The Essence of

　　the Buddha”s Teaching

　　by Ajahn Tiradhammo

　　A Selection of Scriptural Quotations with Commentary - May 2003

　　CONTENT

　　Part 1: The Buddha

　　Part 2: The Dhamma

　　FORWARD

　　This is an on-going project of compiling a selection of scriptural quotations with commentary to express the Buddhist Path of spiritual practice, perhaps eventually culminating in a substantial book. From time to time more selections will be added and present passages possibly re-edited.

　　Translations are mine unless indicated otherwise. Any comments or suggestions please write to: Thiradhammo Bhikkhu, Dhammapala Monastery, 3718 Kandersteg, Switzerland.

　　GENERAL INTRODUCTION

　　The sources for this book are the Pali Canon, the scriptures preserved in the Pali language and accepted by the Theravada, or Southern School of Buddhism. ". . . though some parts of it clearly post-date the Buddha, many parts of it are ancient and may date from his day or soon after. [1]

　　Shortly after the Buddha”s final passing, the senior members of the Sangha convened a council to recite and recognise as authentic a body of teachings called "Dhamma" and "Vinaya" (Vin.II,284ff.). At least two other important councils were held later, one hundred years after the Buddha”s passing (Vin.II,294ff.) and 236 years after the passing, during the reign of King Asoka, about 250 BC. At these later councils the "Dhamma-Vinaya" was recited once again and added to, for example, the story of the second council was added to the Vinaya Pitaka and the Kathavatthu, written by the "President of the Third Council", Ven. Tissa Moggaliputta, was added to the Abidhamma Pitaka. [2]

　　Part 1: The Buddha

　　INTRODUCTION

　　Historically, the religion known as Buddhism is traced to the Buddha, the "Awakened One", who is believed to have lived in northern India from 563 to 483 BCE. [3] The Buddhist canonical tradition, however, places the teachings of Buddhism far beyond the sphere of one particular figure. The Buddha is quoted as saying that he has "found the ancient path, the ancient trail, travelled by the Fully Enlightened Ones of old." [4] The (older) texts also enumerate and give details of the lives of six previous Buddhas who lived in the distant past and a future Buddha. [5]

　　There is no comprehensive biography of the Buddha in the Pali Canon. Several parts of the Canon give some lengthy (auto)biographical details of certain parts of his life (M.sut.26; D.sut.16; Mahavagga, Ch.1), while other biographical fragments are scattered throughout the Canon. It is also noticeable that there is a certain amount of contrast between what is recorded in the ”early” canonical texts and the `later” and post canonical texts about the Buddha”s life. That is, the later texts tend more towards portraying the Buddha as a supernatural being with exemplary qualities embellished with miraculous occurrences. [6]

　　However, it should also be borne in mind that the texts do contain a mixture of historical, supernatural, allegorical and metaphorical material. Just because some account in the texts does not fit our idea of historical validity does not mean that it is therefore fictional, as it may have allegorical meaning. For example, the wonders surrounding the Buddha”s birth and death may fall into this category. Joseph Campbell makes an important observation when he notes the "close relationship maintained in the Orient between myth, psychology, and metaphysics." [7]

　　While it is difficult (if not impossible) to completely separate the `early” material from the `late” in the main core of the Pali Canon, it is possible to distinguish some later texts in the Canon. Thus the Nidânakathâ, the introduction to the Jâtaka, "is the earliest attempt in Pali to give a connected life-story of the Buddha."…

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