Want to Read All the Pitaka

[diligence]

I am a Theravada Buddhist living in China. English is not my mother tounge. I learned English at school. Now I want to read all the Pitaka in order to fully understand what the Buddha taught. In China, we Theravade Buddhists can read Chinese version, but this version was translated from Japanese version which again from English version. Since mastering Pali language seems to me difficult due to my age (46) and other poor conditions(lacking teachers, etc.), so English is relatively the best choice for me now. I could utilize the the online dictionary, which could make my reading less difficult.

I would like to know whether my opinion is right. Where should I start? What is the step? Do I need to read them all? How long can I finish reading all the Pitaka if I spend about two or three hours a day? Hope someone could be good enough to guide me or to give me some tips. (My email address: liuzhe608@126.com) Thank you so much in advance!

Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

[Bonsai Doug]

Try these sites:

http://what-buddha-said.net/index.htm

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/

[Zom]

Check email ,)

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

If you're committed to getting through the whole Sutta Pitaka, I would recommend starting with the Bhikkhu Bodhi translations of the Majjhima & Samyutta Nikayas - excellent nikayas, well translated.

By the time you've read through those, his forthcoming translation of the Anguttara Nikaya should also be available, and that can be next on your list.

Add to that the highlights from the Khuddaka Nikaya (i.e. Dhammapada, Udana, Itivuttaka, Sutta Nipata) and you've then read most of good stuff in the Sutta Pitaka - it's diminishing returns from there, in my opinion.

Metta,
Retro.

[diligence]

I see. Thank you all very much indeed! Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

[mikenz66]

Greetings Diligence,

I would recommend starting by getting a good overview of the Sutta Pitaka by reading Bhikkhu Bodhi's excellent compilation:
In the Buddha's Words, An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon
http://www.wisdompubs.org/pages/display ... yValue=104

It's relatively inexpensive, and You can start reading the PDF on that site.

Personally I read that first, then the MN, and I have read quite a lot of the SN and DN and the small books of the KN that Retro mentions above. The MN has the advantage of there being a large number of downloadable talks about MN suttas:
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=10123
http://www.dhammaloka.org.au/


Mike

[whynotme]

Hi diligence,

I thought China has a very deep history involve Buddhism, isn't there any good version then reading in English? It is not your mother language and it has many special words. But I said your opinion is definitely right, if you want to know what Buddhism is, read the suttas, they are very clear. There are many good teachings in those.

Luckily in my country, there are monks devote their time and effort to translate the Pitaka from Pali to my language with an attitude to know what the Buddha said. Thank to those monks, they did an excellent work and censor meaning, word by word.

If you have several hours each day then I think you could read it all under an year. I still haven't read all the Pitaka yet while have spent several years on it. But I think besides reading Pitaka, you should read the history and others' opinions and criticism about it. In my experience, sometimes even reading in my own language, I didn't know what it means. And with discussion and open minded, sometimes you can learn new meanings about the thing you thought you already know.

Regards

[diligence]

Thank you very much for giving me such valuable suggestion and thank you for your kindness. Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

[diligence]

I want to thank all of you:
Bonsai Doug: Thank you for telling me the two wonderful websites.
Zom: Thank you for your enthusiasm and your encouragement.
Retro: Thank you for your suggestions about Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translations and the precedure of reading suttars.
Mike: Thank you for recommending Bhikkhu Bodhi’s compilation, though I cannot open it. Thank you for sharing me with your reading procedure.
whynotme: Many thanks for your careful and thoughtful reply. Please feel at ease that I do read the history and others’ opinions and criticism, and join online forum and discussion group(Chinese of course). Otherwise, I cannot find this great forum.
As to the Pali Tipitaka version, we can read the Chinese version online, but the Chinese version was translated from Japanese version. And the Japanese version was translated from English version. And the English version from Pali version. Pali is difficult for me. I cannot speak Japanese. The Chinese version is classical Chinese not modern Chinese, which is rather difficult and is said there are jerky words somewhere. That’s why I have to read up English version.
By the way, I would like to know which lucky country you live.

Now there is a new problem. It is whether my English reading level is good enough to be able to accomplish the task. As you can see, I am not good at writing (and speaking and listening), but reading is relatively easier for foreign language learners, I think. Could anyone is kind enough to do me a favour? For example, you design a paragraph, and supply with multiple choices , then I read and choose which one is the best answer, and sorts like this, to test my corresponding ability.

[nameless]

You can check out this page:
http://sss2002.51.net/books/Tipitaka/Sutta-Pitaka.htm

The footnotes explain Pali terms in Chinese, so it could be closer to the source than the pali-english-japanese-chinese version you spoke of. It is still though, as you say, difficult and jerky.

[diligence]

Thank you very much, nameless. I know this page, the version are classical Chinese. And If my English reading ability is not good enough, I have to read up Chinese version from this page. Please,can anyone help me to test my reading ability? We can also use the true-false style, which seems more simple.

[yamaka]

Dear Diligence,

I would like to suggest Ven. Thanissaro's Sutta translation from the Pali, it would be a good start.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/

[diligence]

Thank you very much, yamaka! SADHU! SADHU! I am readhing it.

[yamaka]

Thank you very much, yamaka! SADHU! SADHU! I am readhing it.

Dear Deligence,

Since you are a Chinese, you could surf some of the translated discourses from the Chinese web as stated below:

1.http://agama.buddhason.org << Translated & comparison in between the Agama Sutra & Pali Sutta.
2.http://www.dhammatalks.org/dhamma/Dhammaindex.htm <<Translated Suttas & discourses from Ven. Thanissaro Bhikkhu, it was mainly practicing on Ajahn Mun's tradition(Thai Forest Tradition).

[diligence]

[quote

Since you are a Chinese, you could surf some of the translated discourses from the Chinese web as stated below:

1.http://agama.buddhason.org << Translated & comparison in between the Agama Sutra & Pali Sutta.
2.http://www.dhammatalks.org/dhamma/Dhammaindex.htm <<Translated Suttas & discourses from Ven. Thanissaro Bhikkhu, it was mainly practicing on Ajahn Mun's tradition(Thai Forest Tradition).


quote]

Thanks again! I have added the website to my favorite.