Rett,
Thank you, I will probably take you up on those suggestions. Actually I had already looked at the Majjhima and at Nanamoli's translations. I think Warder is splendid, but was not aware of the others. Piyadassi I knew, but the only dictionary I ever had was from the PTS and quite expensive, or so I thought. However I appreciate your useful and helpful ideas and will most likely be following most of them.

Yeah, the Majjhima is great literature, but the Parinibbana Sutta from the Digha is too as well as the rest of the selections in Buddhist Suttas in Dover's T.W. Rhys Davids edition. I have that and the awful Juan Mascaro translation of the Dhammapada.

What is so funny about these works is the way Christian metaphor is woven into commentaries and how that viewpoint informs some of the more difficult bits of translation and interpretation. It is funny but also annoying. The metaphors simply don't work at all as the Buddha is not pointing to the same means nor the same goal as 19th C clerics and theologians were. Oh well.

But yes, Warder, the Majjhima, Nanamoli. that is a year anyway at least for me.

Thanks again I hope to order books soon and get busy.

Pete Tomlinson

rett <rett@...> wrote: Hi again Pete,

>
> What I hope to find, aside from friends and associates who have interests in the Theravadan teachings and Way of dhamma, are used and cheaper editions of the Pali tests so Ican save a little money in acquiring the Tipitaka. I am beginning at the beginning and have not even got A K Warder's grammar, (or anyone Else's yet).

One big way to save money is not to be in a hurry to get a complete Tipitaka. There are large parts of it (like the Yamaka and the Pa.t.thaana) that are very advanced and difficult. And many of the most well-known and popular books in translation have quite difficult Pali, such as the Dhammapada and the Suttanipata (which includes Mettasutta, for example). Instead you might want a small collection with a lot of canonical _prose_.

A decent start would be gradually acquire (in this order):

1. Various Pali courses that are available in free e-editions. (do parallel with Warder).

2. Warder's _Introduction to Pali_. (look out for used copy on abebooks or elsewhere)

3. The PED and Cone's _A Dictionary of Pali_. (the latter is hard to find used, but is very helpful)

4. _Majjhima Nikaaya_ in three volumes and Nanamoli/Bodhi's translation _The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha_ from Wisdom Pubs.

5. Reference grammars like those of Geiger, Perniola, Fahs, Oberlies. (The latter two are rare and expensive respectively).

You can go a long way with just these materials, and the cost shouldn't be too overwhelming. Seriously, this is a number of years of rewarding work in itself. For example you could use the Majjhima to read extensively after going through most of Warder. There will be knotty words and phrases, but don't let that stop you. Be willing to leave the hardest bits aside for the time being, and just keep learning vocab and syntax in the clearer parts of the texts (which are in the majority).

For part 4, you could substitute the Samyutta or Digha. Personally I love the Majjhima as it has a nice balance between doctrine and depictions of the life of the Sangha and various personalities in norther India. Truly fascinating reading, a literary wonder of the ancient world. The Majjhima is also suitable for use with Warder's book: the idiom is pretty much the same as in the Digha, which Warder uses.

best regards,

/Rett



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