Buddhist Resources

[girlalonewithherself]

I apologise for once again asking another question of the board, but I was wondering whether anyone could aid me in trying to further my understanding of Buddhist teachings.

At the moment, I'm listening to a lot of dharma talks, but I was wondering whether anyone could recommend any books or other resources that would help a beginner get a better grasp of Buddhism at all. I seem to be coming up against a lot of questions during my own research and, while I recognise that these questions are not necessary a bad thing, I would like to learn a little bit more to help with this questions, if possible.

Thank you for your help.

[Lobsang Chojor]

I don't know if you have decided on a tradition, but these are great resources for the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.

• Lam Rim radio

• Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive

• Study Buddhism

The Meridian Trust has videos from a range of traditions as well.

[Derek]

If you want a broad historical overview of Buddhism, see if https://www.amazon.co.uk/Buddhist-Relig ... 534558585/ appeals to you.

[Wayfarer]

Access to Insight has many of the Pali texts translated with commentary. The Self-Guided Tour of the Buddha's Teachings is a useful starting point.

[Jyotish]

Hey I really recommend
http://www.byomakusuma.org/marshland-flowers/

It is a series of articles so the sequence flows smoothly. It also has tons of comparative aspects. It is written for Hindu audience primarily so you automatically end up understanding what is buddha dharma and how it is different from other world religions as understanding Hindu dharma which is the most Complex and mixed shows how buddha dharma differs from other religions.

Plus the series s openly talks about things like realms and magical powers which are usually refrained in explanation to westerners. Basically he makes clear the traditional Buddhist view point rather than hiding things.

On the way he also explain science behind meditation and such so you will get to see that aspect to. And there is history of buddha dharma to some extent.

Another important point is once you complete thatvseries there is a whole another series of books in depth that refine ones view of buddha dharma.

[Dharmic]

I apologise for once again asking another question of the board, but I was wondering whether anyone could aid me in trying to further my understanding of Buddhist teachings.

At the moment, I'm listening to a lot of dharma talks, but I was wondering whether anyone could recommend any books or other resources that would help a beginner get a better grasp of Buddhism at all. I seem to be coming up against a lot of questions during my own research and, while I recognise that these questions are not necessary a bad thing, I would like to learn a little bit more to help with this questions, if possible.

Thank you for your help.

Hi,

Here are two books written by Theravādins:

Good Question Good Answer

What the Buddha Taught

In case you are interested in Pure Land Mahāyāna Sūtras these are the three main texts.

[Jyotish]

If you are looking for a lighter take than what I suggested earlier try Alexander in which he calls dharma lite. No assumption of rebirth realms etc.

[Dharmic]

I apologise for once again asking another question of the board, but I was wondering whether anyone could aid me in trying to further my understanding of Buddhist teachings.

At the moment, I'm listening to a lot of dharma talks, but I was wondering whether anyone could recommend any books or other resources that would help a beginner get a better grasp of Buddhism at all. I seem to be coming up against a lot of questions during my own research and, while I recognise that these questions are not necessary a bad thing, I would like to learn a little bit more to help with this questions, if possible.

Thank you for your help.

Hi,

I was thinking about your question. Buddhist teachings are from the Sutras. Maybe we could prepare a list of important Sutras based on suggestions of the members here.

[Lobsang Chojor]

Hi,

I was thinking about your question. Buddhist teachings are from the Sutras. Maybe we could prepare a list of important Sutras based on suggestions of the members here.

This thread might help: Favorite sutra and shastra?

[Dharmic]

Hi,

I was thinking about your question. Buddhist teachings are from the Sutras. Maybe we could prepare a list of important Sutras based on suggestions of the members here.

This thread might help: Favorite sutra and shastra?

Hi,

Yes, that thread is good. In the sister forum they have a list of Suttas from the Pāḷi canon.

The Mahāyāna canon is much bigger and there are many internal schools, some of them focus on a set of texts or one main Sūtra.

In the discussions here I've noticed that some texts are mentioned frequently and seem to be the popular.

- Texts from the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra collection
- Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra
- Texts from the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra collection
- Lotus Sūtra
- Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra
- Avataṃsaka Sūtra
- Texts with samādhi in their title such as Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra, Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra etc.
- Texts about Buddha-nature - Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra collection
- Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra
- Golden Light Sutra (Suvarṇaprabhāsottama Sūtra)
- Śūraṅgama Sūtra
- Amitābha, Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra etc. - Pure Land Sūtras
- Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra
- Brahmajāla Sūtra

I haven't read them but most of these are available online for free. I was thinking whether it is possible to make a list of important/core Mahāyāna sūtras for those who are interested in studying.

[joy&peace]

Hello friend..

A few I like are;

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nhat_Hanh - Thich Nhat Hanh, also called Thay, Vietnamese for Teacher..


http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ is a very good site for Sutras, including the Ahi Sutta, one of my personal favorites.. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .piya.html

A pretty short one, that.

The other day I also discovered the Samyutta Nikaya, which is very beautiful, on the same site:

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/

Dharma talks are truly wonderful, -- a classic and favorite, is "Being Peace" by Hanh.. http://zencast.org/zencast_89_being_peace

He also wrote a beautiful biography of the Buddha, 'Old Path White Clouds'... I've only read a bit, but it was profoundly wonderful.

So, a couple Sutras from the above post are very great, and would get a second vote from me: Avatamsaka Sutra, and Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra..

[girlalonewithherself]

Thank you, everyone, for your help and your guidance. I have started reading "What the Buddha Taught" and I'm already learning an incredible amount.

Thank you, as well, for the links to the Suttas. So far, the one that has touched me the most deeply is the Abhaya Sutta. Right speech is something that I struggle with, so I intend to revisit this Sutta on a regular basis to help with that.

[Bristollad]

Another site with many resources for Buddhism is https://archive.org/

For instance, Tse Chen Ling Buddhist Lectures (Tse Chen Ling is an FPMT centre in San Francisco) are there, all 757 of them! But there are many more from many different people and groups.