Sutta Pitaka (the collection of Suttas) is the oldest of all Buddhist scriptures. There are thousands of Suttas in the Sutta Pitaka, some very long, others in the middle length, and some others as short as a few lines. Being the most original and authentic, many of these Buddha’s speeches and dialogues help us discern the originality of Buddhism.

Without proper guidance by a Buddhist educator with the knowledge of Pali and Sanskrit, the readers of English translations find many hindrances while trying to understand many of these Suttas. The purpose of this class is to help remove such hindrances encountered by the readers and to clarify the main Buddhist concepts with the help of these original texts.

This Sutta Study class will be thematic. We have hundreds of long Suttas in the Sutta Pitaka, and instead of choosing them randomly, I felt that a thematic approach would be better. I have organized fall syllabus under three sections: Buddhist epistemology, Buddhist anthropology, and Buddhist social philosophy. Under each category, there are at least three Suttas.

Here are the class details:

Syllabus:

Buddhist Epistemology (Buddhist Theory of Knowledge):
Kalama Sutta (Anguttara Nikaya 65) and Canki Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 95)
Ambhatta Sutta (Digha Nikaya 3)
Sonadada Sutta (Digha Nikaya 4)
Cula Sakuludayi Sutta (Majjima Nikaya 79)

Buddhist Anthropology (Buddhist View about the Human Being and His or Her Place in Society):
Agganna Sutta (Digha Nikaya 27)
Vasetta Sutta (Majjima Nikaya 98)
Tittha (Ayatana) Sutta (Angutthara Nikaya 3.61)

Buddhist Social Philosophy :
Pattakamma Sutta (Anguttara Nikaya 4.61)
Sigalovada Sutta (Digha Nikaya 31)
Dighajanu (Vyagghapajja) Sutta (Anguttara Nikaya 8.54)

We will meet 9 Saturdays during fall. It is important that, before you come to the class, you read and be familiar with the Sutta to be discussed on that particular day.

Class days: Sept. 15, Sept. 29, Oct. 13, Oct. 27, Nov. 10, Nov. 17, Dec. 1, Dec. 8, Dec. 15.

Day 1: Kalama Sutta and Canki Sutta
Links are below:
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.065.than.html
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/americanbuddhist/2008/11/canki-sutta-the-buddhist-way-of-knowing.html

Time: 3:30 to 5:30 pm

Venue: Houston Buddhist Vihara, 8727 Radio Rd. Houston, TX 77075

Teacher: Ven. Prof. Basnagoda Rahula Thero