A Reader’s Introduction to the Pali Nikāyas

Could we include references to these authors and their research papers?

I realise this is rather a delayed response but in terms of the future it might still be early!

metta!

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Dear Bhante,
I find your essay a very useful source of information for anyone interested in gaining an insight into the history of information we find in Nikayas and much more. I am not sure, though, whether the title “Introduction to Nikayas” really does justice to what you have written because IMO the content is really broad. I also think that it is worth publishing it under a more suitable title for distribution preferably at no cost and making a pdf format available for anyone to download because if it is relegated to where it is now, it will only have limited access.
And finally, the “most high” in the cosmology section, shouldn’t it be “the highest”?.
I wish you the best of health and success in all your endeavors in the spiritual path.
Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu.
With Metta

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Thanks once more for all the helpful feedback and support. I have included almost all these suggestions.

There is a lot of this to come in the following essays!

I read Sanskrit passably. For the Chinese, sometimes I can make things out with the aid of the awesome Chinese lookup tool on SC; other times I rely on essays or translations; and other times, I ask the good folks on this forum for help.

I probably should include references, but I made the decision at the start of these essays to just write them. Honestly, I have put these together in bits and pieces in between my other SC duties, and I simply can’t envisage having the time to chase down all the references. Also, mostly I live in between one room and the next, with no books and random internet. So I decided to forgo the ideal of being academically respectable, and focus on writing things in a readable way. But that’s not really a good excuse!

Yes, I would like to consider other publishing options. I am not sure what kind of title you’d suggest?


Meanwhile, the second essay is up!

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How about Origin and Evolution of Pali Nikayas?.

With Metta

I’ll admit here that I rather like the current :upside_down_face:“Introduction” title because it actually reveals Bhante’s sense of humor. It is indeed an introduction and a very very deep one at that.

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:pray::pray::pray:

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Highly recommended for everyone to read in order to understand Sutta Central and its purpose :anjal:

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I assume you meant something like: “Alexander the Great’s troops rebelled rather than attack Magadha.” ?

“the only other one” :wink:

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