Good Reads

Those able to read English are most fortunate to have had all the Pali Tipitaka translated into English for over 50. It has still not been fully translated into Sinhala, Burmese, Thai, Cambodian or Laotian. I know that in the case of the parts already done in Sinhala and Burmese, the style of the language used is archaic and 'high' making it difficult for the average person to read. English readers are now doubly fortunate in having accurate, readable and easily available translations of anthologies from the Tipitaka. Three of these have come to my attention. The first is Bhikkhu Bodhi's and Nyanaponika's Numerical Discourses of the Buddha published by Vistaar Publications, New Delhi in 2000. Bodhi's In the Buddha's Words, a selection of discourses from throughout the Tipitaka with extensive notes was published by Wisdom in 2005. And now another anthology, this time done by Rupert Gethin, Sayings of the Buddha, has been done by Oxford World's Classics, so it will find its way into the average bookshop and be avaliable to 'the man in the street.' You may or may not keep turning your prayer wheel, but you defiantly should turn the pages of these books (Ops! I nearly forgot to add - 'and read them').