Table Of Contentteachings of the buddha
philosophy&spirituality/buddhism/sacredwritings
In the
Buddha’s
T
In the
hislandmarkcollectionisthedefinitiveintroductionto Words
the Buddha’s teachings—in his own words. The American
scholar-monkBhikkhuBodhi,whosevoluminoustranslationshave Buddha’s
won widespread acclaim, here presents selected discourses of the
BuddhafromthePa¯liCanon,theearliestrecordofwhattheBuddha
taught. Divided into ten thematic chapters, In the Buddha’s Words
revealsthefullscopeoftheBuddha’sdiscourses,fromfamilylifeand Words
An
marriagetorenunciationandthepathofinsight.
Anthology
In the Buddha’s Words allows even readers unacquainted with
BuddhismtograspthesignificanceoftheBuddha’scontributionsto of
ourworldheritage.Takenasawhole,thesetextsbeareloquenttes- Discourses
timonytothebreadthandintelligenceoftheBuddha’steachings,and
from the
pointthewaytoanancientyetever-vitalpath.
Pa¯li Canon
“TherearetwowaysoflookingatanyworkofBuddhistliterature. Edited and
An Anthology of Discourses
Oneistoviewitfromtheoutside,asanobjectsituatedinitshistori- introduced by
cal and cultural milieu. The other, more inward, perspective is to from the Pa¯li Canon
Bhikkhu
regarditspotentialtransformativeeffectuponitsreaders.Fromeither
one of these perspectives, this new work is remarkable…Bhikkhu Bodhi
Bodhi’sintroductionstoeachchapterstrungtogetherwouldthem-
selvesserveasabeautifulandaccessibleoverviewoftheDhamma.” Edited and introduced by
—Buddhadharma:ThePractitioner’sQuarterly
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Wisdom Publications•Boston
ISBN978-0-86171-491-9 US$18.95 foreword by the dalai lama
wisdompubs.org
ProducedwithEnvironmentalMindfulness
wisdom
In the Buddha’s Words
Tamed,heissupremeamongthosewhotame;
Atpeace,heisthesageamongthosewhobringpeace;
Freed,heisthechiefofthosewhosetfree;
Delivered,heisthebestofthosewhodeliver.
—AºguttaraNik›ya4:23
In the
Buddha’s
Words
An Anthology of Discourses
from the Pa¯li Canon
Edited and introduced by
Bhikkhu Bodhi
WisdomPublications • Boston
WisdomPublications,Inc.
199ElmStreet
SomervilleMA02144 USA
www.wisdompubs.org
©2005BhikkhuBodhi
Allrightsreserved.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedina
retrievalsystemortransmittedinanyformbyanymeanswithoutthepriorpermis-
sionofthecopyrightowner.Enquiriesshouldbemadetothepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Tipi˛aka.Suttapi˛aka.English.Selections.
IntheBuddha’swords:ananthologyofdiscoursesfromthePalicanon/
editedandintroduced
byBhikkhuBodhi.—1sted.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindexes.
ISBN0-86171-491-1(pbk.:alk.paper)
I.Bodhi,Bhikkhu.II.Title.
BQ1192.E53B632005
294.3'823--dc22 2005018336
ISBN0-86171-491-1
13 12 11 10 09
9 8 7 6 5
ThepublisherthanksAltaMiraPressforkindlygrantingpermissiontoincludeinthis
anthologyselectionsfromNumericalDiscoursesoftheBuddha:AnAnthologyofSuttas
fromtheAºguttaraNik›ya,translatedandeditedbyNyanaponikaTheraandBhikkhu
Bodhi.
CoverandinteriordesignbyGopa&Ted2,Inc.SetinDPalatino10/13.75pt.
Frontispiece:StandingBuddhaShakyamuni.Pakistan,Gandhara,secondcenturyA.D.
Height250cm.CourtesyoftheMihoMuseum,Japan.www.miho.jp
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Contents
Foreword vii
Preface ix
ListofAbbreviations xiv
KeytothePronunciationofP›li xv
DetailedListofContents xvii
GeneralIntroduction 1
I. TheHumanCondition 17
II. TheBringerofLight 41
III. ApproachingtheDhamma 79
IV. TheHappinessVisibleinThisPresentLife 105
V. TheWaytoaFortunateRebirth 143
VI. DeepeningOne’sPerspectiveontheWorld 181
VII. ThePathtoLiberation 221
VIII. MasteringtheMind 255
IX. ShiningtheLightofWisdom 299
X. ThePlanesofRealization 371
Notes 425
TableofSources 459
Glossary 469
Bibliography 471
IndexofSubjects 473
IndexofProperNames 479
IndexofSimiles 481
IndexofSelectedP›liSuttaTitles 483
IndexofP›liTermsDiscussedintheNotes 485
v
Publisher’s Acknowledgment
For their help in sponsoring the printing of this book, the publisher
gratefully acknowledges the generous help of the Hershey Family
FoundationandthekindcontributionmadeinlovingmemoryofGan
ChinHongbyhisfamily.
vi
Foreword
More than two thousand five hundred years have passed since our
kindteacher,Buddha⁄›kyamuni,taughtinIndia.Heofferedadviceto
allwhowishedtoheedit,invitingthemtolisten,reflect,andcritically
examinewhathehadtosay.Headdresseddifferentindividualsand
groupsofpeopleoveraperiodofmorethanfortyyears.
AftertheBuddha’spassing,arecordofwhathesaidwasmaintained
asanoraltradition.Thosewhoheardtheteachingswouldperiodically
meetwithothersforcommunalrecitationsofwhattheyhadheardand
memorized.Induecourse,theserecitationsfrommemorywerewrit-
tendown,layingthebasisforallsubsequentBuddhistliterature.The
P›liCanonisoneoftheearliestofthesewrittenrecordsandtheonly
completeearlyversionthathassurvivedintact.WithintheP›liCanon,
thetextsknownastheNik›yashavethespecialvalueofbeingasin-
gle cohesive collection of the Buddha’s teachings in his own words.
Theseteachingscoverawiderangeoftopics;theydealnotonlywith
renunciationandliberation,butalsowiththeproperrelationsbetween
husbandsandwives,themanagementofthehousehold,andtheway
countriesshouldbegoverned.Theyexplainthepathofspiritualdevel-
opment—fromgenerosityandethics,throughmindtrainingandthe
realizationofwisdom,allthewayuptotheattainmentofliberation.
TheteachingsfromtheNik›yascollectedhereprovidefascinating
insightsintohowtheBuddha’steachingswerestudied,preserved,and
understood in the early days of Buddhism’s development. Modern
readerswillfindthemespeciallyvaluableforreinvigoratingandclar-
ifyingtheirunderstandingofmanyfundamentalBuddhistdoctrines.
ClearlytheBuddha’sessentialmessageofcompassion,ethicalrespon-
sibility,mentaltranquillity,anddiscernmentisasrelevanttodayasit
wasmorethantwenty-fivehundredyearsago.
Although Buddhism spread and took root in many parts of Asia,
evolving into diverse traditions according to the place and occasion,
distance and differences of language limited exchange between
Buddhistsinthepast.Oneoftheresultsofmodernimprovementsin
vii
viii IntheBuddha’sWords
transport and communication that I most appreciate is the vastly
expanded opportunities those interested in Buddhism now have to
acquaintthemselveswiththefullrangeofBuddhistteachingandprac-
tice.WhatIfindespeciallyencouragingaboutthisbookisthatitshows
soclearlyhowmuchfundamentallyallschoolsofBuddhismhavein
common.IcongratulateBhikkhuBodhiforthiscarefulworkofcom-
pilation and translation. I offer my prayers that readers may find
advice here—and the inspiration to put it into practice—that will
enablethemtodevelopinnerpeace,whichIbelieveisessentialforthe
creationofahappierandmorepeacefulworld.
VenerableTenzinGyatso,theFourteenthDalaiLama
May10,2005
Preface
TheBuddha’sdiscoursespreservedintheP›liCanonarecalledsuttas,
the P›li equivalent of the Sanskrit word sÒtras. Although the P›li
Canon belongs to a particular Buddhist school—the Therav›da, or
School of the Elders—the suttas are by no means exclusively
Therav›da Buddhist texts. They stem from the earliest period of
Buddhist literary history, a period lasting roughly a hundred years
after the Buddha’s death, before the original Buddhist community
dividedintodifferentschools.TheP›lisuttashavecounterpartsfrom
other early Buddhist schools now extinct, texts sometimes strikingly
similar to the P›li version, differing mainly in settings and arrange-
mentsbutnotinpointsofdoctrine.Thesuttas,alongwiththeircoun-
terparts, thus constitute the most ancient records of the Buddha’s
teachingsavailabletous;theyaretheclosestwecancometowhatthe
historical Buddha Gotama himself actually taught. The teachings
foundinthemhaveservedasthefountainhead,theprimalsource,for
alltheevolvingstreamsofBuddhistdoctrineandpracticethroughthe
centuries.Forthisreason,theyconstitutethecommonheritageofthe
entire Buddhist tradition, and Buddhists of all schools who wish to
understandthetaprootofBuddhismshouldmakeacloseandcareful
studyofthemapriority.
IntheP›liCanontheBuddha’sdiscoursesarepreservedincollec-
tionscalledNik›yas.Overthepasttwentyyears,freshtranslationsof
the four major Nik›yas have appeared in print, issued in attractive
andaffordableeditions.WisdomPublicationspioneeredthisdevelop-
ment in 1987 when it published Maurice Walshe’s translation of the
Dıgha Nik›ya, The Long Discourses of the Buddha. Wisdom followed
thisprecedentbybringingout,in1995,myrevisedandeditedversion
of Bhikkhu Ñ›˚amoli’s handwritten translation of the Majjhima
Nik›ya,TheMiddleLengthDiscoursesoftheBuddha,followedin2000by
mynewtranslationofthecompleteSa˙yuttaNik›ya,TheConnected
DiscoursesoftheBuddha.In1999,undertheimprintofTheSacredLit-
eratureTrustSeries,AltaMiraPresspublishedananthologyofsuttas
ix
