I also recommend In the Buddhaâs Words as a starting point in my EBT Course. One of the follow up courses to that one in my curriculum is Placing the Buddha: A Course on the Setting of the EBTs which includes the Cosmos book you mentioned. And I also recommend the Majjhima Nikaya course after reading ItBW, and am working on a course that slowly gets people wading out into the suttas on their own, but thatâs a work in progress.
I donât recommend people jump right off the deep end into Ăanananda and Nagarjuna though. I first have a course on The Function of Buddhism based on Bhikkhu @cintitaâs âBuddhist Life, Buddhist Pathâ to give people a broader perspective on the gradual path first and only then taking the Intro to Buddhist Philosophy course based on Bhikkhu Bodhiâs âAs It Isâ Lectures There will likely even be a class or two after that on NibbÄna (based on The Island) and Dependent Origination (The Shape of Suffering?) before I nudge people towards âthe deep stuffâ
Likewise, âManual of Insightâ isnât really a book for beginners. I would just point people towards âHow To Meditateâ and then tell them to practice and stop reading so much
And, while I do love Bhikkhu Ăanananda, I think this curriculum is a bit too heavily leaning on one teacher for my liking. I find it far more fruitful personally to hear the teachings from different perspectives â though, I also inevitably lean on the teachers I trust (e.g. Bhikkhu Bodhi) quite heavily too, so I understand the trade-offs here.
Lastly, I think this curriculum is a bit light on the sila and sangha side, focusing too much on the buddha-dhamma and samÄdhi-paĂ±Ă±Ä edges of the triangle. In addition to the aforementioned Function course which covers virtue and livelihood, I personally added a Form(s) of Buddhism (and upcoming Buddhist Ethics) track to my curriculum to try to keep things more balanced.
But overall itâs not bad. I especially appreciate the ordering of Ăananandaâs books⊠Iâll definitely be referring back to that as I figure out how to incorporate his work into my own flowchart.
Very cool to see other people working in the same space. Thanks for sharing!
Iâm smiling at your different modes of presentation: Poster vs a spiff on the tradition Course Outline. Were I signing up for either my first question would be about how to divide my time between study and meditation.
Wow, thank you so much for all these precious resources @Khemarato.bhikkhu ! Iâm going to take a closer look at this. Do you have a link to all of them?
Clear and concise! Iâve heard good things about the Culadasaâs book though, which the list recommends first for samatha, I started reading it, it looks very complete.
Yes, the list mentions its importance but does not recommend books to explore the subject. Iâll be more than happy to see your ethics courses!
I think Iâll start by following the readings on ItBW, sounds great!
So far I only have the âsyllabusâ docs for the four courses mentioned above (plus an Intro to Buddhism course). Iâm doing most of my lesson planning âin the openâ. All of my reading recommendations (which will form the backbone for the future courses) can be found in this google drive folder.
Yeah, Iâve heard things too, but I havenât read it so I canât really comment on it. My own focus is on non-commercial works, since I strongly believe that the dhamma should be free.
Sounds great to me too! Please feel free to message me if you have any trouble or feedback
I know, right? Thereâs so much more to a Buddhist education than studying.
But I tend to think of myself more as a librarian than a teacher: the project is yours, Iâm just here to provide the books.
But now that Iâm writing âcourses,â this tension will definitely come to a head especially when I get to the meditation stuff⊠which is why Iâm punting on that for now
But I think something like two hours of meditation to every hour of study isnât a bad rule of thumb⊠Idk, what do you think?
He takes from the Indo-Tibetan tradition, from Theravada, from EBTs, and from Neuroscience and creates his own âlanguageâ or system. If you invest to learn that, then be aware that you cannot take the knowledge elsewhere. Itâs mostly incomprehensible in the original traditions where he took it from.
And why invest in someone who doesnât live what he teaches:
I knew about his misconduct, but I was told his book was still good. I didnât know heâd created his own system⊠In fact, his book seemed mostly good at pointing the way to the jhanas. Now that I have the book, I might as well read it.
I think a 2:1 ratio in favour of meditation is about right. But to maintain mental equilibrium this might need varying. There can be a problem with study in that the acquisition of knowledge can become an end in itself and an originally wholesome desire can become less wholesome. ⊠Saying which, I really should go and meditate âŠ
Read it. But why would you recommend a known adulterer, who consistently breaks the Buddhaâs foundation, to others? Why even recommend books you havenât read?
Nagarjuna, according to tradition, calls sravaka, i.e., people mostly following the Ebts, bad friends. Not kalyanamitta, not associating with them but keeping away from them. Following the sravakayana is as bad as having your head chopped off.
That is quite a contrast after reading the suttas. Why label that indirectly as the deep stuff?
Just my 2 cents worth⊠qualifier - only based on personal experience and not from having seen hundreds of students go through the processâŠ
Perhaps during the course of training (weeks or months) this 2:1 ratio might be fine, but time spent meditating, developing awareness, applying mindfulness, etc etc etc etc takes way more time. Even one day of full time mindfulness would blow this ratio out of the water.
In my experience, Iâd have to say it is at least 50:1 ratio, and in reality probably much higher I mean it takes a huge continuous effort to actually permanently change perception/consciousness.
I have always focused on the mind training aspects, so maybe this is a very idiosyncratic approach, but I feel that understanding on an intellectual level is just like the table of contents⊠one has to experience and live it.
Iâm only bringing this up because I donât really hear this being talked about anywhere and I think it can give people the wrong impression.
As I said just my personal opinion
Great work in putting together such great study guides/courses
Yeah, I think thatâs probably right. Long retreats are important and would skew the ratio.
But itâs so individual. Some people get enlightened hearing just one dhamma talk, some monks study for years fulltime before doing many more years of meditation, some laypeople do a little of both as they can fit into their busy schedule, others arenât even Buddhists at all (including a couple friends of mine who Iâve forwarded this to) and just wanted to learn a bit more about an interesting philosophy.
Everybodyâs situation is so different. Thatâs why I say Iâm just a librarian! If you want books, here are some books. No pressure. No judgement. Just books.
In my experience too, as @Viveka pointed out, though one starts small (perhaps dabbling in 15-20 min of formal Meditation a day?) once the Dhamma gets to you, it becomes a full-time lifestyle choice of a sort. Just canât get enoughâŠ
But the Time has to be right, the Mind has to be ready, the Dhamma has to make an appearance through the right Teacher, the right books⊠and then âŠ
The study:mediation ratio was, I guess (seeing as it wasnât defined) being thought of as âtime spent reading/listening : time spent sitting on cushion/similar with eyes closedâ. Two formal activities during normal daily life.
Thanks to @Viveka for pointing out that full-time retreat conditions are different, and that in normal daily life there is the development of continuous mindful monitoring. Some lay people do make this their main practice, and find it very beneficial. Those who are very busy and do manage a strong sitting practice still have major chunks of the day where âmindfulness of daily activitiesâ is the go.
So we need a three way ratio, study : formal sitting : continuing mindfulness.
⊠but Iâm veering off the topic of Reading Lists for study. Sadhu to those who make these useful guides.
Iâve heard good things about the Culadasaâs book though, which the list recommends first for samatha, I started reading it, it looks very complete.
Please feel free to message me if you have any trouble or feedback 
I mean it takes a huge continuous effort to actually permanently change perception/consciousness.
Just canât get enough⊠
