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Are there any books about the actual Buddhas sermons?

vlroxvlrox Explorer
edited August 2012 in Arts & Writings
I want to read some of the things the buddha himself said. Does anyone know where some of this can be found?

Comments

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    Access to insight has the Pali suttas, if that's what you mean....
  • CloudCloud Veteran
    I was going to suggest the Pali Canon myself, but it's like 11 Holy Bibles worth of text... not sure of a good "book" that contains the teachings, or whether it could really contain the actual teachings or a summary of them.
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    I was going to suggest the Pali Canon myself, but it's like 11 Holy Bibles worth of text... not sure of a good "book" that contains the teachings, or whether it could really contain the actual teachings or a summary of them.
    I think this is a good introduction:
    http://www.amazon.com/What-Buddha-Taught-Expanded-Dhammapada/dp/0802130313
  • son_of_dhammason_of_dhamma
    In The Buddha's Words (an anthology of discourses).
  • SabreSabre Veteran
    I belief the pali canon are the closest we can get to the Buddha's words. I found "Word of the Buddha" to be quite a good summary of it:
    http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/wordofbuddha.pdf
    Cloud
  • CloudCloud Veteran
    @Sabre, That looks interesting, thanks for sharing!
  • SabreSabre Veteran
    edited August 2012
    @Cloud, you are welcome.

    I personally found it very useful to read alongside with commentary of Ajahn Brahmavamso found here:

    http://www.dhammaloka.org.au/downloads/itemlist/category/47-deeper-dhamma.html?start=20


    @vlrox

    That booklet goes very deep immediately. Don't be scared off if you don't understand it! Take your time, see what you can take along and what you can't. Practice the path without worrying whether you will understand it or not. This worked beautifully for me. That way you can always benefit from the parts you need and for the moment can put aside other parts.

    Especially when you are new to Buddhism, the precepts are of importance. You will learn a lot by following them. I know that's not your question here, but I wanted to point that out to clarify Buddhism isn't a religion of knowledge or blind faith in what is written. It's really a path of experience and self exploration.
  • CloudCloud Veteran
    edited August 2012
    @Sabre, Are those MP3's something different, or are they just him reading the same stuff that's in the PDF, or what? I already started reading it...

    I know I've either read Brahm or listened to his lectures before. There's been a lot of stuff over the years. :D
  • SabreSabre Veteran
    edited August 2012
    @cloud,
    No, it's not just a plain read. He comments on it, explains it further and gives corrections where he thinks that's suitable. Perhaps even skips some sections he thinks are less important, but I'm not too sure about that.
  • CloudCloud Veteran
    Where do they fit in? Do you start listening to them first and then read the text, or what?
  • SabreSabre Veteran
    No, he also reads them and then comments, so you can read along, listen to his explanation, read further etc. Also he answers questions which sadly are sometimes difficult to hear.

    To me it proved very helpful.
  • CloudCloud Veteran
    So basically you're saying if I listen to these, I don't actually need the PDF? He reads all of the stuff that's in there and also comments/corrects? Maybe I'm being dense. I just want to be sure so I don't waste time. :D
  • SabreSabre Veteran
    Yes, but if you really want to know what it is about, just give it a try. It's not a waste of time.
  • Lotus21Lotus21 Indiana Explorer
    You might want to go to http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/damapada.pdf
    and download this PFD file on Dharmapada.

    I found it to be extremely useful.
  • vlroxvlrox Explorer
    Thank you everyone for the imput. I have been reading some of each and they all look interesting. I will be busy the next weeks or so. lol
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    I belief the pali canon are the closest we can get to the Buddha's words. I found "Word of the Buddha" to be quite a good summary of it:
    http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/wordofbuddha.pdf
    That one looks useful.
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