A Summer of Buddhist Reading

Over the summer I decided to undertake a personal study of Buddhism. I had attended our local temple Wat Angkor for many years however a lot of the practice there is largely to do with Khmer cultural observances and celebrations. And while I have long been aware of the fundamentals behind Buddhism (e.g. The Eightfold Path, compassion towards all beings, etc.) I discovered while reading the Dhammapada during my brief time as a novice monk that there was a rich literary background that I barely scratched the surface of. I was curious and wanted to learn more to enrich my own philosophical pursuit as well as develop a deeper understanding of Asian culture that had mostly been left unexplored. Here’s a big list of the books I’ve read over the summer and a brief summary of each!

Basic Teachings of the Buddha

Given that I read Glenn Wallis’ translation and commentary on The Dhammapada, it made sense to pick up another one of his books while returning it to the library and The Basic Teaching of the Buddha was located on the same shelf. I enjoyed this book as it cherry picks sixteen suttas from the Pali Canon that Glenn feels cover the fundamentals of Buddha’s teachings and is divided into two parts: the Suttas themselves and commentary on each.

In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon

In the Buddha’s Words seemed like a good follow up as it is another collection of “Buddha’s Greatest Hits” from the Pali Canon translated and compiled by Bhikkhu Bodhi. It is divided into ten thematic sections with several suttas fitting that theme, prefaced with essay length commentary. I felt this was a greater in-depth exploration of the Pali Canon and found Bhikkhu Bodhi’s commentary indispensable. My only nitpick was the repetitiveness of many suttas which I would soon come to understand is a common theme when it comes to the Pali Canon, likely to more easily facilitate oral transmission before the first council committed these to writing. I also didn’t care for the more esoteric / mythological suttas found earlier in the book but came to understand these are best taken metaphorically versus literally.

Treasures of the Sakya Lineage: Teachings from the Masters

Treasures of the Sakya Lineage: Teachings from the Masters was a rather random choice while browsing the Buddhism section at the library. Up until reading this I was mostly familiar with Theravada Buddhism and this book dived into the Sakya Lineage in Tibet (Vajrayana Buddhism). This is less a collection of primary sources and more along the lines of interviews, stories, essays and written letters. I really enjoyed this on historical rather than philosophical grounds and particularly enjoyed reading Drogön Chögyal Phagpa’s letter to Kublai Khan. Overall I don’t think this was a good introduction to Vajrayana (it isn’t billed as such) and didn’t quite contribute to my path of discovery. It simply made for a good random read while passing time.

The Lotus Sutra: A Contemporary Translation of a Buddhist Classic

Than had mentioned The Lotus Sutra as something she read once while growing up and I had unfortunately only obtained a copy of an introductory commentary from the library to read during my time as a novice monk. Luckily I discovered I could check this out via inter-library loan (which is a great service if you’ve never utilized it) and finally got a proper immersion into Mahayana Buddhism.

This is quite a difficult read in my opinion. It spends a lot (and I mean A LOT) of its time talking about itself and right when you’re almost bored of how much it talks about itself you find yourself drawn in by artful smilies and extraordinary events. For example, at one point a great jeweled stupa appears in the sky and Manjushri remarks that he recalled an occurrence in his past life and explains that it belongs to an ancient Buddha, the Buddha of Abundant Treasures. He then explains that it appears whenever a Buddha of a particular world is about to impart the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. Buddha than leads the assembled monks and bodhisattvas present to the sky and enters the Stupa and is invited to take a seat next to the Buddha of Abundant treasures and begin the teaching.

Taken at literal face value, the events described are extraordinary and if taken literally would seem like an alien encounter of sorts with all these descriptions of billions of worlds, each with their own Buddha’s, floating stupas and many other fanciful events. However the sutra makes many references about teaching via skillful means and these are all meant to be interpreted rather than taken at face value. One of my favorite stories contained in the sutra is the story of the naga princess and how it does away with some traditional patriarchal ideas that existed in Buddhism at the time.

Overall, I’ll need to undertaker a deeper study of this sometime in the future to unpack a lot of the metaphors and concepts behind it. I already have a handful of commentaries bookmarked to read when I revisit it. That’s one thing about Buddhism I guess… there is no shortage of secondary sources!

The Way of the Bodhisattva

The Lotus Sutra was the first Mahayana text I read and introduced me to the term Bodhisattva so I decided to take a look at what is billed as the must-read guide on becoming a Bodhisattva.

My best take away from this read through is the need to cease seeing ourselves as separate entities and more as a collective whole in the same way your hand or foot are not separate entities. With this mindset compassion is required even for your enemies and we should live to give others joy and happiness. A key point Shantideva makes in this work is the idea that a human birth is considered a rare opportunity and as such we should act as if we have no time to waste to make the best of it.

Shambhala Publications has a multi part workshop with online videos and resources (https://www.shambhala.com/the-way-of-...) that I’m considering working my way through when I revisit this text for a second read and I will update my review then.

The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation

My initial visit to book sections on Buddhism contained tons and tons of books by Thich Nhat Hanh and very few primary sources. I usually avoided them though as my mindset has always been more focused on reading primary rather than secondary sources. However I noticed it was highly recommended on /r/buddhism’s book list so I decided to pick up a copy at the library and give it a read. I’m sure glad I did and I actually wish I would have read this initially as a guide to the sutras to read. Thich Nhat Hanh does a great job at distilling the key concepts of Theravada, Mahayana and Zen buddhism and how they relate to every day life in a very accessible fashion. I really like what he has to say about facing difficult emotions:

“Don’t run away from things that are unpleasant in order to embrace things that are pleasant. Put your hands in the earth. Face the difficulties and grow new happiness.”

The Diamond Sutra

With a lot of Mahayana and Zen touched on while reading The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching I decided to pursue more along this path and read a compilation of The Diamond Sutra with Commentary by Red Pine. This is one of the many Sutras that make up the Prajnaparamita Sutras; The Perfection of Wisdom. This is the Buddhist teaching on the perfection of wisdom and cuts like a diamond through all obstacles on the path of practice.

The first 40 pages or so are devoted to the sutra itself in 32 chapters. The remaining 400 or so pages of the book start off by discussing the history of the text then dives in, chapter by chapter, tearing apart each statement and includes both commentary from Red Pine that also summarizes commentary from many older secondary sources. I really enjoyed this gatha on the emptiness of form:

All conditioned phenomena

Are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow,
Like dew or a flash of lightning;
Thus we shall perceive them.

What Comes Next?

As winter approaches I have decided it would be interesting to undertake a deeper study of some core suttas and instead of studying alone to join others to discuss and gain deeper insight. I searched and found a local Dharma center’s book club and joining them for a full read through the Majjhima Nikaya. This means undertaking a daily 20–30 minute reading and meeting once a month for meditation and group discussion. I found this useful guide on starting a daily practice as well as a study guide on the translator’s suite complete with handouts for developing some further insight. I also want to go deeper into The Way of the Bodhisattva and some of the supporting commentaries. As I commit to a daily practice, I’ll also try to take some notes to share with those who are interested as I deepen my insight.

A key thought to keep in mind from Thich Nhat Hanh’s opening in The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching:

“When we hear a Dharma talk or study a sutra, our only job is to remain open. Usually when we hear or read something new, we just compare it to our own ideas. If it is the same, we accept it and say that it is correct. If it is not, we say it is incorrect. In either case, we learn nothing. If we read or listen with an open mind and an open heart, the rain of the Dharma will penetrate the soil of our consciousness.

“The gentle spring rain permeates the soil of my soul.
A seed has lain deeply in the earth for many years just smiles.

“When reading or listening, don’t work too hard. Be like the earth. When the rain comes, the earth only has to open herself up to the rain. Allow the rain of the Dharma to come in and penetrate the seeds that are buried deep in your consciousness.

“A teacher cannot give you the truth. The truth is already in you. You only need to open yourself — body, mind, and heart — so that his or her teachings will penetrate your own seeds of understanding and enlightenment. If you let the words enter you, the soil and the seeds will do the rest of the work.”