition of Buddhist philosophy/religion in general. That is,
what have scholars dated as the earliest text that exposits Buddhism as a whole, as opposed to
a handling of a specific circumstance (like death)?

I'm interested in a single teaching and not a corpus. It need not go into detail either.

If no such thing exists (due to fragmentary texts), are there any proposed reconstructions?

Links to the (English) texts would be greatly appreciated.

I have done some web searches, but am unsure if the results are correct, especially given the more
recent Gandharan finds.


Thanks in Advance!

Doing a school paper? I don't think you'll find a Cliff's Notes survey of your wish list. K.R. Norman has covered some of the ground you mention, below is a series of his lectures which may help, but I doubt there is Q of the Buddha's teachings to be found.

A Philological Approach to Buddhism by K.R. Norman

[David N. Snyder]

Chronology of Pali Canon

I have heard that the language of the Anguttara Nikaya and Sutta Nipata makes it appear to be the oldest known teachings.

British Museum Scrolls

[ancientbuddhism]

If no such thing exists (due to fragmentary texts), are there any proposed reconstructions?

It occurred to me with reference to this part of your request that you may be interested in Venerable Ajahn Sujato's GIST (General Integrated Sutta Theory) mentioned in Chapter 2 of A History of Mindfulness.

[Alexei]

Chronology of Pali Canon

There are some improvements to this list:
http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebsut053.htm

[daverupa]

Chronology of Pali Canon

There are some improvements to this list:
http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebsut053.htm

...and improvements again with respect to the dates of the parinibbana and some other events.

[zippymarmalade]

http://www.dhammawiki.com/index.php?tit ... um_Scrolls

Here is it said the scrolls are in the British Museum, London. They are actually held in the British Library, London.
It would be useful if somebody with the necessary level of permission can edit the WIKI page as the present information is not correct.

Here is a link to one of the Library's publications
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Dm8a ... milarbooks

Thanks!