The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya by Bhikkhu Bodhi (PDF)

Description

This volume offers a complete translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, the third of the four great collections in the Sutta Pitaka of the Pali Canon. The Samyutta Nikaya consists of fifty-six chapters, each governed by a unifying theme that binds together the Buddha’s suttas or discourses. The chapters are organized into five major parts.The first, The Book with Verses, is a compilation of suttas composed largely in verse. This book ranks as one of the most inspiring compilations in the Buddhist canon, showing the Buddha in his full grandeur as the peerless “teacher of gods and humans.” The other four books deal in depth with the philosophical principles and meditative structures of early Buddhism. They combine into orderly chapters all the important short discourses of the Buddha on such major topics as dependent origination, the five aggregates, the six sense bases, the seven factors of enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, and the Four Noble Truths.Among the four large Nikayas belonging to the Pali Canon, the Samyutta Nikaya serves as the repository for the many shorter suttas of the Buddha where he discloses his radical insights into the nature of reality and his unique path to spiritual emancipation. This collection, it seems, was directed mainly at those disciples who were capable of grasping the deepest dimensions of wisdom and of clarifying them for others, and also provided guidance to meditators intent on consummating their efforts with the direct realization of the ultimate truth. The present work begins with an insightful general introduction to the Samyutta Nikaya as a whole. Each of the five parts is also provided with its own introduction, intended to guide the reader through this vast, ocean-like collection of suttas. To further assist the reader, the translator has provided an extensive body of notes clarifying various problems concerning both the language and the meaning of the texts. Distinguished by its lucidity and technical precision, this new translation makes this ancient collection of the Buddha’s discourses accessible and comprehensible to the thoughtful reader of today. Like its two predecessors in this series, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha is sure to merit a place of honour in the library of every serious student of Buddhism.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “To hold a copy of The Connected Discourses of the Buddha is like holding treasure in your hands. Bhikkhu Bodhi has, once again, given English readers all over the world another reason to rejoice by making the ancient words of the Buddha come alive in our contemporary lives. Timely and significant, highly readable, and invaluable.” ― Eastern Horizon”This new translation of The Connected Discourses of the Buddha has been well worth the wait. With painstaking care, the eminent Buddhist scholar monk, Bhikkhu Bodhi, has translated the 2889 discourses of the Buddha. No one is better qualified. Collected into their different themes, The Connected Discourses point the way to enlightenment. This book serves as one of the finest resources available for insight into the human condition. The Buddha addresses issues such as body/mind, daily life realities, suffering and joy, awareness and meditation. This book is rich in spiritual teachings, suitable for daily reflection, study, a manual for psychologists, a teaching guide at universities, and offering a wealth of benefits to anyone interested in the true heart of the Buddha’s teachings. I regard it as an indispensable guide to an awakened life. With 2080 pages, it is an extraordinary publishing initiative. This book is worth every penny. Buy it. It is money well spent.” — Christopher Titmuss, author of Light on Enlightenment and An Awakened Life”I am eagerly awaiting Bhikkhu Bodhi’s new translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha. His brilliant, scholarly, and eminently readable version of The Middle Length Discourses set a benchmark for translations of the Buddha’s words into English. This new work will make accessible even more of the original teachings, offering guidance, instruction and inspiration on the path of awakening. It is a priceless gift.” — Joseph Goldstein, author of Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom”It is extremely good news to have Bhikkhu Bodhi–a brilliant translator–bring out a new edition of the Sayutta Nikya, one of the richest and most important of all Buddhist texts.” — Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart About the Author Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Buddhist monk from New York City, born in 1944. He obtained a BA in philosophy from Brooklyn College and a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School. After completing his university studies he traveled to Sri Lanka, where he received novice ordination in 1972 and full ordination in 1973, both under the leading Sri Lankan scholar-monk, Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya (1896-1998). From 1984 to 2002 he was the editor for the Buddhist Publication Society in Kandy, where he lived for ten years with the senior German monk, Ven. Nyanaponika Thera (1901-1994), at the Forest Hermitage. He returned to the U.S. in 2002. He currently lives and teaches at Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, New York. Ven. Bodhi has many important publications to his credit, either as author, translator, or editor. These include The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (Majjhima Nikaya, 1995), The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Samyutta Nikaya, 2000), and The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha (Anguttara Nikaya, 2012). In 2008, together with several of his students, Ven. Bodhi founded Buddhist Global Relief, a nonprofit supporting hunger relief, sustainable agriculture, and education in countries suffering from chronic poverty and malnutrition.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Great on Kindle. Such books were preserved since 2500 years ago. Direct Buddha’s words. No opportunity to hear Dharma missed. I bought it.

⭐of a book this is, and thus more than a book.Thus it is beyond any attempt at a “review,” as such.This along with the other “companion” volumes (The Long, The Middle-length, The Numerical)deserve to eventually find themselves on the bookshelves of most people who have more than a passing interest in Buddhism.When someone has done this kind of work that spans over 2,000 pages, it would be ungracious to whine about the quality of the translation. I myself am simply awed by the quality that comes through in this edition.What the Buddha said is one thing, what one (usually Ananda) has heard him say is another. And the wobbly wedding cake of an edifice that has come to be known as Buddhism is yet another.This collection is as close to an English reading person is going to get to what THE MAN really said. And much of what he said is rational, straight-forward, and free of jargon. (What a surprise!)But naturally, as the Suttas were recorded much later after B’s death, the text bears all the traits of the mnemonic techniques that were necessary for committing them memory. In other words, there is a lot of repetition in a way that is not unlike the meters used in Homer’s Illiad, for example.While the format and size makes this appear as if one ought to be familiar with Buddhism first, I would argue the other way around. It’s a mountain of a book: ain’t no sense in trying to climb it in a day. Or even in a month.Even a short hike here and there will always be rewarding for those who have a taste and sensibility for ancient poetry, and imagination that will transport them to a time and place when these teachings were given.In a culture, at a time, when mythical thinking and conception of phenomena were as binding as gravity, Siddhartha’s feat of rationality is nothing less than astounding.This translation reads swift and is free of pointless archaisms. Yet it retains the aroma of the Monsoons and the sylvan majesty of the Groves.Go to the mountain or let it come to you:Stand up next to it and chop it down with the edge of your hand.

⭐The Tipitaka, known as the Buddhist “bible”, is a massive collection of texts that were first compiled by the Fourth Buddhist Council in 29 BCE. It was divided into 5 volumes (nikayas). At over 2,000 pages for just the Samyutta Nikaya alone, the Buddha clearly had a lot more to say than the handful of inspirational quotes floating around on social media sites.If you’re new to Buddhism, and don’t know which nikaya to start with, I’d recommend starting with The Dhammapada—of which there are many options.

⭐rendered a modern translation of this text. It can also be read freely online at sites like dhammatalks or SuttaCentral. I’d also recommend purchasing the

⭐before the Samutta Nikaya. If the Majjhima Nikaya is the algebra of Buddhism, the Samutta Nikaya is the pre-calculus, and is arguably more challenging to parse.Regarding book quality—yes, the pages are thin, but they don’t feel fragile or cheap, and they’re glued firmly to the hard back cover. I can’t imagine this book showing much wear anytime soon. I’ve had mine for 5 years now, and it still looks new. Admittedly, I’m pretty light handed with my books. If I had one complaint is that ellipses are used perhaps a little too heavily to minimize repetition, sometimes at the expense of the text flow. Regardless, the teachings themselves are still solidly preserved.

⭐If you want to dive deep into studying ancient buddhist scripture, this and the other collections of Nikaya’s in this series are what you are looking for. They are big books, full of commentary, indexes and other useful tools. If you are looking for a more general overview or a more explanatory overview, then go for the Anthology of Discourses (I loved it). The Nikaya’s are definitely for the serious student. The quality of the book is top knotch, pages are thin like a bible but are high quality. You can write notes on the pages in pen but you’ll see the writing through from the other side (just like a regular bible page).

⭐This is a best full translation into english of the Samyutta Nikaya. Which are the original discourses of the Historical Buddha and his close disciples as preserved by the Theravada school of Buddhism. The Samyutta is one of the Five Nikayas. The website Access To Insight also has many free translations available by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Which I usually prefer. Check them out for comparison purposes. The Pali Text society Pali-English dictionary is kind of the gold standard for the English meaning of the Pali but the monk practitioners sometimes disagree with it and between themselves. The Digha Nikaya is considered to be the collection prepared for newcomers to the teachings. But has references to Indian beliefs in 400 BCE The Majjhima Nikaya or Middle Length discourses are considered as being indoctrination for converts into the teachings. And the Samyutta contains some of the most advanced teachings, in a sense, for advanced practitioners. The Samyutta contains the famous sermon on the four noble truths considered, to be the first discourse.

⭐I am trying to understand the Buddha’s teachings and I found this book very helpful. Don’t start here though. Some words are hard to understand if you are brand new to the teachings.

⭐I’ve slowly acquired this whole set. Very clean crisp reads. Informative. Foundational read. Not the quality I’ve come to find in more occult productions. And that’s a good thing. High value

⭐My advice is to use this nikaya when you understand concepts of Theravada, then you can pick this up and say, “I want to get a deeper understanding of X” and then find the chapter concerning X and read a boatload of suttas on that subject, some of which will be more useful than others.The main thing to take away from this review is that the samyutta nikaya is like a reference book for people who are already learned in Theravada: the format is quick and dense, dropping many loaded words which will seem either aimless or towering unless you understand the concepts and contexts occuring.Don’t expect many verses, those only make up about 30% of this book, be prepared for mostly “Thus I heard: the blessed one was dwelling” discourses. If verses are your thing the Suttanipata in this series is for you.

⭐Must to have for serious Buddhist scholars and practioners! Good introductions and if you are ready to use some time and effort with the extensive notes section you will find it very useful. Not easy reading though, but this is not meant for quick-fix of things but slow and lifelong reflections.

⭐The Buddha’s word. No more, no less. May all being live without fear.

⭐Enriching

⭐So inspirering!

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