The Dharmapada (any version)

[Chami]

Hi deanna. i am a Buddhist from Sri Lanka. Are you a Buddhist? Well i haven't read the Dharmapadaya but some parts of the Dharmapadaya which were included in our school Buddhism text book. Hey Deanna did u see the picture of Buddha in the same site about your Dharmapada book? That is not Buddha.

[Chami]

hi again Deanna! Well it's OK if you can't find that picture, just drop it, that's not your fault any way. I'll try to find some pictures for you if you want some. :)

[Luca]

I think The Dhammapada: Teachings of the Buddha is a very good translation by Gil Fronsdal. Though I haven't read any others, so I can't compare.

I didn't find the Dhammapada a very helpful introduction to Buddhism. It doesn't contain meditation instructions, and it doesn't explain Buddhist beliefs. I think it's popular among Buddhists because it touches on themes, beliefs, and experiences they're already familiar with.

[Chami]

Luca wrote: "I think The Dhammapada: Teachings of the Buddha is a very good translation by Gil Fronsdal. Though I haven't read any others, so I can't compare.

I didn't find the Dhammapada a very helpful introd..."

Well, luca, Dammapadaya doesn't emphasize Buddhist teachings directly, which is something a person, who want to study about Buddhism cannot understand at once. but it's something like Bible. If you want to find about books which have facts about Buddhist teachings and meditation, there are separate books for that. Those books will be a great help to you. Or else you can ask a Buddhist monk, but make sure he is a real Buddhist monk, because these days there are some people who are distinguished as monks and spreading lies about Buddhism.

[[deleted user]]

I have a world scriptures book, the dhammapada is in the world scriptures book I have.But I'll find some more books.what's a good,informative book to continue/learn teachings and meditations?

[Luca]

@chami I think we agree about the purpose of the Dhammapada. I wasn't criticizing it. Although, I rethought part of my comments about it - I think it can convey some of the emotional tone of Buddhism to a reader without a background in Buddhism.

@Allison Like Chami says, it can be tricky. There are lots of monks and non-ordained people who are sincere, honest, and knowledgeable, and write with integrity. There are also very many different schools of Buddhism (Theravadan, mostly from southeast asia; Zen, mostly from Japan; Pure Land, mostly from Japan; 4 different schools from Tibet, etc. etc.) Then there are hucksters, etc.

Mindfulness in Plain English I would highly recommend. It is well-written by a very-well respected Theravadan monk, Bhante Henepola Gunaratana. The Heart of Buddhist Meditation: Satipatthna by Nyanaponika Thera is a little more in depth, but also very good. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is another very good book, by Shunryu Suzuki, one of the Japanese Zen masters who established Zen in the U.S. There are also good books by non-ordained writers.

If you want to read in the Pali Canon itself, In the Buddha's Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon is a good collection. The website Access to Insight has an enormous collection of translations from the Pali Canon, as well lots of commentaries, mostly by Theravadan monks.

It's very hard to learn to meditate from a book. Finding a teacher and community is important. And if there are different options available in your area, it would be worth checking them out. If you don't mind, may I ask where you are located?

[Chami]

Luca wrote: "@chami I think we agree about the purpose of the Dhammapada. I wasn't criticizing it. Although, I rethought part of my comments about it - I think it can convey some of the emotional tone of Buddhi..."

No luca i didn't mean that you are criticizing it. Yeah as you said i think we both agree about the purpose of the Dammapada. And yes it can be tricky.

Thank you very much for recommending those books. yes i agree with you that it is very hard to learn meditation from books and it is difficult to do in practice as well. I am from Sri Lanka, where Theravada Buddhism is practicing. Tell me what do you want to know, i will be grateful to help you.

[Lissalye]

Luca wrote: "I think The Dhammapada: Teachings of the Buddha is a very good translation by Gil Fronsdal. Though I haven't read any others, so I can't compare.

This is the translation that I would reccomend. I have read through a few others and this one is very well worded and has a nice poetic flow.