Hi All - I had posted this question on the newcomers post and was told it would make sense to break them up into individual posts. So here’s the first of several.
1st Question
A big part of Sutta central and the discourse here is spending time reading the Suttas. As such, how does one read the Suttas and ensure that you understand them correctly.
Given the Suttas aren’t often clear and are prone to misunderstanding a whole range of modern and ancient commentaries have cropped up and expert scholars/practitioners to this day continue debate various interpretations. Layer in now an entirely new method of evaluation being comparative studies and all of a sudden the task of being able to as accurately understand the word of the Buddha becomes immense.
Bhikku Analayo in the Singless and Deathless references Bhikku Bodhi in the conclusion with the following statement: “Not only are the texts themselves composed in a clipped laconic style that mocks our thirst for conceptual completeness, but their meaning often seems to rest upon a deep underlying groundwork of interconnected ideas that is nowhere stated baldly in a way that might guide interpretation. Instead of resorting to direct expression, the nikāyas embed the basic principles of doctrine in a multitude of short, often elusive discourses that draw upon and allude to the underlying system without spelling it out. To determine the principles one has to extract them piecemeal, by considering in juxtaposition a wide assortment of texts. The situation that emerges from the above assessment makes it perhaps more understandable why the early Buddhist perspective on the construction of experience has up to now not received as much attention as I believe it deserves.”
It would seem that in order for one to ensure they are interpreting the Suttas correctly a deep amount of knowledge and expertise would be required.
How would a lay practitioner reading on their own acquire this skill.
2nd Question
This builds on my first which is the value of studying Pali.
Given the complexity required to even understand the Suttas in our native language it would seem adding another layer of learning Pali and ensuring a correct understanding would add a whole other dimension of difficulty. As with the Suttas themselves there are numerous examples of expert scholars disagreeing on the meaning of various Pali words. If that’s the case what chance does a hobbyist stand.
I think this has always been and will always be something to keep in mind, not just because we are reading on our own. When following a teacher we can off load some of the responsibility onto them, but at the end of the day it’s all on us.
The biggest danger I see is when people read the suttas to justify their own beliefs or pet theories. This is a chronic problem on internet forums especially. The Dhamma is so vast that it doesn’t take a genius to cut and paste things together so that they prove their own point.
So I’d say that one way we avoid misunderstanding the texts is to make sure we are always looking for what the Buddha/texts are saying and not how we agree with them. And especially when we think we have found some “contradiction” we need to be extremely cautious. Those so-called contradictions (or worse, “corruptions”) are often the doorway to understanding the deeper meaning.
I would recommend to start studying the sutta’s with an anthology. Bhikkhu Bodhi’s “in the Buddha’s words” is a very good one, in my opinion. From there on, you can read sutta’s on your own, using Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translations or the one on this website by Bhante Sujato, or both. I think it is good to read them both actually, because every translation is different and has its own nuances. There is not always a definite, ‘correct’ translation. Sometimes, a translator has to make a choice between different words, which are all correct, in a sense, but also carries their own connotations.
If you have time and commitment, learning Pali can be very helpful. Once you can read the sutta’s in their original language, a whole new world opens up. In my case, I was really into it because I love studying languages. But it takes a long time.
Learning Pali doesn’t make things more complicated, in my experience. On the contrary, it makes things more clear in the long run. Because you can read for yourself the passages which are discussed. But as I said, first you have to make the journey to get there.
There are courses for learning Pali online, also on this website I believe.
I don’t think however, that learning Pali is indispensable. Reading the sutta’s in translation, listen to the advice of teachers and then start practising it yourself, is enough to enjoy the fruits.
Thank you for this and makes sense. The part that’s tripping me up is how are we as lay practitioners supposed to avoid misunderstanding the texts when expert scholars and monks disagee on key concepts
Thank you, yes In the Buddhas Words, Noble Truths Noble Path Bhikku Bodhi, and PA Payuttos BuddhaDhamma are the texts I’m using initially for study. I think once I’ve internalised enough of the Cannon in English I’ll start to learn Pali.
I asked a similar question a few years ago and got some nice responses
I think what Snowbird says above is important. We are here 2600 years later looking back at the suttas with thousands of years of culture overlayed. The people the Buddha was talking to had a very different world view and context. It can be easy to think that the Buddha was teaching us in our context but that’s secondary to the context he is actually teaching.
What I do is rely on my teachers’ interpretation and translations. The key point is to choose teachers (plural, not singular). If most, if not all, interpret a sutta in a similar way, I would feel quite confident in their interpretation and then be able to focus on the meaning the Buddha was perceived as conveying.
If I have questions about any interpretation, I’d just ask here on SuttaCentral.
If you are good at languages, learning Pali is good. I’m not gifted and I don’t think my Pali is good enough to interpret the Pali text correctly without help.
