Befriending the Suttas Tips on Reading the Pali Discourses(Part 1) -- By John Bullitt / Source:www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bullitt/befriending.html

The Pali canon contains many thousands of suttas (discourses), of which more than nine hundred are now available in English translation at Access to Insight. When faced with such a vast store of riches, three questions naturally spring to mind: Why should I read the suttas? Which ones should I read? How should I read them?

There are no simple cookie-cutter answers to these questions; the best answers will be the ones you discover on your own. Nevertheless, I offer here a few ideas, suggestions, and tips that I've found to be helpful over the years in my own exploration of the suttas. Perhaps you'll find some of them helpful, too.

Why should I read the suttas?

They are the primary source of Theravada Buddhist teachings.

If you're interested in exploring the teachings of Theravada Buddhism, then the Pali Canon - and the suttas it contains - is the place to turn for authoritative advice and support. You needn't worry about whether or not the words in the suttas were actually uttered by the historical Buddha (no one can ever prove this either way). Just keep in mind that the teachings in the suttas have been practiced - with apparent success - by countless followers for some 2,600 years. If you want to know whether or not the teachings really work, then study the suttas and put their teachings into practice and find out firsthand, for yourself.

They present a complete body of teachings.

The teachings in the suttas, taken in their entirety, present a complete roadmap guiding the follower from his or her current state of spiritual maturity onwards toward the final goal. No matter what your current state may be (skeptical outsider, dabbler, devout lay practitioner, or celibate monk or nun), there is something in the suttas to help you progress another step further along the path towards the goal. As you read more and more widely in the Pali canon, you may find less of a need to borrow teachings from other spiritual traditions, as the suttas contain most of what you need to know.

They present a self-consistent body of teachings.

The teachings in the Canon are largely self-consistent, characterized by a single theme - that of liberation. As you wend your way through the suttas, however, from time to time you may encounter some teachings that call into question - or outright contradict - your present understanding of Dhamma. As you reflect deeply on these stumbling blocks, the conflicts often dissolve as a new horizon of understanding opens up. For example, you might conclude from reading one sutta that your practice should be to avoid all desires. But upon reading another, you learn that desire itself is a necessary factor of the path. Only upon reflection does it become clear that what the Buddha is getting at is that there are different kinds of desire, and that some things are actually worth desiring - most notably, the extinction of all desire. At this point your understanding expands into new territory that can easily encompass both suttas, and the apparent contradiction evaporates. Over time you can learn to recognize these apparent "conflicts" not as inconsistencies in the suttas themselves but as an indication that the suttas have carried you to a new frontier in your own understanding. It's up to you to cross beyond that boundary.

They offer lots of practical advice.

In the suttas you'll find a wealth of practical advice on a host of relevant real-world topics, such as how children and parents can live happily together, how to safeguard your material possessions, what sorts of things are and are not worth talking about, how to cope with grief, how to train your mind even on your deathbed, and much, much more. In short, they offer very practical and realistic advice on how to find happiness, no matter what your life's situation may be, no matter whether you call yourself "Buddhist" or not. And, of course, you'll also find ample instructions on how to meditate.

They can bolster your confidence in the Buddha's teachings.

As you explore the suttas you'll come across things that you already know to be true from your own experience. Perhaps you're already well acquainted with the hazards of alcoholism, or perhaps you've already tasted the kind of refined pleasure that naturally arises in a concentrated mind. Seeing your own experience validated in the suttas - even in small ways - can make it easier to accept the possibility that the more refined or "advanced" experiences that the Buddha describes may not be so far-fetched after all, and that some of the more counter-intuitive and difficult teachings may not, in fact, be so strange. This validation can inspire renewed confidence and energy that will forge your meditation and understanding ahead into new territory.

They can support and energize your meditation practice.

When you read in the suttas about other people's meditation experiences, you may begin to get a feel for what you have already accomplished in your own practice, and what still remains to be done. This understanding can provide a powerful impetus to apply yourself even more wholeheartedly to the teachings.

Reading them is just plain good for you.

The instructions contained in the suttas are entirely of a wholesome nature, and are all about the development of skillful qualities such as generosity, virtue, patience, concentration, mindfulness, and so on. When you read a sutta you are therefore filling your mind with wholesome things. If you consider all the harmful impressions with which the modern media bombard us day in and day out, a little regular sutta study can become an island of sanity and safety in a dangerous sea. Take good care of your mind - read a sutta today and take it to heart.