The Dhammapada: Teachings of the Buddha
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha
Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah
The total for these three comes in under $60. Money well spent.
which dhamma texts would you pick?
Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
Without a doubt the two texts I would be bringing are Nyanatiloka"s anthology of suttas The Buddhas Path to Deliverance and Ajahn Chah's Food for the Heart.
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.
- BB
- BB
Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
all sound great. ajahn chah is really popular! i know little about him. is he as meticulous and specific as ajahn brahm? all i've read by him are snippets and quotes that seem vague, but then again snippets and quotes are frequently in themselves vague.Ñāṇa wrote: The Dhammapada: Teachings of the Buddha
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha
Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah
The total for these three comes in under $60. Money well spent.
why the dhammapada? is it a commentary along with it?
Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
never read any nyanatiloka, i'll have to look into that. another ajahn chah mention! he must be good.bodom wrote:Without a doubt the two texts I would be bringing are Nyanatiloka"s anthology of suttas The Buddhas Path to Deliverance and Ajahn Chah's Food for the Heart.
Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
seriously! along with bhikkhu bodhi's notes that book is extremely comprehensive and useful!!! it's my desert island book if i had to pick one for sure.lojong1 wrote:They would have each other. They ought to be able to make some progress with...manas wrote:I don't know if people could actually learn the Dhamma *just* from books, without losing their way.
the MAJJHIMA NIKAYA
Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
Sort of "Survival" books may be more appropriate, books about simply agriculture ... because it is an "island in the middle of nowhere"
- retrofuturist
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Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
Greetings,
Metta,
Retro.
There's a set of stories that have been forcibly retrofitted into it, but I'm not aware of a commentary beyond that.alan... wrote:why the dhammapada? is it a commentary along with it?
There's a free PDF online that collects all his translated Dhamma talks.another ajahn chah mention! he must be good.
Metta,
Retro.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
I haven't found Ajahn Chah to be vague. IMO he often gets to the heart of the matter. Many translations of his teachings are available here: ajahnchah.org.alan... wrote:ajahn chah is really popular! i know little about him. is he as meticulous and specific as ajahn brahm? all i've read by him are snippets and quotes that seem vague, but then again snippets and quotes are frequently in themselves vague.
It's a useful collection of teachings that cover various aspects of conduct and practice.alan... wrote:why the dhammapada?
- tiltbillings
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Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
It is a very rich and deep text.Ñāṇa wrote:It's a useful collection of teachings that cover various aspects of conduct and practice.alan... wrote:why the dhammapada?
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12
This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
He must mean Australia.ground wrote:Sort of "Survival" books may be more appropriate, books about simply agriculture ... because it is an "island in the middle of nowhere"
When you get here, he'll see we've had various forms of agriculture for 40,000 years +.
We've also got the tipitaka, commentaries and the storehouse of Theravadin post-canonical literature.
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Dhammanando
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Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
There is an old commentary to it, traditionally attributed to Buddhaghosa. The commentary comprises an explanation of the words in each verse, along with some story that ostensibly accounts for the verse's origin. The stories were translated many decades ago by Burlingame as Buddhist Legends, but he left out the arguably much more useful word-commentary. The latter has now been translated by John Ross Carter, but you need to get the right edition. The Ross Carter translation that Ñāṇa linked to is the 112-page edition, with the verses only. For the word-commentary you need to get the 552-page edition by Ross Carter, Mahinda Palihawadana and Jaroslav Pelikan:alan... wrote:why the dhammapada? is it a commentary along with it?
http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/s ... 0195108606
But if you don't want to spend $65 there is also a Kindle version for $7.
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.
In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.
In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
(Sn. 588)
Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
just so everyone is clear i was never talking about australia. as far as i know australia is just like any other modern country such as england, france, japan, or the united states. my fictional island has no tv, internet, etc. it's your classic lost island in the middle of nowhere scenario. whereas australia is totally modern and connected with everyone else via all sorts of technology. australia would in no way fit my hypothetical scenario.Ben wrote:He must mean Australia.ground wrote:Sort of "Survival" books may be more appropriate, books about simply agriculture ... because it is an "island in the middle of nowhere"
When you get here, he'll see we've had various forms of agriculture for 40,000 years +.
We've also got the tipitaka, commentaries and the storehouse of Theravadin post-canonical literature.
how in the world people think i'm talking about australia is beyond me.
- LonesomeYogurt
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Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
If it's NOT Australia, then I would bring the Samyutta Nikaya hollowed out and filled with tons of horrifying spiders - I wouldn't want my island nation to feel wimpy in comparison.
Seriously Australia what's up with your spiders
Anyway, I would suggest, as a text, the Majjhima Nikaya or the Sutta Nipata - I value the latter more, but the former is probably filled with more worthwhile stuff just because of its size. As a non-canonical source, Buddhadasa's Mindfulness with Breathing would be all the meditation instruction anyone out there would need.
Seriously Australia what's up with your spiders
Anyway, I would suggest, as a text, the Majjhima Nikaya or the Sutta Nipata - I value the latter more, but the former is probably filled with more worthwhile stuff just because of its size. As a non-canonical source, Buddhadasa's Mindfulness with Breathing would be all the meditation instruction anyone out there would need.
Gain and loss, status and disgrace,
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.
Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.
His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta
Stuff I write about things.
censure and praise, pleasure and pain:
these conditions among human beings are inconstant,
impermanent, subject to change.
Knowing this, the wise person, mindful,
ponders these changing conditions.
Desirable things don’t charm the mind,
undesirable ones bring no resistance.
His welcoming and rebelling are scattered,
gone to their end,
do not exist.
- Lokavipatti Sutta
Stuff I write about things.
- reflection
- Posts: 1116
- Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:27 pm
Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
Pretty much sounds like a place I'll be visiting soonish.. All the bookwork I take is a map to get me off again at the other end. I do think of taking a dhammapada, though. To have something inspiring to read in the evenings.alan... wrote:just so everyone is clear i was never talking about australia. as far as i know australia is just like any other modern country such as england, france, japan, or the united states. my fictional island has no tv, internet, etc. it's your classic lost island in the middle of nowhere scenario. whereas australia is totally modern and connected with everyone else via all sorts of technology. australia would in no way fit my hypothetical scenario.Ben wrote:He must mean Australia.ground wrote:Sort of "Survival" books may be more appropriate, books about simply agriculture ... because it is an "island in the middle of nowhere"
When you get here, he'll see we've had various forms of agriculture for 40,000 years +.
We've also got the tipitaka, commentaries and the storehouse of Theravadin post-canonical literature.
how in the world people think i'm talking about australia is beyond me.
- reflection
- Posts: 1116
- Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:27 pm
Re: which dhamma texts would you pick?
ground wrote:Sort of "Survival" books may be more appropriate, books about simply agriculture ... because it is an "island in the middle of nowhere"