I’m relatively new to Buddhism, so please forgive me if I misunderstand or simplify certain things
I first encountered Theravada through the suttas, and only later became aware of the commentarial tradition (for example the works attributed to Buddhaghosa and later commentaries).
I have to admit that some of these interpretations raised questions for me, and at times I find it difficult to understand how certain commentarial interpretations relate to the suttas themselves.
From what I understand, it seems that in some Theravada contexts the commentaries are regarded as authoritative interpretations of the suttas, while in other contexts practitioners seem to approach them differently.
So my question is : how should a lay practitioner approach the commentaries in practice?
Is it generally expected to treat them as authoritative, or is it also acceptable to rely primarily or exclusively on the suttas themselves?
If there are teachers, lineages, or resources that discuss how to relate to the commentarial tradition, I would be grateful for recommendations.
Also, as I live in France and there are not many local communities nearby, I would be interested if anyone knows of good online sanghas
You find this essay on the main SuttaCentral site also in French translation; as well as, I believe, all the other essays on SuttaCentral. Please also note that SuttaCentral has a language setting, and the entire interface is translated into French. Click on the three vertical dots in the top right corner:
Somewhere between the two extremes of (1) seeing the commentaries as on the same level as words of the Buddha vs. (2) rejecting them completely. I take the “use what’s helpful, set aside what’s not” approach. Of the commentaries, I’ve only read the Visuddhimagga in English translation. There are a lot of useful and insightful teachings in there. There are also a lot of sections that are so abstruse and technical that I can’t understand them at all. I plan to reread it in the future.
If your approach to Dhamma is through intellectual investigation and you have enough faith to give up your ideas if you think that someone is wiser than you, than it is rather necessary to define what is trustworthy and what not. Since you have already admitted that at least some commentaries seem to you doubtful, there are Suttas, quite a lot of them, no need to study commentaries.
But the problem starts when we encounter Suttas which contradict our personal ideas. It is really difficult to maitain the attitude “I am wrong and Suttas are right “, despite the fact that theoretically we know that the attitude “My views are right, what contradicts them is wrong “ is precisely the attitude wich keeps us in samsara.
That’s very true @anne And even one sutta which you do “understand” … your understanding will (hopefully!) grow as you do.
I’d say, focus on the suttas that speak to where you’re at and don’t be shy about setting aside the rest. They may be helpful for you later.
If possible, I’d recommend joining a Majjhimā Nikaya study group. The MN has a good balance of narrative and doctrinal, practical and philosophical suttas. And in a group you can discuss and interpret together more casually and responsively. Anyway, that’s what I found most helpful when starting my sutta journey.
To me, the traditional commentaries (by Buddhaghosa etc) are most helpful for Pāli readers and translators and for studying the history of Buddhist ideas. They’re more of a scholarly resource than a practical one.
For me, most of the times I take the commentaries very lightly and prefer to know what the Buddha said. That being said, I have found some of the things in the Vissudhimagga interesting/useful. Bhante Sujato did a course on the Visuddhimagga for Meditators a few years back. This might be interesting for you. However, I’d make sure that you have a good grounding in the Majjhima Nikaya and Samyutta Nikaya first. https://readingfaithfully.org/ has some great study guides for reading the suttas and setting study goals for these books.
I think it’s useful to know how Buddhists who lived closer than me in time and culture to the Buddha thought about the suttas. That’s essentially what the commentaries are afaik
Hi Lev, if you start sitting Vipassana courses you will get to understand directly for yourself and make your own decisions relating to some of the commentarys, it starts with Vedana paccaya tanha, slowly you will get to experience for yourself that every thought arises with a sensation on the body, without that experience it’s all just intellectual
First of all, please accept my sincere apologies for replying so late
I wanted to sincerely thank all of you for your thoughtful and kind responses. I’m genuinely very touched by the time people took to answer my questions (they were important for my practice) with so much nuance and generosity.
Your replies really spoke to me and have genuinely helped me better understand how to approach all of this.
As someone still quite new to Buddhism, all these different perspectives and recommendations have been incredibly valuable for me.
Thank you, really
And again, my apologies for the unintended delay in my reply..
First of all, please accept my sincere apologies for replying so late
Thank you very much for your recommendation. I started reading it recently and I definitely plan to continue ; it’s already been very interesting and genuinely helpful for me
The section about the commentaries especially helped clarify several things I was struggling to understand.
Thank you again for these resources, they really help me a lot!
thank you very much for pointing it out!
Reading some of these texts in French definitely makes the approach easier for me at the moment, so this is genuinely very helpful
This is very clear and genuinely helpful, thank you very much for the guidance.
I think this “use what’s helpful, set aside what’s not” approach resonates a lot with where I currently am in my reflections.
thank you again for taking the time to respond to me.
Ok I see thank you
Having grown up in a more Christian environment, I think I naturally tend to attach myself strongly to doctrine and authoritative interpretations, so your perspective honestly helps me a lot. I’ll definitely try to follow this approach more moving forward.
And thank you very much as well for the recommendation about the Majjhima Nikaya study groups — that actually sounds like a really good way for me to approach the suttas
Thank you again for taking the time to help me (and sorry for my late reply )
Thank you very much for your answer and for all these resources ; it honestly helps me a lot.
And thank you as well for the recommendations regarding the Majjhima Nikaya, Samyutta Nikaya and the study guides ; this is all really helpful for someone still quite new to all this like me
I’ll definitely take a look at Bhante Sujato’s course too.
