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How well do you know the sutras (scriptures) ?

PremaSagarPremaSagar Veteran
edited June 2012 in Philosophy
How well do you know them ?
How many sutras do you have on your shelves ?
What is your favorite sutra ?

Comments

  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    I know them well enough to not understand them. :rolleyes:
  • PrairieGhostPrairieGhost Veteran
    I know most of the translated Pali Canon *in Pali they're 'suttas', not 'sutras' which is Sanskrit. Some of the Mahayana sutras and a lot of Zen/Chan/Seon texts, though without any systematic method of study.

    I know some of the Pali Canon well enough that I can recall many key points word for word, but this is through referring to the suttas many times for my own understanding, not through attempts at memorisation.

    I don't really have a favourite sutta. I like the Tao Te Ching but I find the Pali Canon to be written, in English, in an unappealing style, and that goes for most translations. 19th century translations tend to bring out the beauty in the meaning more than modern ones, though both modern and archaic translations embellish the original Pali text, which is usually much sparser and less verbose.

    I study them because they are useful, practical, but I don't feel devotional towards them, and stylistically I find them tiresome.

  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    I'm not able to remember anything off the top of my head (except maybe bits of the oft-quoted Kalama Sutta), but I think I've got copies of the Lotus Sutra and Heart Sutra somewhere.

    I don't know many sutras to determine a favorite, but I guess Heart Sutra to be completely cheesy about it.


    I agree, @PrairieGhost. The English translations are really hard to read at length.
  • PrairieGhostPrairieGhost Veteran
    edited June 2012
    Some of it (in terms of the Pali suttas) is due to mnemonics, i.e. they were written to be orally transmitted and so they are repetitious by design. Some of it is due to dry translation which uses very technical, somewhat stilted language, in my view because translators are wary of conflating western concepts with the Buddha's ideas. However this has a distancing effect which I assume would not have been experienced by the Buddha's original audience.
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