Any Guides on how to correctly read the Suttas?

[BuddhistZoologist]

I found this quote shared on the Internet, and I felt that it was quite good already, but I would like to find out that is there any more sources and guides out there on how to correctly read the suttas? Many thanks in advance.

Any event in the Suttas which is inconsistent with natural laws must be interpreted either as unreliable testimony or as a metaphorical or allegorical representation of a moral teaching. Because the masses are “wholly ignorant of the workings of nature”, they are prone to interpret any natural event they can not explain as a miracle, and this “ridiculous way of expressing ignorance” often finds its way into the Pali Canon. Some sections of the Suttas aim not at narrating things in terms of their natural causes, but rather at exciting the “popular imagination” to “impress the minds of the masses with devotion.”

Therefore it speaks inaccurately of the Buddha and of events, seeing that its object is not to convince the reason, but to attract and lay hold of the imagination. If the Suttas were to describe the destruction of an empire in the style of political historians, the masses would remain unstirred.

To correctly interpret the Suttas we must understand the opinions and judgments of the ancients and learn common “Indian phrases and metaphors.” Otherwise we will be prone to “confound actual events with symbolical and imaginary ones.”

Many things are narrated in Suttas as real, and were believed to be real, which were in fact only symbolical and imaginary.

[Jhana4]

I’ve been on a personal project for over a year now to read the entire Sutta Pitaka and that is how I look at the supernatural elements, aside from rebirth.

I am undisturbed by those supernatural elements, not at all tempted to take them literally, and I try to learn from that what I can from them.

Just like if I was reading the ancient Greek plays or Aesop’s fables.

Believe it or not, it is possible to have reverence for such writings without taking them literally. Just mentioning it because when I have written this before it has offended other people. I really do respect and value those writings.

[paul1]

One of the characteristics of the Buddha is skilled teacher, but it’s often overlooked that this involves psychological strategies. Just like any other artistic writing the suttas must be constructed utilizing conditioned elements to communicate effectively. There is a hierarchy within the suttas of who can say what, for example the Buddha characteristically speaks from the ultimate viewpoint, whereas more junior characters such as the Buddha before awakening, Ananda, and some nuns often address issues at a mundane level and so present a more appropriate perspective for western lay practitioners.

For example the Buddha would never say that craving is a necessary component to follow the path, yet it is requisite knowledge at beginner level, which the Buddha rarely addresses:

Ananda:

"‘This body comes into being through craving. And yet it is by relying on craving that craving is to be abandoned.’

—Anguttara Nikaya 4.159

[Khemarato.bhikkhu]

You might enjoy this paper by Rupert Gethin on the subject:

Cosmology and Meditation: From the Aggañña-Sutta to the Mahāyāna