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Can any one recommend some commentaries on the pali suttas? It's so easy to misunderstand what the words exactly mean.
Yeah, that's true. I often find myself starting to post a comment on some passage, only to end up spending an hour asking myself "What does this passage really say?"
The website accesstoinsight.org often includes some discussion by the translator with the sutta translations it provides, either an introduction or footnotes. It also offers essays on some important concepts that come up when reading suttas. Good print translations also often do the same.
Walpola Rahula offered his understanding of the suttas in "What the Buddha Taught", while Bhikkhu Bodhi quotes specific suttas and comments on them in "In the Buddha's Words".
Often, understanding a sutta is not so much a matter of getting the exact meaning of the words as it is understanding how something fits into the general drift of the Buddha's teaching. In the suttas, there's a tendency to avoid certain metaphysical questions, so some things that might be interpreted in a metaphysical way probably shouldn't be.
I will never reach the point of having a complete understanding of all the Buddhist texts I'm interested in. I will never be at the point of being sure of understanding exactly what the words mean. I post my understanding and occasionally someone points out something that proves me utterly wrong. :-)
Comments
The website accesstoinsight.org often includes some discussion by the translator with the sutta translations it provides, either an introduction or footnotes. It also offers essays on some important concepts that come up when reading suttas. Good print translations also often do the same.
Walpola Rahula offered his understanding of the suttas in "What the Buddha Taught", while Bhikkhu Bodhi quotes specific suttas and comments on them in "In the Buddha's Words".
Often, understanding a sutta is not so much a matter of getting the exact meaning of the words as it is understanding how something fits into the general drift of the Buddha's teaching. In the suttas, there's a tendency to avoid certain metaphysical questions, so some things that might be interpreted in a metaphysical way probably shouldn't be.
I will never reach the point of having a complete understanding of all the Buddhist texts I'm interested in. I will never be at the point of being sure of understanding exactly what the words mean. I post my understanding and occasionally someone points out something that proves me utterly wrong. :-)