In his quest for awakening, according to the traditional account the Buddha tried and discarded various ancient Indian practices as being not in themselves conducive to awakening. Nevertheless, closer inspection shows that key elements of these practices became part of the Buddhist path, a transformation that involves mindfulness in one way or another.

In this way, fasting transforms into mindful eating, breath control into mindfulness of breathing, and a reformulation of an aspiration for annihilation of the self, apparently held by ancient Indian cultivators of the meditative sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, comes to be conjoined to the cultivation of mindfulness of the body. These transformations shed light on the importance and adaptability of mindfulness in early Buddhist soteriology.

After some preliminary considerations concerning orality and writing in India and the date of the Buddha, this article re-examines the questions of where and when a version of the Pali Canon was first set to writing and what were the contents of that collection. It then goes on to examine the origin and evolution of the Māgadha language we now call Pali, seeing it as derived from a written language

Formerly, Anurādha, and also now, I teach just suffering and the cessation of suffering.

Venerable Anurādha is questioned by a number of ascetics, and ends up by saying that the Realized One is described in terms other than “existing after death” and so on. The wanderers say he’s a fool, so he checks with the Buddha, who says that a Realized One is not even apprehended in this life, so how can he be described after death?

Ven. Sunyo on D&D makes a compelling argument that the Buddha’s final statement here is meant categorically, not pedagogically.

There are excellent resources linked in the video description, and all of his videos are highly recommended for the self-studying student of Pāli.

Truth, indeed, is deathless speech

A short sutta on Right Speech, equivalent to SN 8.5.

Mendicants, there are these five opportunities for freedom.

Ānanda’s tears and the Buddha’s expression of gratitude and thanks are testament to the close bond between the two men, one that went beyond their kin relationship.

A down-to-earth biography of the Buddha based on the Pāli Canon.

An interactive, electronic edition can be read online here.

Note: The PDF linked above is from Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation, courtesy of SuttaCentral.

The Buddha was the first religious teacher who meant his message to be proclaimed to all humankind and who made a concrete effort to do this.

In the Dhamma we have a perfect teaching, and in the Buddha we have a perfect teacher, and the combination of these two meant that within a short time of being first proclaimed, the Dhamma became remarkably widespread.

We may begin with one simple list, but the structure of early Buddhist thought and literature dictates that we end up with an intricate pattern of lists within lists

The original picture that emerges from the Pali literature, however, reveals a very human person who, living in troubled, insecure times, faced numerous difficulties and challenges, both personally and to his monastic community. Here, we shall outline this earliest version of Buddha’s life, based on the scholarly research of Stephen Batchelor presented in his Confession of a Buddhist Atheist.

… one of the most outstanding testimonies to the Buddha’s capability as a teacher is the conversion of the killer Aṅgulimāla.

… in neither case do the terms function as indicators that the address or the detail of the teaching is solely for monks

A note on the apparent lack of Bhikkhunis in the audience of many suttas.

… the particular wording introducing these place names can tell us much about the development of the literary form of early Buddhist texts and about the historical memory of the early authors

Despite an extremely unfortunate (and, tellingly, uncited) dig at the very end against the Lord Buddha’s final words, this (otherwise) well researched and moderate take on mining the EBTs for historical fact gives us a good idea of how the texts were composed and when.

If a person has faith, they preserve truth by saying, ‘Such is my faith.’ But they don’t yet come to the definite conclusion: ‘This is the only truth, other ideas are silly.’

The Buddha instructs a Brahmin on the right way to talk about religion and how to make our way through the thicket of views to arrive at the truth.

Bhikkhus, before my enlightenment, while I was still only an unenlightened Bodhisatta, I too, being myself subject to birth, sought what was also subject to birth

The Buddha’s own spiritual autobiography, from searching to finding true deliverance.

A good place to start, is their How To Guide but I also love the posts on keeping a personal “medicine cabinet” and on using sutta checklists.

In the Nettipakarana there is a three-fold definition of a sutta which may be useful to consider and may help one think more deeply about these sayings.

A good sutta is one that inspires you to stop reading it.

A few words of advice on how to read the Suttas.

[on] the impact of oral transmission on this material; the notion of a parallel and difficulties in applying this notion; the advantage of approaching the category of a parallel with the help of the Buddhist four-fold logic; and the potential of comparative studies.

Any kind of study in this field [of Buddhism] remains incomplete unless the materials of the Chinese Āgamas are tapped and utilized.

A brief introduction to the Chinese Āgamas and comparative studies.

the Buddha himself rarely smiles in the Canon, and when he does, the reasons for his smile are never hilarious. Still, the Canon’s reputation for being devoid of humor is undeserved. It’s there in the Canon, but it often goes unrecognized.

An anthology of humorous stories from the Pali Canon, which makes the collection less intimidating and more approachable. Recommended for people just starting to read the canon, and wondering where to start.

The book may have been inspired by this 1981 paper in JPTS by Walpola Rahula.

This translation had a large impact on Pāli scholarship, being the first reliable and beautiful translation of the book in English. Every translation since (and there have been many!) is deeply indebted to Venerable Buddharakkhita’s thoughtful rendering, now available for free through the generosity of the BPS.

To approach what, for the want of a better term, we call the mythic portions of the Nikāyas with the attitude that such categories as “mythic symbol” and “literally true” are absolutely opposed is to adopt an attitude that is out of time and place. It seems to me that in some measure we must allow both a literal and a psychological interpretation. Both are there in the texts.

Note that I (~KhBh) have removed pages 206–210 from the linked PDF as they contain a lengthy and irrelevant digression into Mahāyāna doctrine. If you’re interested, you can find the full article here.

I would say that the Nikāyas and Āgamas give us a “historical-realistic perspective” on the Buddha, while the Mahāyāna sūtras give us a “cosmic-metaphysical perspective.”

Bhikkhu Bodhi explores the Bodhisattva ideal from the perspective of the both the Theravāda and Mahayana, with a brief summary of its history. An excellent introduction to this vital topic.

It would be good, lord, if the Blessed One would teach me the Dhamma in brief

This discourse is one of the few teachings in the canon (along with the teachings on mindfulness) which the Buddha declared as “categorical”: always applicable and useful in any situation. This sutta gives, better than any other, the overall direction of the teachings, and is a helpful rubric to refer back to.

An open-source version can be read online for free at Reading Faithfully or via the links compiled online, but the real book is still recommended for its helpful redactions and notes.