Have you read portions of the Pali canon?

[JKhedrup]

I am just interested in how many members of our Mahayana forum have read the Pali Theravada scriptures. For myself, at the moment I don't have so much time but during vacation periods from translating I often find I turn to Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation of the Majjima Nikaya for spiritual nourishment. I find the style and presentation of the Pali Suttas beautiful,and developed a real appreciation for them during my time in Thailand.

[Caz]

I am just interested in how many members of our Mahayana forum have read the Pali Theravada scriptures. For myself, at the moment I don't have so much time but during vacation periods from translating I often find I turn to Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation of the Majjima Nikaya for spiritual nourishment. I find the style and presentation of the Pali Suttas beautiful,and developed a real appreciation for them during my time in Thailand.

I find them to be a great supplement to Lamrim teachings knowing which section to apply them to always yields more inspiration for practice. Ive got several of Bhikkhu Bodhi's Books they prove very helpful in exploring the base teachings of Buddha.

[plwk]

i am addicted to it alongside with translations of its near cousin, the Agamas.
I have some of Bhikkhu Bodhi's works on the Nikayas and am still waiting for the Khuddaka Nikaya... worth investing in his Nikaya series

[Jikan]

Yes, I've read selections, but not a systematic study. I particularly enjoyed Buddhaghosa's Path of Purification and the Milindapanha among Pali-language texts.

[gregkavarnos]

I love the Pali Canon teachings! They are clear, simple and to the point.

I have translated the Access to Insight Sutta on Kamma and Sunnatta into Greek and the BPS concise Milindapanha too. I have also translated other Sutta into Greek at the request of my lamas.

So I guess I have read (and continue to read) portions of the Pali Canon.

[Anders]

I've read the digha, majhima and samyutta nikayas from beginning to end. And a scattered assortment of the other baskets. I don't look at them much these days but I am very grateful for the education I have got from studying them and would recommend spending time on them to pretty much anyone.

The range of topics addressed and the clarity and consistency of the early teachings is something quite special to my mind.

[Ayu]

I am just interested in how many members of our Mahayana forum have read the Pali Theravada scriptures...

I would like to admit that I had strong inner hindrances to read it. The language and the many repititions were like a mountain to climb for my mind - and so i always had something "more important" to do than reading.
But on the other hand i was very interested, what is comprised in the Palicanon. So luckily i found somebody who read and understood it well. He liked to explain and discuss many things - for him much work, but for me good luck.

I just read MN1, MN 4 and MN 121 in the translation of Kay Zumwinkel. For me it's better understandable when meditated and not read like a book.

[randomseb]

I have in front of me the book "In the Buddha's Words, An anthology of Discourses from the Pali Cannon", which is very interesting, except that the.. flow.. of the texts doesn't really work in english if you ask me.. I don't know if that's a feature of the Pali language or just how it was used at the time, but there is a lot of recursive repetition within a text (often in this book they just cut out the part and say "repeated as above" "..." or some such..

Here's a little example:

Impermanent, Suffering, Nonself
"Monks, form is impermanent. What is impermanent is suffering. What is suffering is nonself. What is nonself should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom thus: 'This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self'. When one sees this thus as it really is with correct wisdom, the mind becomes dispassionate and is liberated from the taints by nonclinging.

"Feeling is impermanent ..."
"Perception is impermanent ... "
"Volitional formations are impermanent ... "

"Consciousness is impermanent. What is suffering is nonself. What is nonself should be seen as it really is with correct wisdom thus: 'This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self'. When one sees this thus as it really is with correct wisdom, the mind becomes dispassionate and is liberated from the taints by nonclinging."

"If monks, a monk's mind has become dispassionate towards the form element, it is liberate from the taints by nonclinging. If his mind has become dispassionate toward the feeling element ... toward the perception element ... toward the volutional formations element ... toward the consciousness element, it is liberated from the taints by nonclinging.

"By being liberated, it is steady; by being steady, it is content; by being content, he is not agitated. Being unagitated, he personally enters Nibbana. He understands: "Destroyed is birth, the spiritual life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming back to any state of being."

(SN 22:45; III 44-45 is the text's reference #)

The original text repeats the entire paragraphs for each ... section, which makes it kind of strange to read.

Fully appreciate the emptiness
of all dharmas.
Then all minds are free
and all dusts evaporate
in the original brilliance
shining everywhere...
Clear and desireless,
the wind in the pines
and the moon in the water
are content in their elements.
- Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091-1157)

[gregkavarnos]

The Pali texts have this constant cycle of repitions because they would have been transcribed as they were being orated. Those that orated them would have learnt and memorised them as oral teachings. Oral teachings are learnt and memorised via repitition. So, reading them together with the repitions, instead of the "repeated as above" means that you too will memorise them instead of just giving them a cursory read and forgetting them.

[Johnny Dangerous]

I actually started with it, it was my only exposure for a number of years before going out and testing the waters. Turning the Wheel of Dharma was actually the first bit of Buddhism I ever read in my life outside of some kind of "Lite Zen" stuff...

Of course I have not read anywhere near what many here have of any scripture.

The Mahayana scriptures are much more Aesthetically pleasing, the austerity and repetitiveness of Pali stuff can be difficult at times.

I am kind of glad it was my intro though, maybe it's just confirmation bias but I feel like looking into Mahayana and Vajrayana subsequently having the Pali Canon stuff as a base was very..anchoring I guess.

[Yudron]

About ten years ago, Thannisaro Bhikkhu published out four volumes of Sutras called Handful of leaves, and his people would mail them to anyone for free! They are really beautiful and soothing. I was in retreat while I was reading them, and when I read about Buddha's cremation, I heard the crackling sound of a fire. I was in a house, and when I looked out front, the bushes in front of the house were on fire. For real!

[Astus]

The Digha, Majjhima and Samyutta Nikaya were among my first Buddhist books in English, and I'm working on obtaining the Anguttara. I haven't read them from beginning to end as I usually read suttas by topic. The Satipatthana Sutta (in "Heart of Buddhist Meditation" by Nyanaponika) was a teaching that helped me in the beginning decide on to further investigate Buddhism. ATI and metta.lk are sites I regularly use for references. Like Greg, I've also made some translations, only in my case to Hungarian.

[JKhedrup]

It is great to see that the texts are such an inspiration to so many! Yudron your story from that retreat is wild!

[PorkChop]

I like the Pali Suttas very much.
I've read a lot of Access to Insight.
I ordered 5 of Bhikkhu Bodhi's translations, still waiting on 2 of them (I think Mahjima and Samyutta) - haven't started any of them yet.
Would like to have translations of the the Agamas.
My goal is to contextualize it by splitting it up into which disciple (or type of disciple) gets taught what, when.

[jeeprs]

I studied Pali for one semester (which is not a great amount of time, I will admit) as part of the Buddhist Studies course undertaken during 2011-2012. I also read quite a few of Bikkhu Bodhi's and Thanissaro's translations during that time in preparation for a thesis topic. I also discovered the Dhammapada many years ago. I admire the Pali teachings especially for their qualities of civility - the way in which the characters address each other - and philosophical depth, as well as the lucidity of the prose. The other thing that strikes me about them, is the real human depth in many of the stories and anecdotes. Even after the great lapse of time since they were composed, the sense of people struggling with problems in their lives, and going to the Buddha for help in understanding them, is still very real in those scriptures. So I regard them as a major part of the world's wisdom traditions.

[Parasamgate]

The first book I read when I began to take Buddhism seriously was, 'In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon' by Bhikkhu Bodhi.

[Nighthawk]

I'm also a Bhikku Bodhi fan and try to read his material as much as I can.

[randomseb]

Well then, the text sample I posted above comes from page 342 of the Anthology

[dzogchungpa]

I often find I turn to Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation of the Majjima Nikaya for spiritual nourishment.

I have read a fair number of the Pali suttas, including the book you mention. For the record, Bodhi didn't translate that, he edited and revised a translation by Nanamoli.

[dzogchungpa]

About ten years ago, Thannisaro Bhikkhu published out four volumes of Sutras called Handful of leaves, and his people would mail them to anyone for free! They are really beautiful and soothing. I was in retreat while I was reading them, and when I read about Buddha's cremation, I heard the crackling sound of a fire. I was in a house, and when I looked out front, the bushes in front of the house were on fire. For real!

Neat story. Actually, there are now 5 volumes, and they are still available for free, although shipping outside the US is not free:
http://www.sati.org/books/