Is generosity required for liberation?

thomaslaw · September 6, 2022, 3:40am

The Maha Vagga (which is mainly about the path for the cessation of dukkha), and also other Vaggas of SN/SA, are regarded (by
Ven. Yin Shun, and others) as the earliest Buddhist texts in Early Buddhism.
Cf.:

Stratification of the Suttas Q & A

Regarding DN/DA (長阿含), Ven. Yin Shun states it was developed and expanded from the Geya (祇夜) anga portion of SA/SN. The following is the quotation, in Chapter 10, Section 4, from the book The Formation of Early Buddhist Texts by Ven. Yin Shun: 第四節結說經上來的比對研究，「四阿含」（「四部」）的成立，可得到幾點明確的認識。1.佛法的結集，起初是「修多羅」，次為「祇夜」、「記說」——「弟子所說」、「如來所說」。這三部分，為組成「雜阿含」（起初應泛稱「相應教」）的組成部分。「弟子所說」與「如來所說」，是附編於「蘊」、「處」、「因緣」、「菩提分法」——四類以下的。這是第一結集階段。在「雜阿含」三部分的集成過程中，集成以後，都可能因經文的傳出而編入，文句也逐漸長起來了。佛教界稟承佛法的宗本——「修多羅」，經「弟子所說」的學風，而展開法義…