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**joanbertis** · 08-29-2010, 10:26 AM

Hi Gary,

It's a good idea to start with the suttas in the Pali Canon (Theravada). It's debateable whether some of the Mahayana sutras written later were the actual words of the Buddha. Particularly in the case of those said to have been hidden in 'dragon realms' or spoken by deities whilst the Buddha was in meditation and so on.

You might like to start with the Anguttara Nikaya and there's an Anguttara Nikaya Anthology translated by Nyanaponika Thera and Bhikkhu Bodhi which is in paperback.

After doing some reading online at the Access to Insight website, offline I started reading The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - a translation of the Majjhima Nikaya by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi - which is a fat hardback. (Wisdom Books is a good place in the UK and you can order by phone if you prefer.)

....but I already knew quite a few things about Buddhism before I started reading them.

http://www.wisdom-books.com/SiteSear...=2&Submit=+Go+

However I would wait to see if Stuka or Sobeh or clw-uk have any suggestions because they're more knowledgeable about the Pali Canon than I am.....and Element of course, who's done extensive sutta studies.

Oops, Andy and I must have posted at the same time !

08-29-2010, 10:26 AM	#2
joanbertis Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 434 Senior Member	Hi Gary, It's a good idea to start with the suttas in the Pali Canon (Theravada). It's debateable whether some of the Mahayana sutras written later were the actual words of the Buddha. Particularly in the case of those said to have been hidden in 'dragon realms' or spoken by deities whilst the Buddha was in meditation and so on. You might like to start with the Anguttara Nikaya and there's an Anguttara Nikaya Anthology translated by Nyanaponika Thera and Bhikkhu Bodhi which is in paperback. After doing some reading online at the Access to Insight website, offline I started reading The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - a translation of the Majjhima Nikaya by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi - which is a fat hardback. (Wisdom Books is a good place in the UK and you can order by phone if you prefer.) ....but I already knew quite a few things about Buddhism before I started reading them. http://www.wisdom-books.com/SiteSear...=2&Submit=+Go+ However I would wait to see if Stuka or Sobeh or clw-uk have any suggestions because they're more knowledgeable about the Pali Canon than I am.....and Element of course, who's done extensive sutta studies. Oops, Andy and I must have posted at the same time !
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