What to get

[Bakmoon]

I plan on buying (finally!) a hard copy of the Majjhima nikaya. I would also like to get another of the Nikayas, but I don't know which. At the moment I am leaning towards the Samyutta Nikaya, but would like to get some other input. Does anyone else have any reccomendations of which of the Nikayas I should buy next?

[DAWN]

Me, personally, i have DN, MN, SN and AN in hard copy. I can not give an advice of choice because i dont yet read all, but i think you can buy them all.

Also, as i remember, there is no KN in hard copy.

[daverupa]

The MN is fantastic; in fact, if that's one you're going to get anyway, you might consider making it a focus, and getting your hands on Analayo's A Comparative Study of the Majjhima-nikāya to read alongside. This, plus a number of in-depth studies of certain MN suttas, combine to make deep study of the MN a fantastic foundation.

There are some good nuggets in the DN (DN 1 and DN 2 in particular), but more often than not I feel as though I'm reading Buddhist 'Just So Stories', which isn't my cup of tea.

On the other side, the KN offers some brilliant pieces, such as the Sutta Nupata and the Itivuttaka, the Udana and the Thera-theri-gatha; but these can be collected individually, and various translations can be easily and usefully compared.

As to the SN and the AN, either one is a great second Nikaya. I chose to get the SN first simply because Bhikkhu Bodhi's AN hadn't been published yet, but I'd probably have gotten it first anyway since, more often than not, it's the one I found myself wanting to find suttas in which weren't yet online.

I'd probably say that left-brained folk should hit up the SN, and right-brained folk should hit up the AN - it's a quick 'n' dirty heuristic, and therefore flawed, but in general I think this approach will mean one ends up with the Nikaya most suitable to one's inclinations, which can make learning a little easier.

[LonesomeYogurt]

I'd really encourage going for the Samyutta over the Anguttara; the structure of the latter alone can be very vexing.

[mikenz66]

I'd really encourage going for the Samyutta over the Anguttara; the structure of the latter alone can be very vexing.

This is true, but Bhikkhu Bodhi's Thematic Guide http://www.wisdompubs.org/Pages/display ... n=&image=1 is very helpful.

The ordering of the SN is also a little random, and the comments from Bhikkhu Bodhi that I reproduced here: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=345#p88300 and am following in the Study Group, is also quite helpful.

However, once you have worked through Bhikkhu Bodhi's In the Buddha's Words
http://www.wisdompubs.org/Pages/display ... n=&image=1
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2392#p33319
(which is quite heavily weighted on the SN)
and/or
the MN, using Bhikkhu Bodhi's excellent talks here:
http://bodhimonastery.org/a-systematic- ... ikaya.html
and the many other talks on the MN that are available, e.g. at:
http://www.dhammaloka.org.au/component/ ... study.html

then reading Suttas at random is less of an issue, since you'll have seen all of the major issues discussed in some form or other.


Mike

[Bakmoon]

I'd really encourage going for the Samyutta over the Anguttara; the structure of the latter alone can be very vexing.

This is true, but Bhikkhu Bodhi's Thematic Guide http://www.wisdompubs.org/Pages/display ... n=&image=1 is very helpful.

The ordering of the SN is also a little random, and the comments from Bhikkhu Bodhi that I reproduced here: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=345#p88300 and am following in the Study Group, is also quite helpful.

However, once you have worked through Bhikkhu Bodhi's In the Buddha's Words
http://www.wisdompubs.org/Pages/display ... n=&image=1
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2392#p33319
(which is quite heavily weighted on the SN)
and/or
the MN, using Bhikkhu Bodhi's excellent talks here:
http://bodhimonastery.org/a-systematic- ... ikaya.html
and the many other talks on the MN that are available, e.g. at:
http://www.dhammaloka.org.au/component/ ... study.html

then reading Suttas at random is less of an issue, since you'll have seen all of the major issues discussed in some form or other.


Mike

Wonderful reasources, Mikenz66! Thank you. By the way, which would you recommend?

[mikenz66]

Hi, you mean after the MN? I'd still recommend "In the Buddha's Words", since it covers the whole Sutta Pitaka, has copious introductory notes, a set of lectures, is very cheap, and would be good to carry around while travelling.

Then as Dave says, there is a toss-up between AN and SN. Since In the Buddha's Words uses a lot of SN suttas maybe the AN would be a good choice. I'm really enjoying reading that in the order of Bhikkhu Bodhi's Thematic Guide.

Also, don't overlook picking up some of those little KN books: Dhammapada, Udana, Itivuttaka, and Sutta Nipata. Parts of the latter have been argued to be the oldest in the Canon. Unfortunately the available translations seem expensive, and not as good as, for example the Udana+Itivuttaka by Ireland. I believe John Peacock is working on a new translation, and there are some quite good translations of parts on line.


Mike

[Cittasanto]

I plan on buying (finally!) a hard copy of the Majjhima nikaya. I would also like to get another of the Nikayas, but I don't know which. At the moment I am leaning towards the Samyutta Nikaya, but would like to get some other input. Does anyone else have any reccomendations of which of the Nikayas I should buy next?

go with your leaning, the samyutta is a great company for the rest of the nikayas.

[James the Giant]

Mum just gave me a hundred dollars for Christmas, so I could buy all four! But it seems a bit extravagant to buy all of them, especially when I already have Access To Insight on my Kindle.
Is there any tremendous advantage to having the Wisdom Publications editions, in addition to the free Access To Insight? I guess there might be some good introductions and commentary in the Wisdom Pubs ones?

[tiltbillings]

Is there any tremendous advantage to having the Wisdom Publications editions

They are over all much better translations and they have extensive footnotes with considerable information.

[Bakmoon]

Mum just gave me a hundred dollars for Christmas, so I could buy all four! But it seems a bit extravagant to buy all of them, especially when I already have Access To Insight on my Kindle.
Is there any tremendous advantage to having the Wisdom Publications editions, in addition to the free Access To Insight? I guess there might be some good introductions and commentary in the Wisdom Pubs ones?

Buying all four for a hundred dollars? Where would you buy from to do that? Going on amazon it looks like it will cost me that much for just the Majjhima Nikaya and the Samyutta Nikaya. If there is a cheaper place, I would love to buy the four.

[James the Giant]

Buying all four for a hundred dollars? Where would you buy from to do that? Going on amazon it looks like it will cost me that much for just the Majjhima Nikaya and the Samyutta Nikaya. If there is a cheaper place, I would love to buy the four.

Actually yes you are right, I can only get three for $100. All four will cost $135. I can chip in the extra $35 myself.
It's cheap because I don't buy paper books any more, I get ebooks. No paying for shipping. The ebook versions have no page numbers but they are still fully indexed and searchable. And as I will be travelling it is way more portable than four weighty tomes.

[Bakmoon]

Buying all four for a hundred dollars? Where would you buy from to do that? Going on amazon it looks like it will cost me that much for just the Majjhima Nikaya and the Samyutta Nikaya. If there is a cheaper place, I would love to buy the four.

Actually yes you are right, I can only get three for $100. All four will cost $135. I can chip in the extra $35 myself.
It's cheap because I don't buy paper books any more, I get ebooks. No paying for shipping. The ebook versions have no page numbers but they are still fully indexed and searchable. And as I will be travelling it is way more portable than four weighty tomes.

Oh. I don't have an E-reader. Plus, I prefer the hard copy books for some reason. I'll keep saving up til I can get the whole set then.

[RMHayes]

Great to see you interested in reading the suttas! There are 152 of them in the MN, so if you read one a day it will take about 5-6 months to complete the book. One option might be to take another 5-6 months and read the whole thing again, one sutta a day. Saves money and in my experience will deepen your appreciation of the collection.

On the other hand, you could also join the Pali Text Society for 25 British pounds a year and they send out a free book every year (free postage) -- this year it's the Bhikkhu Bodhi translation of The Numerical Discourses. My copy of the Bodhi SN printed by the PTS is preferable to the Wisdom pubs edition since it is printed on thicker paper and is in two volumes, unlike the most recent version printed by Wisdom on translucent paper and crammed into one binding. Otherwise in terms of contents they are identical. My PTS copy of the MN is closer to the Wisdom edition in terms of paper quality, but still very slightly nicer.

http://www.palitext.com

James the Giant mentioned reading the suttas on a Kindle or using the Kindle app -- it certainly is great to be able to search the entire contents of a book in less than one second, and also to quickly find the sections one has bookmarked or highlighted. I have the 4 Nikayas in both paper and electronic editions. Hard to put one of those big books in your briefcase or pocket, but there's always room for my iphone no matter where I go!

[James the Giant]

Humph, for Christmas I bought the MN on kindle, but I find it has no index. Or rather, the index is there, but there are no page numbers and no links in the index. I shall write a stiffly worded letter to Amazon complaining of this!