Launch of reference book series introducing core Buddhist teachings

Omega Plus has just introduced to readers the book “Selected Essences of the NIKĀYA Sutras”. The work, written by Glenn Wallis, presents the core teachings of the Buddha selected from the Buddhist scriptures, thereby inviting readers to explore the transcendent wisdom and beauty of the Buddha's teachings.

For millennia, the Buddha has been revered as the “Enlightened One” – the one whose profound wisdom illuminates the path to a peaceful and meaningful life. Today, in the West, his teachings and meditation are seen as the key to helping people live mindfully, understanding themselves and reality more deeply.

The Buddhist canon is a particularly rich treasure in the vast panorama of Buddhist expression. In the book, the author argues that the Nikāyas are closest to the Buddha's teachings, so the author has selected and commented on 16 representative and most important suttas in the Nikāyas through three Buddhist canons: the Pāli Canon, the Chinese Canon, and the Tibetan Canon.

The 16 canonical suttas are 16 core statements that help to create a path through the dense forest of texts, doctrines, diagrams, technical terms, and practices that make up the vast legacy of the Buddha's 45-year teaching career. These statements not only provide structure to the vast body of material in the suttas, but also provide a reliable basis for understanding the core of his teachings, from which we can continue to deepen our study and practice.

Furthermore, the author has been careful to avoid sectarian interpretations of the canonical text, focusing instead on the original texts themselves. This means that he has limited reference to the commentarial traditions of the major Buddhist sects, rich and fascinating as they are. As a result, the reader is given direct access to the original source material from the canon, which is then analyzed in the “Commentaries.”

To structure the content in an easy-to-understand way, Glenn Wallis used the image of a spiritual journey, which can be seen as a pilgrimage. This journey is divided into six stages: Living environment - Recognizing one's current position; Disorientation - Getting acquainted with ideas that disrupt the old system of thinking; Reorientation - Finding a new direction through the Dharma; Roadmap - Sketching a blueprint for a new spiritual life; Destination - Describing the ultimate destination of the path of practice; Setting out - Applying the Dharma to practical life.

The book is structured into six parts: Journey to Buddhist teachings; Buddhist terminology and meaning; Buddha; readers and scriptures approaching the classic scriptures (16 scriptures) and the final part is commentary (16 scriptures).

The book “Selected Essences of the NIKĀYA Sutras” belongs to the Religion – Buddhism book group of Omega+ and is part of the “ World Essence of Buddhism” project. The project aims to select and translate up-to-date academic works from prestigious Buddhist researchers at major universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Princeton, Chicago, Berkeley, Stanford...

The project hopes to convey Buddhist knowledge to a wide range of readers and contribute to building a foundation of Buddhist academic knowledge in Vietnam.

Dr. Glenn Wallis is an erudite scholar in the fields of Buddhist and Indological studies. He holds a PhD in Sanskrit and Indology from Harvard University. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Religion at the University of Georgia and Director of the Center for Applied Meditation at the Won Institute for Graduate Studies, near Philadelphia.

He is the author of many important research works, including Mediating the Power of Buddhas and The Dhammapada: Verses on the Way published by Modern Library Publishing House. In addition, he has contributed many valuable academic articles in the field of Buddhist studies as a translator and editor.

KINGDOM

Source: https://nhandan.vn/ra-mat-bo-sach-tham-khao-gioi-thieu-nhung-giao-ly-phat-phap-cot-loi-post885281.html