is there a book that just teaches the Main Buddhas Teachings, without any influences on traditions?

zenmyste

"theravada might think this. . . Zen might think that. . . Tibetan might believe this....."

But if we remove all traditions for a moment, what is the main teachings in which 'all traditions' would agree on.

I'm guessing its the 8 fold path. 4 truths.
3 marks of existence.. Any great books?

federica

I don't see why that would be a problem.
If you use discernment and evaluation, even if a book stated "Theravada/Mahayana considers".... it's up to you whether it resonates or not.
I have strong leanings towards Theravada, but a lot of books come from authors who follow Mahayana teachings.
I think they're wonderful, but i take value from the truth I find in them for myself, i don't consider some of the practices to be things I'd necessarily adhere to.

DairyLama

I'm guessing its the 8 fold path. 4 truths.
3 marks of existence.. Any great books?

That's basically Theravada.

I'd recommend "What the Buddha taught" as a good basic introduction:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Buddha_Taught

Floating_Abu

First book I read

zenmyste

Thanks!

I have many many books but not got one which is strictly about Buddhas original teachings. (Not sure if one exists)

I was just wanting to read it for interest.
My problem with all other books is that they start explain the 'traditions terms for this and that' instead of just talking about what buddha actually taught!

Thanks for link tho. Ill have a look!

Floating_Abu

Well they are all (depending on who you are reading caveat) talking about what the Buddha taught as well.

Sabre

The closest we can get to the Buddha's original teachings is by reading the suttas.

zenmyste

The closest we can get to the Buddha's original teachings is by reading the suttas.

Are all the sutras the same in every tradition??

Sabre

The closest we can get to the Buddha's original teachings is by reading the suttas.

Are all the sutras the same in every tradition??

All traditions rely on the pali canon, which is seen as the oldest collection texts. For therevada these are the only suttas. Mahayana also emphasizes other suttas that are not from the pali canon, like the heart sutra and diamond sutra.

A great collection of translations of suttas can be found here:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/

Metta!

Sabre

I have not read this, but undoubtedly this will be a great book to start with the suttas:
http://www.amazon.com/Buddhas-Words-Anthology-Discourses-Teachings/dp/0861714911/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338114161&sr=8-1

Invincible_summer

@zenmyste - I think if you become fixated on only reading material that you believe/someone proclaims to be from Gautama Buddha, then you're missing out on a lot of wisdom that other traditions can provide.

There are different traditions/sects because people found certain aspects/suttas/practices/etc more meaningful and formed a group that emphasized it. They are a product of socio-historical events.

It's not just you @zenmyste. I find that this sort of "cult of the original" seems to get to a lot of people. But IMO, it is a disservice to other traditions and to history.

PrairieGhost

Hi zenmyste

is there a book that just teaches the Main Buddhas Teachings, without any influences on traditions?

Smartass answer: your life is that book.

Proper answer, no, I don't think so. The Pali Canon is based on an oral tradition, which may or may not derive from and/or be accurate to the words of the Buddha. The Mahayana sutras are later writings which may or may not reflect the spirit of the original teachings.

For what it's worth, certainty appears to be one of the things you can't have, and I think that's ok.

Sabre

Hi zenmyste

is there a book that just teaches the Main Buddhas Teachings, without any influences on traditions?

your life is that book.

:clap:

robot

Hey @zenmyste. Don't you have over 200 books on Buddhism? If the book you looking for isn't in your own collection, it probably doesn't exist.

zenmyste

Hey @zenmyste. Don't you have over 200 books on Buddhism? If the book you looking for isn't in your own collection, it probably doesn't exist.

Yeh, but i find that all the book are based on a specific tradition (mainly zen) instead of someone just writing a 'Buddhism' book..

Thanks to all answers! bless ya all!

person

Since you like to read so many books, I'd say read across all traditions and certain truths and commonalities will start to show themselves.

AMH

I would recommend Buddhism by Houston Smith. It is a basic approach to the most commonly held Buddhist ideas. It does go into the different traditions in the 2nd half of the book, I would recommend this for people who are just interested also, not necessarily going to be Buddhist.

Invincible_summer

I would recommend Buddhism by Houston Smith. It is a basic approach to the most commonly held Buddhist ideas. It does go into the different traditions in the 2nd half of the book, I would recommend this for people who are just interested also, not necessarily going to be Buddhist.

I would second Huston Smith. His section on Buddhism in "The World's Religions" is what got me interested in the first place.

Granted, the portion of "The World's Religions" on Buddhism isn't sutta-based or straight from the mouth of the Buddha or whatever, but it's a very general yet clear and passionate description of what Buddhism is about.