What do you give to a beginner online?

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JamesTheGiant
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by JamesTheGiant »

I would also suggest this, in the order Sarath suggested. Good sequence.
Sarath W wrote: Sat Jan 16, 2021 12:21 pm This is my standard recommendation for beginners:
a)
Watch the video "A short introduction to Buddism" by Bhikkhu Bodhi





Read Buddhism course. (Take about 12 hours to read and give you a good idea about the teaching)
http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/PDF_BuddhismCourse/

a) Listen to the ten lecture series by Bhikkhu Bodhi

https://bodhimonastery.org/the-buddhas- ... it-is.html


b)Print a copy of this Dhamma Chart and refer to it while studying Buddhism.
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=16785


c) Read Buddha’s Teaching by Narada. Start from chapter 15.

http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/buddh ... gsurw6.pdf

d) While you reading texts please listen to the following Dhamma Talk by Joseph Goldstein.
http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/96/talk/6162/

e) Start reading Sutta.
Good starting point would be to read Bikkhu Bodhi’s “In the Buddha’s Word”
Link to the summary:
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=19951

Then read Sutta or listen to Central. Start from Majjhima Nikaya. https://suttacentral.net/mn

f) Last but not least practice what you learn.
SarathW
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by SarathW »

except badly learned ideas.
Agree. :twothumbsup:
Sometimes it is even to hard learn what is good and bad as Buddha asked us to move away from both.
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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Eko Care
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by Eko Care »

Faith developing: Sampasadaniya sutta, Brahmajala sutta, Mahakammavibhanga sutta ...etc
Prerequisites: Jataka and it's atthakatha, Dhammapada and it's atthakatha ...etc
History the Blessed One: Jataka and it's atthakatha, Buddhavamsa, Cariyapitaka ...etc
Easy to Memorize and chant: Dhammapada, Paritta
About the results of merit and demerit: Vimanavatthu-Petavatthu and it's atthakatha, Cullakammavibhanga sutta ...etc
About the Refuge: Khuddhaka patha and it's atthakatha's first chapter Saraṇattayavaṇṇanā
About the Training rules: Khuddhaka patha and it's atthakatha's second chapter SaraṇattayavaṇṇanāSikkhāpadavaṇṇanā
About Lay life: Sigalovada sutta, Ahuneyya sutta ...etc.
About the benefits of ordination: Samannaphala sutta, Dantabhumi sutta ...etc
About Meditation: Patisambhidamagga and it's atthakata, Visuddhimagga
About Ultimate realities: Abhidhamma (Abhidhammathasangaha)
About Unorthodox views: Kathavatthu and its atthakata

More pending ....
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Aloka
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by Aloka »

Padmist wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:22 am If someone online asks "Where do I get started with Buddhism?" or "Where do I learn more about Buddhism?" or "What books/websites/videos/podcasts do you recommend to get started with Buddhism" what do you give?

Please share. Thanks. :juggling:
Hi Padmist,

This brief outline of Buddhism is useful as an introduction :

https://www.watpahnanachat.org/an-outline-of-buddhism-1

also "Buddha Dhamma Sangha" by Ven. Ajahn Sumedho:

http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma2/bds.html

With Metta,

Aloka :anjali:

.
Last edited by Aloka on Sat Apr 10, 2021 12:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Eko Care
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by Eko Care »

Padmist wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:22 am If someone online asks "Where do I get started with Buddhism?" or "Where do I learn more about Buddhism?" or "What books/websites/videos/podcasts do you recommend to get started with Buddhism" what do you give?
Eko Care wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 5:32 pm Faith developing: Sampasadaniya sutta, Brahmajala sutta, Mahakammavibhanga sutta ...etc
Prerequisites: Jataka and it's atthakatha, Dhammapada and it's atthakatha ...etc
History the Blessed One: Jataka and it's atthakatha, Buddhavamsa, Cariyapitaka ...etc
Easy to Memorize and chant: Dhammapada, Paritta
About the results of merit and demerit: Vimanavatthu-Petavatthu and it's atthakatha, Cullakammavibhanga sutta ...etc
About the Refuge: Khuddhaka patha and it's atthakatha's first chapter Saraṇattayavaṇṇanā
About the Training rules: Khuddhaka patha and it's atthakatha's second chapter SaraṇattayavaṇṇanāSikkhāpadavaṇṇanā
About Lay life: Sigalovada sutta, Ahuneyya sutta ...etc.
About the benefits of ordination: Samannaphala sutta, Dantabhumi sutta ...etc
About Meditation: Patisambhidamagga and it's atthakata, Visuddhimagga
About Ultimate realities: Abhidhamma (Abhidhammathasangaha)
About Unorthodox views: Kathavatthu and its atthakata
And very important advice:
Never believe Chronology as a trustworthy measure to decide Authenticity.

(It may not help deciding some facts.)
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DooDoot
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by DooDoot »

Eko Care wrote: Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:15 pm And very important advice:
Never believe Chronology as a trustworthy measure to decide Authenticity.
Wh en i was a "beginner", i was interested in ending suffering & attaining peace of mind.
Eko Care wrote: Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:15 pm
Padmist wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:22 am If someone online asks "Where do I get started with Buddhism?" or "Where do I learn more about Buddhism?" or "What books/websites/videos/podcasts do you recommend to get started with Buddhism" what do you give?
Eko Care wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 5:32 pm Faith developing: Sampasadaniya sutta, Brahmajala sutta, Mahakammavibhanga sutta ...etc
Prerequisites: Jataka and it's atthakatha, Dhammapada and it's atthakatha ...etc
History the Blessed One: Jataka and it's atthakatha, Buddhavamsa, Cariyapitaka ...etc
Easy to Memorize and chant: Dhammapada, Paritta
About the results of merit and demerit: Vimanavatthu-Petavatthu and it's atthakatha, Cullakammavibhanga sutta ...etc
About the Refuge: Khuddhaka patha and it's atthakatha's first chapter Saraṇattayavaṇṇanā
About the Training rules: Khuddhaka patha and it's atthakatha's second chapter SaraṇattayavaṇṇanāSikkhāpadavaṇṇanā
About Lay life: Sigalovada sutta, Ahuneyya sutta ...etc.
About the benefits of ordination: Samannaphala sutta, Dantabhumi sutta ...etc
About Meditation: Patisambhidamagga and it's atthakata, Visuddhimagga
About Ultimate realities: Abhidhamma (Abhidhammathasangaha)
About Unorthodox views: Kathavatthu and its atthakata
And very important advice:
Never believe Chronology as a trustworthy measure to decide Authenticity.

(It may not help deciding some facts.)
But above you appear to be giving priority to later scriptures not spoken by the Buddha, such as Jataka and it's atthakatha.
Last edited by DooDoot on Sat Apr 10, 2021 10:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Aloka
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by Aloka »

Eko Care wrote: Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:15 pm
And very important advice:
Never believe Chronology as a trustworthy measure to decide Authenticity.

(It may not help deciding some facts.)
What would help would be to stop writing in giant font in your posts, as if you're shouting!

.
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retrofuturist
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Eko Care,
Eko Care wrote: Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:15 pm And very important advice: Never believe Chronology as a trustworthy measure to decide Authenticity.
I'm far more inclined to recommend works which can be reasonably attributed to the Buddha, over works which materialised from the Third Council onwards.

Somehow I don't think the Buddha would object to that, despite your shouty advice.
Ani Sutta wrote:Staying at Savatthi. "Monks, there once was a time when the Dasarahas had a large drum called 'Summoner.' Whenever Summoner was split, the Dasarahas inserted another peg in it, until the time came when Summoner's original wooden body had disappeared and only a conglomeration of pegs remained.

"In the same way, in the course of the future there will be monks who won't listen when discourses that are words of the Tathagata — deep, deep in their meaning, transcendent, connected with emptiness — are being recited. They won't lend ear, won't set their hearts on knowing them, won't regard these teachings as worth grasping or mastering. But they will listen when discourses that are literary works — the works of poets, elegant in sound, elegant in rhetoric, the work of outsiders, words of disciples — are recited. They will lend ear and set their hearts on knowing them. They will regard these teachings as worth grasping & mastering.

"In this way the disappearance of the discourses that are words of the Tathagata — deep, deep in their meaning, transcendent, connected with emptiness — will come about.

"Thus you should train yourselves: 'We will listen when discourses that are words of the Tathagata — deep, deep in their meaning, transcendent, connected with emptiness — are being recited. We will lend ear, will set our hearts on knowing them, will regard these teachings as worth grasping & mastering.' That's how you should train yourselves."
Better for a beginner to understand the Buddha's actual teaching, so they can use that as a benchmark for assessing other works. Without this basis, how else will they know whether the works of other monks accord with the Buddhadhamma or not? How else will they know if they are slandering the Tathagata? :shrug:
Abhasita Sutta wrote:"Monks, these two slander the Tathagata. Which two? He who explains what was not said or spoken by the Tathagata as said or spoken by the Tathagata. And he who explains what was said or spoken by the Tathagata as not said or spoken by the Tathagata. These are two who slander the Tathagata."
To that end, Sutta compendiums are often a good place to start. Yes, the selection of Suttas may involve some degree of bias on the part of the collater, but this is much less distorted than ignoring the Buddha in favour of monks, scholars and scholar monks.

Metta,
Paul. :)
"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."
Padmist
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by Padmist »

Eko Care wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 5:32 pm Faith developing: Sampasadaniya sutta, Brahmajala sutta, Mahakammavibhanga sutta ...etc
Prerequisites: Jataka and it's atthakatha, Dhammapada and it's atthakatha ...etc
History the Blessed One: Jataka and it's atthakatha, Buddhavamsa, Cariyapitaka ...etc
Easy to Memorize and chant: Dhammapada, Paritta
About the results of merit and demerit: Vimanavatthu-Petavatthu and it's atthakatha, Cullakammavibhanga sutta ...etc
About the Refuge: Khuddhaka patha and it's atthakatha's first chapter Saraṇattayavaṇṇanā
About the Training rules: Khuddhaka patha and it's atthakatha's second chapter SaraṇattayavaṇṇanāSikkhāpadavaṇṇanā
About Lay life: Sigalovada sutta, Ahuneyya sutta ...etc.
About the benefits of ordination: Samannaphala sutta, Dantabhumi sutta ...etc
About Meditation: Patisambhidamagga and it's atthakata, Visuddhimagga
About Ultimate realities: Abhidhamma (Abhidhammathasangaha)
About Unorthodox views: Kathavatthu and its atthakata

More pending ....

Are these books? Oh my. That's a lot? Would a newbie know where to even get these books?
Padmist
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by Padmist »

SarathW wrote: Sat Jan 16, 2021 12:21 pm This is my standard recommendation for beginners:
a)
Watch the video "A short introduction to Buddism" by Bhikkhu Bodhi





Read Buddhism course. (Take about 12 hours to read and give you a good idea about the teaching)
http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/PDF_BuddhismCourse/

a) Listen to the ten lecture series by Bhikkhu Bodhi

https://bodhimonastery.org/the-buddhas- ... it-is.html


b)Print a copy of this Dhamma Chart and refer to it while studying Buddhism.
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=16785


c) Read Buddha’s Teaching by Narada. Start from chapter 15.

http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/buddh ... gsurw6.pdf

d) While you reading texts please listen to the following Dhamma Talk by Joseph Goldstein.
http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/96/talk/6162/

e) Start reading Sutta.
Good starting point would be to read Bikkhu Bodhi’s “In the Buddha’s Word”
Link to the summary:
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=19951

Then read Sutta or listen to Central. Start from Majjhima Nikaya. https://suttacentral.net/mn

f) Last but not least practice what you learn.

Thanks Sarath. If you don't mind, may I have the correct links? I think you copied these somewhere and the links didn't quite transfer correctly due to formatting. Thanks.
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Mkoll
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by Mkoll »

Padmist wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:22 am If someone online asks "Where do I get started with Buddhism?" or "Where do I learn more about Buddhism?" or "What books/websites/videos/podcasts do you recommend to get started with Buddhism" what do you give?

Please share. Thanks. :juggling:
I always recommend the same thing: In the Buddha's Words by Bhikkhu Bodhi. IMO, it's the best introduction to the foundational teachings of the Buddha because of its logical progression of appropriately categorized teachings combined with characteristically lucid summaries from the author.
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
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Eko Care
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by Eko Care »

DooDoot wrote: But above you appear to be giving priority to later scriptures not spoken by the Buddha, such as Jataka and it's atthakatha.
Can someone decide what has spoken by the Blessed one, using the measures given by secular teachers?
If it is so, then even a Troll can understand the teachings of Buddha.
Aloka wrote: What would help would be to stop writing in giant font in your posts, as if you're shouting!
Did I hurt you, dear ..?
retrofuturist wrote: I'm far more inclined to recommend works which can be reasonably attributed to the Buddha,
The word "reasonably" may depend of the individual's secular beliefs.
retrofuturist wrote: Somehow I don't think the Buddha would object to that
You may don't think. Someone else may think.
retrofuturist wrote:
Ani Sutta wrote: — deep, deep in their meaning, transcendent, connected with emptiness —
Someone secular may think he can understand the deep phenomena. It is natural for them to think like that.
retrofuturist wrote: Better for a beginner to understand the Buddha's actual teaching, so they can use that as a benchmark for assessing other works. Without this basis, how else will they know whether the works of other monks accord with the Buddhadhamma or not? How else will they know if they are slandering the Tathagata?
Mutually aggreed for majority of suttas. What about unclear suttas?
retrofuturist wrote: in favour of monks, scholars and scholar monks.
Generally, most of the modern beginners will think, that they can distinguish everything the Blessed One spoke.
This is a characteristic of a beginner, or of a secular scholar who thinks he is not a beginner.
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Eko Care
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by Eko Care »

Eko Care wrote: Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:15 pm And very important advice:
Never believe Chronology as a trustworthy measure to decide Authenticity.
(It may not help deciding some facts.)
Because ..
Sabbe_Dhamma_Anatta wrote: Caroline Rhys Davids' personal opinions
  • Wikipedia wrote: later in life she rejected the concept of anatta as an "original" Buddhist teaching.
I.B.Horner inherited some of her inclinations, not necessarily limited to the above mentioned atta-ish ones.
We can find more views of them, if we start to investigate whether or not a particular author is eligible to comment on texts.
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mikenz66
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Re: What do you give to a beginner online?

Post by mikenz66 »

Mkoll wrote: Sun Apr 11, 2021 2:33 pm
Padmist wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:22 am If someone online asks "Where do I get started with Buddhism?" or "Where do I learn more about Buddhism?" or "What books/websites/videos/podcasts do you recommend to get started with Buddhism" what do you give?

Please share. Thanks. :juggling:
I always recommend the same thing: In the Buddha's Words by Bhikkhu Bodhi. IMO, it's the best introduction to the foundational teachings of the Buddha because of its logical progression of appropriately categorized teachings combined with characteristically lucid summaries from the author.
It's a great collection, and you can read the introductory material and the suttas (not always Bhikkhu Bodhi's translations) here:
In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon Linked to SuttaCentral.net
https://readingfaithfully.org/in-the-bu ... ntral-net/

The book itself is not expensive, and it's been my goto resource when someone asks "What did the Buddha teach about X?" for about 15 years.

:heart:
Mike
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