Correct Way To Read Sutras?

DaltheJigsaw

Correct Way To Read Sutras?
Can one Chant them? Why is it that they repeat the same thing multiple times? Memorization? It will stick if one repeats it many times? Take breaks? Sing them? Say them? Meditate on them? All of the above?

santhisouk

No correct way, and no wrong way. It's all about knowing yourself and how much effort you can put forth to practice. If you have very little time to practice, then you can read it whenever you want to. If you practice heavily, then you have many options...you can read and read then practice and practice till it all makes sense to you.

DaltheJigsaw

No correct way, and no wrong way. It's all about knowing yourself and how much effort you can put forth to practice. If you have very little time to practice, then you can read it whenever you want to. If you practice heavily, then you have many options...you can read and read then practice and practice till it all makes sense to you.

How does one practice the Sutras?
Some of them are hard to understand.
Is this why a Teacher is needed?

taiyaki

you examine in all aspects of your life if such truths are true. if they are true then they should be universally true in all aspects of life.

then if such truths are true in all aspects, we must examine our own assumptions about truth. are our assumptions at odds for truth? are we suffering still? why are we suffering?

so sutras give us reference and map towards truth. practice and integrating such truth in our lives give us existential data about truth. then we see how such realization relate to the sutras.

DaltheJigsaw

you examine in all aspects of your life if such truths are true. if they are true then they should be universally true in all aspects of life.

then if such truths are true in all aspects, we must examine our own assumptions about truth. are our assumptions at odds for truth? are we suffering still? why are we suffering?

so sutras give us reference and map towards truth. practice and integrating such truth in our lives give us existential data about truth. then we see how such realization relate to the sutras.

Hmm...So picking and choosing?
Taking little bites before the big ones can be taken.
I see.
Thank You!

taiyaki

in some sense it takes a radical honesty and sincerity. the buddha really did leave no secrets. he laid it all out via the sutras and methods proposed.

now what gets in the way of truly accepting and realizing such truths for ourselves is our own interpretations, beliefs, and assumptions about the mind/reality/truth.

so a lot of practice is about working on our faculties such as mindfulness and concentration to be able to see clearly how reality functions, rather then our dualistic assertions.

that is why practice is stressed in buddhism and so is study. one must find the middle way between the both.

DaltheJigsaw

in some sense it takes a radical honesty and sincerity. the buddha really did leave no secrets. he laid it all out via the sutras and methods proposed.

now what gets in the way of truly accepting and realizing such truths for ourselves is our own interpretations, beliefs, and assumptions about the mind/reality/truth.

so a lot of practice is about working on our faculties such as mindfulness and concentration to be able to see clearly how reality functions, rather then our dualistic assertions.

that is why practice is stressed in buddhism and so is study. one must find the middle way between the both.

Can one meditate on some of the Sutras?

taiyaki

well you can meditate on what the sutra are proposing. say such as the three marks of existence.

are all things impermanent? sure, i can assume this as obvious but it true buddhism isn't about assuming. it is about realize that such truths in the moment.

so i meditate and watch my thoughts. a thought arises and it falls. this is what i realize. such arises and falling asserts the realization of impermanence. now i can bring this to all aspects of life. the buddha asserts that when we cling to our desires, we suffering. where do i cling the most? the notion of a permanent self. so i can examine via meditation what i assume this I, my, me process to be.

so through examining we can realize such truths ourselves. oh yes what the buddha taught was correct. then we can bring these truths into actual living. thus right view begins the 8 fold path.

but since most people cannot realize such truth easily, they need to practice mindfulness and concentration techniques as a means to the goal of insight/realization.

SpinyNorman2

I just read the suttas at regular intervals, reflect and discuss, see if I can make connections with personal practice.

Spiny

Cinorjer

Long ago in a far away land, a monk composed some words, strung them together, and told it to other monks. Those monks thought it was important and interesting enough to pass it on, because they agreed with the composer about a point of doctrine or problem that they were dealing with. Eventually it was copied down multiple times and passed around and someone translated the words as best they could to the different languages needed to read them.

It's a sutta or sutra. When you read it, you should strive to understand what the monks were trying to say, what point of Dharma or problem they were trying to address when it was written. Keep in mind that the author lived in a different world than you do, a different culture, and sometimes that culture and language gets in the way of understanding.

You'll find poetry and deep wisdom in the sutras, but also times when you see the monk who wrote it struggling and failing to find the right words. You'll see where the monks did the best they could when most of what we know about the universe and the way the world works was a mystery. What they knew better than people today is how the mind worked, and what it means to be a human being.

In other words, let the distant speaker come alive, and picture him sitting there, trying to tell this strange visitor from another world something important.

seeker242

This is a good overview of Mahayana Sutras. http://www.search.com/reference/Mahayana_sutras

It has a section on how to read them which says this:

The spirit in which Mahayana sutras are to be understood is stated in the Vimalakirti Sutra:

relying on the meaning and not on the literal expression;
relying on gnosis and not on consciousness;
relying on the ultimate teachings definitive in meaning and not insisting on the superficial teachings interpretable in meaning;
relying on reality and not insisting on opinions derived from personal authorities;

In other words, these teachings should not necessarily be taken literally but understood directly by sages through contemplative gnosis. Certain Mahayana sutras however (such as the Srimala Sutra and the Mahaparinirvana Sutra) state that they themselves are definitive (nitartha) or complete statements of final Dharma and do not require further interpretative explication.

In other words, when it say some guy ripped his eyelids off or the Buddha came out of a lotus blossom and split into 500 Buddhas who all floated across the sky in all directions, that didn't actually happen.

SherabDorje

In other words, when it say some guy ripped his eyelids off... that didn't actually happen.

lol

SherabDorje

The best way to read the sutras is specific to the person reading them, that is, in the way they are best understood by the person reading them. I personally spend more time reading commentaries or interpretations that are easier to read. The original sutras have too much repetition for me personally.

DaltheJigsaw

The best way to read the sutras is specific to the person reading them, that is, in the way they are best understood by the person reading them. I personally spend more time reading commentaries or interpretations that are easier to read. The original sutras have too much repetition for me personally.

Thank You!
But why do they have to repeat? Any reason specifically?

taiyaki

so it sticks. haha.

Vincenzi

...from left to right

SherabDorje

The best way to read the sutras is specific to the person reading them, that is, in the way they are best understood by the person reading them. I personally spend more time reading commentaries or interpretations that are easier to read. The original sutras have too much repetition for me personally.

Thank You!
But why do they have to repeat? Any reason specifically?

I think it's just a stylistic aspect typical of the times in which they were written. Maybe the original compilers put in the repetition to facilitate memorization. I doubt that reading all that repetition gives the reader much more of an understanding of them.

SherabDorje

...from left to right

That depends on what language you're reading them in.

DaltheJigsaw

Thanks everyone!