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- The word of The Buddha
- An Outline of the teachings of the Buddha in the words of the
Pali canon
- Compiled, translated, and explained by
Nyanatiloka
Preface to the Eleventh Edition
The Word of the Buddha, published
originally in German, was the first strictly systematic exposition of all the main tenets
of the Buddha's Teachings presented in the Master's own words as found in the Sutta-Pitaka
of the Buddhist Pali Canon.
While it may well serve as a first introduction for the beginner, its
chief aim is to give the reader who is already more or less acquainted with the
fundamental ideas of Buddhism, a clear, concise and authentic summary of its various
doctrines, within the framework of the all-embracing `Four Noble Truths,' i.e. the Truths
of Suffering (inherent in all existence), of its Origin, of its Extinction, and of the Way
leading to its extinction. From the book itself it will be seen how the teachings of the
Buddha all ultimately converge upon the one final goal: Deliverance from Suffering. It was
for this reason that on the title page of the first German edition there was printed the
passage from the Anguttara Nikaaya which says:
- Not only the fact of Suffering do I teach,
- but also the deliverance from it.
- The texts, translated from the original Pali, have been selected from
the five great collections of discourses which form the Sutta-Pitaka. They have been
grouped and explained in such a manner as to form one connected whole. Thus the
collection, which was originally compiled for the author's own guidance and orientation in
the many voluminous books of the Sutta-Pitaka, will prove a reliable guide for the student
of Buddhism. It should relieve him from the necessity of working his way through all these
manifold Pali scriptures, in order to acquire a comprehensive and clear view of the whole;
and it should help him to relate to the main body of the doctrine the many details he will
encounter in subsequent studies.
- As the book contains many definitions and explanations of important
doctrinal terms together with their Pali equivalents, it can serve, with the help of the
Pali Index (page 89),
as a book of reference and a helpful companion throughout one's study of the Buddha's
doctrine.
- After the first German edition appeared in 1906, the first English
version was published in 1907, and this has since run to ten editions, including an
abridged student's edition (Colombo, 1948, Y.M.B.A.) and an American edition (Santa
Barbara, Cal., 1950, J. F. Rowny Press). It has also been included in Dwight Goddard's Buddhist
Bible, published in the United States of America.
- Besides subsequent German editions, translations have been published in
French, Italian, Czech, Finnish, Russian, Japanese, Hindi, Bengali and Sinhalese. The
original Pali of the translated passages was published in Sinhalese characters (edited by
the author, under the title Sacca-Sangaha, Colombo, 1914) and Devanagari script in India.
- The 11th edition has been revised throughout. Additions have been made
to the Introduction and to the explanatory notes, and some texts have been added.
Preface to the 14th Edition
- The venerable Author of this little standard work of Buddhist literature
passed away on May 28, 1957, aged 79. The present new edition commemorates the tenth
anniversary of his death.
- Before his demise, a revised reprint of this book being the 12th
edition, was included in The Path of Buddhism, published by the Buddhist Council
of Ceylon (Lanka Bauddha Mandalaya). On that 12th edition the text of the subsequent
reprints has been based, with only few and minor amendments. Beginning with the 13th
edition (1959), and with the kind consent of the former publishers, the Saasanadhaara
Kantha Samitiya, the book is now being issued by the Buddhist Publication Society.
- Along with this edition the Society is publishing, in Roman script,
under the title of Buddha Vacana.m, the original Pali texts which are translated in the
present book. This Pali edition is meant to serve as a Reader for students of the Pali
language, and as a handy reference book as well as a Breviarium for contemplative reading
for those already conversant with the language of the Buddhist scriptures.
- Buddhist Publication Society
- Kandy, Ceylon,
December 1967.
Preface to the Electronic Edition
- This edition of The Word of the Buddha was prepared by scanning
the pages of the 14th Edition and capturing the text using OCR software. The following
editorial changes were made while editing the text for presentation:
- Citations placed in the margin at the start of each quotation, replacing the numbered
footnotes of the original.
- British spellings such as colour changed to American.
- Punctuational styles, and the form of bibliographic listings, changed to reflect
contemporary usage.
- Index
of Pali Terms (page 89)
expanded to link every use of every term.
- In other respects, the text is unchanged from the original.
- These files were output in two versions: one in Adobe Portable Document
Format (PDF) for viewing with Adobe Acrobat®; one in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) for
viewing in any web browser. Both versions are hypertext-linked so that clicking a heading
in the table of contents or a word in the index turns to the page referenced.
- The PDF version reproduces the diacritical marks that indicate Pali
pronunciation in the original. The page size (8 in x 5.3 in; 48 x 32 picas) is similar to
the original, so the pages can be printed to give a likeness of the original book. With
appropriate software, the pages can be printed `two-up' as a booklet, using either U.S.
letter stock or European A4 paper.
- An HTML document cannot emulate a printed page or display nonstandard
accent marks. The HTML version uses a modern convention for the Pali diacriticals, which
is less readable but uses only standard characters (see "The
Pronounciation of Pali" on page xii).
Abbreviations
- The source of each quotation is shown by a marginal note at the head of
the quotation. The citations use the following abbreviations:
-
Abbreviation
|
Document Referred To
|
D.
|
Dîgha Nikaaya. The number refers to the Sutta.
|
M.
|
Majjhima-Nikaaya. The number refers to the Sutta.
|
A.
|
Anguttara-Nikaaya. The Roman number refers to the main division into Parts or Nipaatas;
the second number, to the Sutta.
|
S.
|
Samyutta-Nikaaya. The Roman number refers to the division into `Kindred Groups'
(Sa.myutta), e.g. Devataa-Sa.myutta = I, etc.; the second number refers
to the Sutta.
|
Dhp.
|
Dhammapada. The number refers to the verse.
|
Ud.
|
Udaana. The Roman number refers to the Chapters, the second number to the Sutta.
|
Snp.
|
Sutta-Nipaata. The number refers to the verse.
|
VisM.
|
Visuddhi-Magga (`The Path of Purification').
|
B.Dict
|
Buddhist Dictionary, by Nyanatiloka Mahaathera.
|
Fund.
|
Fundamentals of Buddhism, by Nyanatiloka Mahaathera.
|
The Pronounciation of Pali
Adapted from the American edition
- Except for a few proper names, non-English words are italicized. Most
such words are in Pali, the written language of the source documents. Pali words are
pronounced as follows.
Vowels
Letter
|
Should Be Sounded
|
a
|
As u in the English word shut; never as in cat, and never as in take.
|
aa
|
As in father; never as in take.
|
e
|
Long, as a in stake.
|
i
|
As in pin.
|
ii
|
As in machine; never as in fine.
|
o
|
Long as in hope.
|
u
|
As in put or oo in foot.
|
uu
|
As oo in boot; never as in refuse.
|
Consonants
Letter
|
Should Be Sounded
|
c
|
As ch in chair; never as k, never as s, nor as c in centre, city.
|
g
|
As in get, never as in general.
|
h
|
Always, even in positions immediately following consonants or doubled consonants; e.g. bh
as in cab-horse; ch as chh in ranch-house: dh
as in handhold; gh as in bag-handle; jh as dgh
in sledge-hammer, etc.
|
j
|
As in joy.
|
.m
|
As the `nazalizer' is in Ceylon, usually pronounced as .ng in sung, sing,
etc.
|
s
|
Always as in this; never as in these.
|
ñ
|
As ny in canyon (Spanish: cañon) or as gn in Mignon.
|
ph
|
As in haphazard; never as in photograph.
|
.th
|
As in hot-house; never as in thin nor as in than.
|
y
|
As in yes.
|
- .t
, .th, .d, .dh, .l are
lingual sounds; in pronouncing, the tongue is to be pressed against the palate.
Double consonants: each of them is to be pronounced; e.g., bb
as in scrub-board: tt as in cat-tail.
Introduction
The Buddha
BUDDHA or Enlightened One-lit. Knower or Awakened One-is the honorific
name given to the Indian Sage, Gotama, who discovered and proclaimed to the world the Law
of Deliverance, known to the West by the name of Buddhism.
He was born in the 6th century B.C., at Kapilavatthu, as the son of the
king who ruled the Sakya country, a principality situated in the border area of modern
Nepal. His persona1 name was Siddhattha, and his clan name Gotama (Sanskrit: Gautama). In
his 29th year he renounced the splendor of his princely life and his royal career, and
became a homeless ascetic in order to find a way out of what he had early recognized as a
world of suffering. After a six year's quest, spent under various religious teachers and
in a period of fruitless self-mortification, he finally attained to Perfect Enlightenment
(sammaa-sambodhi), under the Bodhi tree at Gayaa (today Buddh-Gayaa). Five and forty years
of tireless preaching and teaching followed and at last, in his 80th year, there passed
away at Kusinara that `undeluded being that appeared for the blessing and happiness of the
world.'
The Buddha is neither a god nor a prophet or incarnation of a god, but
a supreme human being who, through his own effort, attained to Final Deliverance and
Perfect Wisdom, and became `the peerless teacher of gods and men.' He is a `Saviour' only
in the sense that he shows men how to save themselves, by actually following to the end
the Path trodden and shown by him. In the consummate harmony of Wisdom and Compassion
attained by the Buddha, he embodies the universal and timeless ideal of Man Perfected.
The Dhamma
The Dhamma is the Teaching of Deliverance in its entirety, as
discovered, realized and proclaimed by the Buddha. It has been handed down in the ancient
Pali language, and preserved in three great collections of hooks, called Ti-Pi.taka, the
"Three Baskets," namely: (I) the Vinaya-pi.t aka, or Collection of Discipline,
containing the rules of the monastic order; (II) the Sutta-pi.taka, or Collection of
Discourses, consisting of various books of discourses, dialogues, verses, stories, etc.
and dealings with the doctrine proper as summarized in the Four Noble Truths; (Ill) the
Abhidhamma-pi.taka, or Philosophical Collection; presenting the teachings of the
Sutta-Pi.taka in strictly systematic and philosophical form.
The Dhamma is not a doctrine of revelation, but the teaching of
Enlightenment based on the clear comprehension of actuality. It is the teaching of the
Fourfold Truth dealing with the fundamental facts of life and with liberation attainable
through man's own effort towards purification and insight. The Dhamma offers a lofty, but
realistic, system of ethics, a penetrative analysis of life, a profound philosophy,
practical methods of mind training-in brief, an all-comprehensive and perfect guidance on
the Path to Deliverance. By answering the claims of both heart and reason, and by pointing
out the liberating Middle Path that leads beyond all futile and destructive extremes in
thought and conduct, the Dhamma has, and will always have, a timeless and universal appeal
wherever there are hearts and minds mature enough to appreciate its message.
The Sangha
The Sangha-lit. the Assembly, or community-is the Order of Bhikkhus or
Mendicant Monks, founded by the Buddha and still existing in its original form in Burma,
Siam, Ceylon, Cambodia, Laos and Chittagong (Bengal). It is, together with the Order of
the Jain monks, the oldest monastic order in the world. Amongst the most famous disciples
in the time of the Buddha were: Saariputta who, after the Master himself, possessed the
profoundest insight info the Dhamma; Moggallaana, who had the greatest supernatural
powers: Ananda, the devoted disciple and constant companion of the Buddha; Mahaa-Kassapa,
the President of the Council held at Rajagaha immediately after the Buddha's death;
Anuruddha, of divine vision, and master of Right Mindfulness; Raahula, the Buddha's own
son.
The Sangha provides the outer framework and the favorable conditions
for all those who earnestly desire to devote their life entirely to the realization of the
highest goal of deliverance, unhindered by worldly distractions. Thus the Sangha, too, is
of universal and timeless significance wherever religious development reaches maturity.
The Threefold Refuge
The Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, are called `The Three Jewels'
(ti-ratana) on account of their matchless purity, and as being to the Buddhist the most
precious objects in the world. These `Three Jewels' form also the `Threefold Refuge'
(ti-sara.na) of the Buddhist, in the words by which he professes, or re-affirms, his
acceptance of them as the guides of his life and thought.
The Pali formula of Refuge is still the same as in the Buddha's time:
- Buddha.m sara.na.m gacchaami
- Dhamma.m sara.n a.m gacchaami
- San gha.m sara.na.m gacchaami.
- I go for refuge to the Buddha
- I go for refuge to the Dhamma
- I go for refuge to the Sangha.
It is through the simple act of reciting this formula three times that one declares
oneself a Buddhist. (At the second and third repetition the word Dutiyampi or Tatiyampi,
`for the second/third time,' are added before each sentence.)
The Five Precepts
- Paanaatipaataa veramani-sikkhaapadam samaadiyaami.
- I undertake to observe the precept to abstain from killing living
beings.
- Adinnaadaanaa veramanii-sikkhaapada.m samaadiyaami.
- I undertake to observe the precept to abstain from taking things not
given.
- Kaamesu michcaacaaraa verama.ni-sikkhaapada.m samaadiyaami.
- I undertake to observe the precept to abstain from sexual misconduct.
- Musaavaadaa verama.ni sikkhaapada.m samaadiyaami.
- I undertake to observe the precept to abstain from false speech.
- Suraameraya - majja - pamaada.t.thaanaa verama.nii-sikkhaapada.m samaadiyaami.
- I undertake to observe the precept to abstain from intoxicating drinks
and drugs causing heedlessness.
Sincere thanks to Dr. Binh Anson for providing us
with this electronic book
Preface and Introduction
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