Dear Patrick,

Welcome to the group!

In my opinion, by far the best book that describes the teachings of
the Buddha based solely on the Pali texts is Bhikkhu Bodhi's recent
anthology "In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the
Pali Canon". In this book he has selected and arranged discourses in
a systematic and structured way that gives a thorough grounding in the
teachings of the Buddha - in his own words, in excellent modern
English translation, and with lucid and clarifying introductory
material from Bhikkhu Bodhi. And the book is very cheap to buy from
Amazon, and possibly other places.

http://www.amazon.com/Buddhas-Words-Anthology-Discourses-Teachings/dp/0861714911/sr=1-1/qid=1160010528/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-7507368-3799044?ie=UTF8&s=books

http://www.wisdompubs.org

With metta,
John

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick" <cynical12345@...> wrote:
>
> Greetings everyone,
>
> I am new to the list. I have been trying to research the historical
> teachings of Gotoma for some time, and the Pali Texts, I found your
> group on yahoo and decided to join, in the hope that I will learn more
> about these issues.
>
> Is there a book anyone would recommend as a synopsis of Buddha's
> teachings on the core issues of his philosophy based on the Pali
> texts? I have found stores selling English translations of the Pali
> Texts but they tend to be very expensive. I do not speak Pali yet.
>
> Does anyone know if there are any Buddhist organizations or sects
> today which rely exclusively on the Pali texts for their beliefs and
> practice?
>
> Thank you very much for your help.
>
> Patrick
>