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Reading Sutras

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Tips on Reading Sutras

Sutras (Pali: suttas) are small verses, or long discourses. In Buddhist teachings they tend to be extended discourses.

You may ask "Should I desire to read into Buddhist canon?"

That is your own choice. Reading may assist you up to a point, and a good meditation technique further. Moreover, meditation does not depend much on reading, after all.

Now if you do want to profit from books, seek to go for the better and most reliable works as you do, for the Buddhist canon is vast, varied, repetitive, and in part made up, in that words are put in the mouth of Buddha. Many such texts are around, and some contain good points. And then the question is to what degree such good points are put into practice, and for how long, how integrated they get, and how well they are executed, how the surroundings are, and so on, being alert to possible dangers.

Also, it is good bear in mind Buddha's fixed counsel against being duped. [Link].

SWAMI BRAHMANANDA
Guru Dev.

Mind whether the teachings are held to be a primary source or not, and by whom. Try to chew on them a little to note the tastes that develop. Good and staunch teachings may assist you throughout life if you regulate your life in conformity to basic ideas of some of them. Yet how do we decide which spiritual paths and truths are worth following and which are not? It depends in part on our circumstances, in part on ourselves, in part on the impressions that we are given. Yet, the stand of the Kalama Sutra of Buddhism hopefully sheds light on this probable dilemma.

If we go for learning tall teachings about how to go for developing skills and graceous qualities through meditation, we can get it better throughout life. For example, the method of meditation called TM, comes from Guru Dev through Maharishi. The method has lots of beneficial effects, according to extensive, modern research. You may profit from looking into that.

TM in Buddhism: Two examples

The Buddhist leader Bhikkhu Sanghasena, who practices Trancendental Meditation, has decided to introduce TM in his schools and monastery in Ladakh, Kashmir, in Himalayan India. People from all over the world formerly came to his international meditation center to learn his buddhistic meditation techniques. Sangashena has expressed great appreciation of Maharishi and his teachings, which he will implement in Ladakh.

During the last few years, Rev. Koji Oshima, a Japanese Buddhist monk who has practices TM for 9 years, has inspired Buddhist monks in Thailand and Sri Lanka to learn TM. Today over 3100 such monks have learned TM.

Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedictus XVI, in 1990 signed a newsletter where TM and other eastern meditations were described as helpful for attaining peace "even amidst turbulence". [Source]

Guru Dev's TM and a Buddhist sutra

So TM, Transcendental Meditation, is practiced among Buddhists and others. There is a Mahayana Buddhist sutra that tells of a meeting of Buddha with his leading followers. That Mahayana Buddhist sutra, the Shurangama Sutra, has been influential in the Chan [Zen] school of Chinese Buddhism.

A number of scholars have associated the Shurangama Sutra with the Buddhist tradition at Nalanda, an ancient university centre of higher learning in Bihar, India. Nalanda flourished between 415 and 1193 CE, when it was destroyed by Muslim invaders. A vast amount of what came to comprise Tibetan Buddhism, both its Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, stems from the late (9th–12th century) Nalanda teachers and traditions.

The doctrinal position of the text corresponds to what is known about the Buddhist teachings at Nalanda during this period. The text stresses moral and teaches about end results of deep meditation. Gradual ascent (a glide inwards" by a method of meditation described in the text conforms very well with how Transcendental meditation is described and practised. [Shurangama Sutra 5:129-230] [◦Global Good News, 24 Jan. 2008]

[Wikipedia, s.v. "Shurangama Sutra", "Nalanda"]

Back to Sutra Readings

Different Buddhist traditions are oriented differently. For example, the Pali canon has nothing about the value of boddhisatva vow. It looks like a later addition found in Mahayana Buddhism. To be on the safer side, try and find the most reliable, most genuine Buddha words. It may not be easy. And not every text that is called a Buddhist sutra is of the same standing, and not of equal value to everyone. For example, many severe regulations for monks and nuns happily do not apply to lay followers. And Mahayanic texts (sutras), differ somewhat from many of the in the Pali canon, which may be older and more faithful to the exact words of Buddha. But regardless of differences, there are some similar teachings, and Buddha is held in high regard throughout.

It may help a lot to meditate on selected utterances to absorb or integrate them better. It helps many to select and ponder on a core verse or three or more a day after meditating, sitting in the meditative poise. In fact, such a method is used to develop spiritual abilities in yoga. It takes little effort. Adding to that, a nifty recording device might truly help if you go for learning basics with very little effort. It helps toward living skillfully in the world. As there are many sides to living, there are many sayings that could come in handy. [More].

A body of teachings is about proper conduct, Dharma, as understood. As you reflect, you may discover from reading one sutra [SN 4.1] that your practice should be to avoid all desires. However, from another reading another [◦SN 51.15], you learn of someone who desired to get rid of desire. Further, that desire did him good, and was thus actually helpful, at least to him. Yes, there are many intricacies around. Go easy on yourself, therefore.

Refrain from conundrums at the onset, and take up TM to improve your life. The amount of ◦Buddhist sutras is vast. And as for translated Buddhist sutras, there is no such thing as a "definitive" translation. Buddha's teachings appear with many variations throughout the ancient Pali Canon, and aligning all of them full well with texts of Mahayana Buddhism cannot be done. The content of texts differ, attitudes are different, and Mahayana texts contain elements not found in the Pali canon. Parts of Mahayanic discourses (sutras) should be taken with a grain of salt rather than getting rash about them, in my opinion. One reason is that some such sutras are wordy and exaggerate blatantly here and there. As it is, Buddha expounds a Middle Way of avoiding extremes, which also can be applied to the baseness of exaggerating a lot.

Still, sutras from the main Buddhist traditions offer handy advice – and in the Sigalovada Sutra Buddha offers a concise "instruction manual" for how lay persons can live happy and fulfilling lives. It helps to know who your real friends are, how children and parents can live happily together [◦DN 31], how to safeguard your material possessions [◦AN 4.255], what sorts of things are and are not worth talking about [AN 10.69], how to cope with grief [AN 5.49], and much else. They offer handy advice on how to find happiness, no matter what your life-situation may be, no matter what you call yourself, "Buddhist" or something else, and you get tips on how to meditate [e.g., ◦MN 118, DN 22].

Maybe you have already tasted the pleasure that comes to the fore in a concentrated mind [AN 5.28]. Seeing your own personal experiences described and put into a wider scenario inspires confidence, and you get a feel of how things are going within yourself. It can take time.

For learning breath meditation, see the Anapanasati sutra; for practice of mindfulness, see the Maha-satipatthana Sutra. For learning TM, contact the TM centre nearest you and see what you can do.

Buddhism is for self-help, including a balanced life of work and meditation. TM offers great help in this line. Buddha spoke of dukkha (suffering, stress etc) and nirvana (great happiness, not really dying out), concepts that have been filtered by translators and coloured by many of them. One translator equates dukkha with "suffering" and nirvana with "unbinding". Others find "stress" and "quenching" more to the point, and so on. Mastery of Sanskrit and Pali is not required to live out Buddhism, but it helps against misleading and slanted notions and biases of translators.

As for Buddha's teachings, when you truly understand what he teaches, and what lies in on all levels, maybe you have become a Buddha yourself. That would be good. And maybe you need to dig a little deeper.

Further, there is no way to prove that a sutra contains the actual words uttered by Buddha. Anyway, try to receive the teaching as it appears to be. Maybe reading different translations help, maybe not. It depends on the translations too. And do not forget yourself in the matter. In trying to relate to Gautama Buddha's main teachings you can put an unhelpful verse aside temporarily, at least for the moment, and maybe come back to it next week, next month, next year, and so on. By the way, a good sutra is one that inspires you to stop reading it and practice it instead. An ounce of correct application in an upright life may outweigh having many tons of books.

Many sutras offer lessons with relevance on several levels and with a relevance that can be applied in a wider range of settings. And Buddha says he practices what he teaches". As for the many repetitions and stock phrases that teem in the discourses, you may put "Refrain" and "Repetition" (:|:) and similar notes from the realm of song writing in the margin to help yourself. As with (other) songs, the refrains in the sutras can contain nice variations too.

If you are free to discuss a sutra with a friend or two, it is nice. It may speed up the understanding of the sutra, deepen the insight into it, or help seeing different sides to the topic under discussion in it.

To reduce the chance of faulty and wrong understanding, you may turn to a Pali-English dictionary and look up central terms in it, and find out of the building blocks (components) that go together to form words in Pali, much as in English. And it may be possible to study what different translators and commentators say about the sutra. You may also enjoy reading excellent introductions and endnotes that offer refreshing and unique perspectives. But basically, give the sutra an incubation period inside your own belly, so to speak. Let it ripen inside yourself, being aligned with your own hard-won life experiences thus. In the long run the sutra may tell of yoor everyday world and how to live in it. That would be nice, or what?

Mastication, impregnation, incubation, birth, grooming and ripening of a particularly valuable life lesson takes time. It needs fostering, like a healthy baby that is born. Allow much time to ruminate in an over-all pleasurable setting if you can. If not, make do with what you have and may get at at any time.

The Buddha tailored his teachings to meet the particular needs of his audience. Therefore consider the context of a sutra and what his original audience might be, before wanting to apply his words to your own life situation. For example, you are not asked to abandon healthy sex if you are not a monk or nun.

Having some sense of a teacher's maturation level is better than knowing of his or her formal credentials, but let both serve you as you seek to assess various modern teachings. You need to assess how appropriate this and that teacher, scholar, and teaching is for you.

As you explore the vast loom of Buddha-aligned teachings, do not forget to ask the liberating: "What does this have to offer me?" And why? Buddha says:

A TEACHING You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person will not be found: You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.

On reading sutras – END MATTER

On reading sutras, LITERATURE  

Hsuan Hua, ed. The Shurangama Sutra with Commentary. 1st ed. Burlingame, CA: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003.

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