Dear Jon,



On Feb 10, 2008 6:17 PM, Jon Fernquest <bayinnaung@...> wrote:

> Ven. Piya Tan wrote: "Brahma's invitation is early in the Buddha's
>
> ministry, reported mostly in the Mahavagga of the Vinaya (V 1:7)."
>



>
> If no other information is given in a citation like this, what
> publication should we assume is being cited?
>
> Is the "1:7" within the Maha Vagga of the Vinaya?
>









"V 1:7" = Vinaya volume 1 page 7.
It's good to know at least some shorthand of the Buddhist texts, like
DMSA = "Do many skillful acts!" which stands for

D = Diigha Nikaaya (tr as the Long Discourses of the Buddha)
M = Majjhina Nikaaya (tr as the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha)
S = Sa.myutta Nikaaya (tr as the Connected Discourses of the Buddha)
A = A.nguttara Nikaaaya (forthcoming tr by Bhikkhu Bodhi, title: "Numerical
Discourses of the Buddha"?)

These abbreviations can be found in the Pali-English Dictionary (page ix
onwards).
A more exhaustive list is found in the Critical Pali Dictionary (at the end
of Vol 1).

My own hybrid of the methods used in British scholarship and US scholarship
is found in
the Epilegomena in dharmafarer.googlepages.com

The abbreviations often vary from scholar to scholar (university to
university), so it is useful to look up
the author's abbreviation before or while reading. After some time, you will
understand these little
quirks of the unawakened scholars and have the hang of the short forms.

Metta & mudita,

Piya Tan


> Also do you know of anyone who has studied historical differences in
> Tipitaka versions?
>




Try this wonderful website on the works of Ajahn Sujato (a forest monk who
care about
the world) for a start. One of his special interests (besides meditation) is
the comparative
study of the Pali texts and their northern version translation into Chinese
as the Agamas.

http://santifm1.0.googlepages.com/writings
>
>
> I'm interested because of the Mon Tipitaka (Southern Burma). I'm just
> wondering whether they have a Tipitaka that is slightly different that
> goes back a long way or whether it has been brought into line with the
> Burmese version at the some point. Same goes for the Shan/Tai
> Tipitaka. Trying to define what would be unique about the Pali
> Buddhist literatures of these cultures. There was a conference at SOAS
> on Tai Buddhism in December actually and that would have included
> papers on their textual traditions. Will try to find out what happened
> there.
>
> Thanks,
> Jon Fernquest
>
> --- In Pali@yahoogroups.com <Pali%40yahoogroups.com>, "Piya Tan"
> <dharmafarer@...> wrote:
> >
> > Jon,
> >
> > Actually Brahmanimantanika Sutta is M 49, where it is the Buddha who
> goes up
> > to the Brahma world, and Mara succeeds in blinding the brahmas
> there! It's
> > like
> > John Milton's Paradise Lost with Satan succeeding, but the Buddha
> knows what
> > is going on.
> >
> > Brahma's invitation is early in the Buddha's ministry, reported
> mostly in
> > the Mahavagga
> > of the Vinaya (V 1:7).
> >
> > Anyway if anyone else can help, I will be most grateful.
> >
> > Thanks again Jon.
> >
> > Piya
> >
> >
> > On Feb 8, 2008 9:21 PM, Jon Fernquest <bayinnaung@...> wrote:
> >
> > > Ven. Piya Tan wrote: "Sorry for this abrupt change of topic, but
> does
> > >
> > > any know if any scholars have written on the origin or roots of the
> > > "Brahma's Invitation" story (V 1:7 etc). I remember some time back
> > > coming across a journal or book title on this."
> > >
> > > Sorry, can't really answer your question yet, but I know where to
> begin,
> > > "Google book search" and "Google scholar" show:
> > >
> > >
> http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=Brahmanimantanika+Sutta&spell=\
> <http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=Brahmanimantanika+Sutta&spell=>>
> >
> 1<
> http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=Brahmanimantanika+Sutta&spell=1>
> > >
> > >
> http://books.google.com/books?q=Brahma-nimantanika+Sutta&btnG=Search+Boo\
> <http://books.google.com/books?q=Brahma-nimantanika+Sutta&btnG=Search+Boo>>
> >
> ks<
> http://books.google.com/books?q=Brahma-nimantanika+Sutta&btnG=Search+Books
> >
> > >
> > > (I actually tried to look in the indexes of paper books first!)
> > >
> > > Gombrich touched upon it and also Bhikkhu Nanamoli.
> > >
> > > Breadcrumbs like from scholars like this are a great way of learning.
> > >
> > > Over at the Chinese History website there used to be an entrance exam,
> > > that was open book, so it was effectively a great way of learning
> about
> > > Chinese history. All the answers were in Wikipedia subject to a close
> > > reading.
> > >
> > > Thanks for the bread crumbs.
> > >
> > > Sincerely,
> > > Jon Fernquest
> > >
> > > --- In Pali@yahoogroups.com <Pali%40yahoogroups.com><Pali%40yahoogroups.com>, "Piya Tan"
>
> > > <dharmafarer@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Sorry for this abrupt change of topic, but
> > > > does any know if any scholars have written on the origin or roots of
> > > the
> > > > "Brahma's
> > > > Invitation" story (V 1:7 etc). I remember some time back coming
> across
> > > a
> > > > journal
> > > > or book title on this.
> > > >
> > > > I have read interesting articles on the possible sources of Ambattha
> > > of the
> > > > Ambattha
> > > > Sutta, that is, Svetaketu of the Upanishads. It is interesting
> to see
> > > how
> > > > the Buddha
> > > > and the early Buddhists revamp such ideas for their audience.
> And also
> > > > reminds us
> > > > of the true context of suttas when translating them.
> > > >
> > > > With metta,
> > > >
> > > > Piya Tan
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Feb 7, 2008 8:00 PM, Jon Fernquest <bayinnaung@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Dear List;
> > > > >
> > > > > "King's of the Buddha's Time" (1983) by Bhikkhu Amritananda of
> Nepal
> > > > > (now deceased)
> > > > >
> > > > > This is a really fantastic book that I would recommend to anyone
> > > > > interested in Pali literature.
> > > > >
> > > > > It is full of useful background information and puts Jataka
> stories
> > > > > into context.
> > > > >
> > > > > Often you hear names when reading the Tipitaka that can sometimes
> > > not
> > > > > have meaning for the reader due to limitations in knowledge. This
> > > book
> > > > > weaves together disparate parts of the Tipitaka into
> biographies and
> > > > > narratives and provides this background info.
> > > > >
> > > > > It only cost 80 baht (2.5 US dollars) at the bookstore across from
> > > Wat
> > > > > Benjamapopit (sorry for spelling) which leads me to believe
> that the
> > > > > price was set more to cover the cost of paper than to make any
> > > profit,
> > > > > with an aim to disseminating this work as widely as possible.
> > > > >
> > > > > Which leads me to conclude that a lot of authors of works probably
> > > > > would be open to making their work available on the internet, if
> > > asked
> > > > > politely with objective of non-profit dissemination made clear.
> > > > >
> > > > > Sincerely,
> > > > > Jon
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > The Minding Centre
> > > > Blk 644 Bukit Batok Central #01-68 (2nd flr)
> > > > Singapore 650644
> > > > Website: dharmafarer.googlepages.com
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > The Minding Centre
> > Blk 644 Bukit Batok Central #01-68 (2nd flr)
> > Singapore 650644
> > Website: dharmafarer.googlepages.com
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>
>



--
The Minding Centre
Blk 644 Bukit Batok Central #01-68 (2nd flr)
Singapore 650644
Website: dharmafarer.googlepages.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]