The Long Discourses: Sutta 27 - Aggañña Sutta: Knowledge Of The Beginning Of Things

In these series of Sutta recitations in English, this time, presenting the vastly rich Long Discourses/Sayings (DN - Digha Nikāya) of the Buddha, I used several sources in my attempt to present a more complete version of each of the suttas. Therefore, I worked to include sections of suttas that were omitted from several of the available editions of the DN, due to their repetitive and “drill-like” formulation that although may seem tiresome at times, nevertheless they do present as a crucial method of teaching, which the Buddha applied in his dissemination of the Dhamma. By including this key element back into the body of many of the pertinent suttas has been my goal, as I tried my best to adhere to the earliest versions of the Digha Nikāya. This almost algorithmic style of repeating statements found in many of these and other suttas within the Pāli Nikāyas, help the meditator to penetrate into the deeper layers of understanding of the world, as one becomes able to ‘see things as they truly come to be’ (yathā bhutaṃ pajānāti), which is a necessary step in the experiencing of Nibbāna, as explained by Lord Buddha. This in itself has been a crucial part of the decision to make these suttas available to both the novice and the advanced student of Buddhist meditative practice, as these help remove the mental contaminants and defilements from the mind, according to the earliest known Teachings available of the Buddha.
Please Note: It is my wish that after the countless hours of preparing and making these recordings freely available, you the listener will become encouraged to obtain the actual hardcopy editions of this and the other Nikāyas, as made available by the following authors, from their respective publishers. It is to my teachers and these translators of the Buddha's Words, whose works I have consulted throughout this massive project that I am utterly indebted, given their enormous efforts in making the Words of The Elders available in the first place.
These are:
Rhys Davids, T.W. & C.A.F. (1899; 1903; 1966), Dialogues of The Buddha. London: Pāli Text Society
Bodhi, B. (1978). The Discourse on the All-Embracing Net of Views: The Brahmajāla Sutta and its Commentaries, Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society
Bodhi, B. (1984). The Great Discourse On Causation: The Mahānidāna Sutta and Its Commentaries. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society
Bodhi, B. (1989). The Fruits of Recluseship: The Sāmaññaphala Sutta and its Commentaries, Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society
Ñāṇananda, K. B. (2010). Nibbāna: the mind stilled. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Theravada Tipitaka Press
Walshe, M. (1995). The long discourses of the Buddha: A translation of the Digha Nikāya. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications.
About this project:
Over the past 30+ years, in my quest for understanding the Dhamma, i.e. the Teachings of Lord Buddha, I have dedicated countless hours studying the suttas found in the Pāli Canon of the Theravada Tradition (Words of the Elders) as I sat at the feet of many a great teacher, trying to learn and grasp the meaning behind the words.
In these difficult times, however, where time itself has become truly constricted in its abundance, the curious and struggling minds of individuals do not necessarily have the same luxuries of sitting down and reading the Nikāyas, let alone exploring their meaning, something that was enjoyed only a generation or two earlier.
Instead, one becomes hesitant to even pick up one of the Nikāyas given their massive volume, therefore, the danger of their inaccessibility (by shying away from reading the Pāli Nikāyas) looms in the horizon; this, while considering that many newcomers to the Dhamma are often petrified to tackle the wonderful exploration that would otherwise be awaiting them in those voluminous pages.
Thus, as one of my own students expressed of her apprehension despite her love for the Dhamma, to pick up one these precious texts, I saw it necessary for posterity to go ahead and transfer these words onto audio. I realize the amount of work, time and energy this would take, but the necessity for making the Dhamma available in an age of scarcity of time where most of our time is spent driving, sitting long hours in commute, etc., becomes all the more relevant, if not imperative.
Being a Dhamma Teacher means nothing if there is no Dhamma available, which means that is available whether through being read, studied, and in this case, heard and listened to.
To this end, I am dedicating my time and energy to do my small part and record the precious words of Lord Buddha onto these audio files for posterity, hoping that listeners would become able to taste them and realize their fruits (through daily practice), by listening to and understanding the wonderful gems within the words of Lord Buddha that have survived the test of time during the last 2600 years.
Mettacittena,
"Candana" (Garbis J. Bartanian, Doctor of Buddhist Ministry (DBMin), LMFT).