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Majjhima Nikaya) Sati Center for Buddhist Studies Sutta Study Program 2008-09 RESOURCES FOR STUDYING THE MIDDLE LENGTH DISCOURSES (Majjhima Nikaya) Translations: Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications: 1995) Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Handful of Leaves (Sati Center for Buddhist Studies and Metta Forest Monastery) Volume 1 (2002) – an anthology with translations of 37 suttas from the Middle Length Discourses. Volume 5 (2007) - contains additional suttas from the Middle Length Discourses. [Both volumes will be distributed freely at the first sutta study class] Sister Upalavanna, English translation of Majjhima Nikaya (found at Mettanet.org: http://www.mettanet.org/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/2Majjhima-Nikaya/index.html) Accesstoinsight.org; A select number of suttas from the Middle Length Discourses by other translators is found on Accesstoinsight.org, a valuable resource for the study of the Buddhist Discourses and the Theravada tradition. Audio readings of some Middle Length Discourses are found at this site. The site also lists many resources for further study including chat groups. Study Aids: Sharda Rogell, Pressing Out Pure Honey: A Companion for the Majjhima Nikaya (Dhamma Dana Publications. Barre Center for Buddhist Studies: 2003) Pali version of Majjhima Nikaya can be found on Mettanet.org at http://www.mettanet.org/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/2Majjhima-Nikaya/index.html Introductions to the teachings and history of Buddhism: Richard Robinson, Willard Johnson andThanissaro Bhikkhu, The Buddhist Religions (Wadsworth Publishing, 5th edition: 2004) Peter Harvey, An Introduction to Buddhism: Teachings, history and practices (Cambridge University Press) .
Recommended publications
  • Buddhist Psychology
    CHAPTER 1 Buddhist Psychology Andrew Olendzki THEORY AND PRACTICE ince the subject of Buddhist psychology is largely an artificial construction, Smixing as it does a product of ancient India with a Western movement hardly a century and a half old, it might be helpful to say how these terms are being used here. If we were to take the term psychology literally as referring to “the study of the psyche,” and if “psyche” is understood in its earliest sense of “soul,” then it would seem strange indeed to unite this enterprise with a tradition that is per- haps best known for its challenge to the very notion of a soul. But most dictio- naries offer a parallel definition of psychology, “the science of mind and behavior,” and this is a subject to which Buddhist thought can make a significant contribution. It is, after all, a universal subject, and I think many of the methods employed by the introspective traditions of ancient India for the investigation of mind and behavior would qualify as scientific. So my intention in using the label Buddhist Psychology is to bring some of the insights, observations, and experi- ence from the Buddhist tradition to bear on the human body, mind, emotions, and behavior patterns as we tend to view them today. In doing so we are going to find a fair amount of convergence with modern psychology, but also some intriguing diversity. The Buddhist tradition itself, of course, is vast and has many layers to it. Al- though there are some doctrines that can be considered universal to all Buddhist schools,1 there are such significant shifts in the use of language and in back- ground assumptions that it is usually helpful to speak from one particular per- spective at a time.
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  • A Anguttara Nikiiya D Digha Nikaya M Majjhima Nikaya S Samyutta Niklzya Dh Dhammapada It Itivuttaka Ud Udiina
    Notes The following abbreviations occur in the Notes: A Anguttara Nikiiya D Digha Nikaya M Majjhima Nikaya S Samyutta Niklzya Dh Dhammapada It Itivuttaka Ud Udiina I BASIC FEATURES OF BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY I Robert H. Thouless, Riddel Memorial Lectures, (Oxford, 1940), p. 47. 2 Mrs C. A. F. Rhys Davids, Buddhist Psychology, (London, 1914). 3 Rune Johansson, The Psychology ofNirvana (London, 1965), P:II. 4 The material pertaining to the psychology ofBuddhism is basically drawn from the suttapitaka. 5. Carl R. Rogers, 'Some Thoughts Regarding The Current Philosophy of the Behavioural Sciences', Journal ofHumanistic Psychology, autumn 1965. 6 Stuart Hampshire (ed.), Philosophy ofMind (London, 1966) 7 Dh., 183. 8 M I, 224. 9 O. H. de A. Wijesekera, Buddhism and Society, (Sri Lanka, 1952), P: 12. 10 DIll, 289. II S V, 168. 12 Wijesekera, Ope cit., P: 12. 13 DIll, Sutta 26. 14 A II, 16. 15 The Sangiiraoa Sutta refers to three groups of thinkers: (I) Traditionalists (anussavikii) , (2) Rationalists and Metaphysicians (takki vzma'rlSl) , (3) Ex­ perientialists who had personal experience of a higher knowledge. 16 Nanananda, Concept and Reality (Sri Lanka, 1971), Preface. 17 For an analysis of the Buddhist theory of knowledge, see K. N.Jayatilleke, Early Buddhist Theory ofKnowledge (London, 1963). 18 See, K. N.Jayatilleke, 'The Buddhist Doctrine of Karma' (mimeo, 1948) p. 4; The analysis pertaining to the several realms within which the laws of the universe operate is found in the works of commentary, and not in the main discourses of the Buddha. 19 Far a comprehensive study of the Buddhist concept of causality see David J.
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