Sutta study

Invincible_summer

For those that study suttas, how did you go about starting?

Do you just pick one and mull it over for awhile? Read someone else's commentaries? Follow a particular order? Have a "Sutta-a-Day" thing going on?

karasti

I personally mostly read them when it strikes me or when a particular question comes up and a sutra contains the answer. I do have the Bhikku Bodhi Discourses on the Pali Canon (I can't remember the exact name and it's covered in sheets becasue I'm painting, lol). However I've learned that for myself, it doesn't work to just pick up a book like that, or find a sutra online and start reading. Because if it is not something that is at my current level, i don't retain it or properly understand it anyhow. The first time I heard the Heart Sutra at a retreat, I was like "wth are they talking about??" And now I understand it and really like it. I was reading in a TNH book the other day and he made a comment about the Diamond Sutra, so I went to read it, and in no way did I get out of it what he did, so I walked away after reading all 32 chapters or whatever it is, with not much of anything because it wasn't what I expected. So, really at this point I let them come to me. Sometimes my teacher recommends them, and I'll read them. I might get it, I might not. Funny how the things I'm not ready to learn come across as a foreign language, lol

BhanteLucky

I follow along with the Sutta Study Classes by Ajahn Brahmali or Bhante Sujato.
So I properly study just one a week.

riverflow

I try to keep one sutra (preferably *with* commentary of possible) in my current reading, but I go at a slower pace because it can be dense or difficult to digest.

Ideally, I have a sutra reading list in a kind of developmental order (not quite chronological) but I still have read some things out of order anyway!

Glenn Wallis has sutta excerpts with commentary, and I'm reading Thich Nhat Hanh's selection of 'essential' suttas & sutras (with his commentary). These are relatively easy-- but the commentary helps immensely. I think reading a lot of relevant secondary material first helps. A long time ago I tried jumping straight in and had no luck at all! You can't jump head first. For example, I read TNH's book on the Lotus Sutra before actually reading the text itself which helped provide a context and clues of what to watch out for. At least from my own experience, it is best to read a book(s) on those source texts first or at least alongside with reading the source texts.

hermitwin

I highly recommend starting with the Dhammapada.

Invincible_summer said:

For those that study suttas, how did you go about starting?

Do you just pick one and mull it over for awhile? Read someone else's commentaries? Follow a particular order? Have a "Sutta-a-Day" thing going on?

lobster

I though it was some sort of stitch up . . . wait a minute that is suture . . . as you were

riverflow

lobster said:

I though it was some sort of stitch up . . . wait a minute that is suture . . . as you were

Actually, I read (somewhere) that "sutra" and "suture" are etymologically related--and think about it: sutra means "thread" so it makes sense.

(I love discovering etymological connections between words!)

DaltheJigsaw

I have been meditating on them. I will read one and then sit and contemplate on it. If I don't remember it, I will re-read it again and sit again and contemplate.

Invincible_summer

@JamestheGiant - Seems structured... just the way I like it! I should check this out. Thanks!

@riverflow - What are the names of the Glenn Wallis and TNH books? I would be interested in looking into them.

@hermitwin - I actually have a copy of the Dhammapada, but it's a bit hard to make sense of some of it without commentaries. i'm not sure where to start.

riverflow

Invincible_summer said:

@riverflow - What are the names of the Glenn Wallis and TNH books? I would be interested in looking into them.

Thich Nhat Hanh: Awakening of the Heart - Essential Buddhist Sutras and Commentaries --- includes his invaluable commentary on the Heart Sutra and also the Diamond Sutra.

Glenn Wallis: Basic Teachings of the Buddha --- I finished reading this not too long ago and highly recommend it. He goes into detail on translating the Pali with some interesting variants (I like how he translates 'Right Speech,' 'Right View,' etc. as 'Sound Speech,' 'Sound View,' etc.) Excellent detailed notes.

And a bonus:

Glenn Wallis: The Dhammapada - Verses on the Way --- This is in the same vein (and similar formatting) as the above mentioned Glenn Wallis book, with detailed commentary.

fivebells

Most of what I know about sutras, I learned from Thanissaro's books, particularly, Wings to Awakening and Mind Like Fire Unbound.

BonsaiDoug

Invincible_summer said:

For those that study suttas, how did you go about starting?

Do you just pick one and mull it over for awhile? Read someone else's commentaries? Follow a particular order? Have a "Sutta-a-Day" thing going on?

@Invincible_summer - try this site for some starting places: http://readingfaithfully.org/