What is Early Buddhism?

What is early Buddhism? On this channel I highlight early Buddhist teachings from a contemporary perspective. We will look at early Buddhism and its sources and consider some of its doctrines and pitfalls.
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✅ Some Key Early Buddhist Texts:
Majjhima Nikāya trans. by Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi amzn.to/2hq5AyA
Dīgha Nikāya trans. by Walshe amzn.to/2zyIXyz
Aṅguttara Nikāya trans. by Bodhi amzn.to/2zxRRwb
Saṃyutta Nikāya trans. by Bodhi amzn.to/2Az96vb
Dhammapada trans. by Fronsdal amzn.to/2zx4Pdq
Sutta-Nipāta trans. by Bodhi amzn.to/2hqStx9
Udāna and Itivuttaka trans. by Ireland amzn.to/2yoW2ai
Therigatha trans. by Hallisey amzn.to/2i1cOWA
Theragatha trans. by Norman amzn.to/2XomAHA
✅ Some sources:
suttacentral.net/introduction
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-sec...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_B...
✅ Bhikkhu Sujato and Bhikkhu Brahmali, “The Authenticity of the Early Buddhist Texts” ocbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2...
✅ Videos:
Did the Buddha Exist? • Did the Buddha Exist?
The Great Forty • Sutta on the Great For...
Women in Buddhism • Women in Buddhism
A Short History of Buddhist Meditation • A Short History of Bud...
The Three Realms of Existence • The Three Realms of Ex...
Early Buddhism on the Internet • Early Buddhism on the ...
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#onlinedharmainstitute #buddhism #earlybuddhism #secularbuddhism
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[@DougsDharma]

Check out this video next on finding early Buddhism on the Internet: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqW3Y6lnq7Z1is0 Consider joining us on Patreon if you find benefit in these videos! Get fun extras like exclusive behind-the-scenes videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: www.patreon.com/dougsseculardharma 🙂

[@a7i20ci7y]

I like early Buddhism because it's stripped down, bare bones, back to basics. As an pragmatist, these are the bits I find to be the most useful.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, me too! 😀

[@poikkiki]

With this quality, I can't believe you are still below 30.000 subscribers. You deserve millions upon millions of views. Will keep watching you grow, thank you for the video Doug! :)

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Tomás, spread the word! 😀

[@ravindraganage7562]

Because very few people can understand English as far as India is concerned.

[@westsidesmitty1]

It's very inspiring to see great consistencies between Pali Suttas, Sanskrit fragments, Tibetan texts, and Chinese Agamas. It seems clear that (even if devas, Mara, and Bhrama did not necessarily attend The Buddha's discourses), the Awakened One did not labor in obscurity! Buddha Dhamma- Vinaya has seemingly always been recognized as a great treasure to be preserved. Bhikku Analayo ( especially in his foot notes!) is a tremendous source of contemporary philology. Yet, one could skip the footnotes and still have the insights of a true standout (in an absolutely stellar field, without a doubt). I will shortly have virtually all of his books. He concludes each chapter (of the half dozen books I have studied) with practical exercises that are among the most incisive I have encountered. I enjoy ranging far afield with Shamanism, Taoism, Vedanta, Tibetan Dream Yoga, aspects of Chinese and Japanese Mahayana, etc., but because of ''Buddha's Razor'' - kusula/akusula and the purpose of ending suffering (and Noble Silence elsewise)- NOTHING I have ever encountered in philosophy, psychology, or paths of liberation, is more satisfying than Indian Buddhism. As you note - it ''cohere's''. Your organizational principles for this channel are a timely gift for this (early!!) autumnal stage of my life. You were the source of the link to Insight.Org. Its ''Befriending the Suttas'' is a short article that makes one willing to brave that 4 foot pile of Bhikku Nanamoli and Bhikku Bodhi translations you bicep curled in this video! I have also found Dhamma Wheel to be excellent, interactive (and very humbling!). But my post prandial, lay on the couch, digest and be satisfied ''go to'' half hour of easy (yet engagingly nuanced) learning remains reserved for ''Dr. Doug's Dharma''. Excelsior and metta! P.S. While I'm sure the ''playlist'' approach was very work intensive, I cannot express my appreciation for them enough.

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome as always Smitty! Glad you're getting something out of these ramblings of mine ... 😄

[@nathancadot5168]

Thank you a lot. I know your channel since several years now but I realy started to look at all the new videos as well as the ancient ones with the lockdown. I must say that it has become one of my favorite youtube channels. I was introduced into buddhism with the vajrayana tradition and I am still a practitioner from that school but I realy love hearing about early buddhism and the sutta. You realy made me start reading suttas. I think your historical videos also gave me a broader understanding of the buddhadharma and answered many of my questions. So thank you, and please keep making videos it is very useful.

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Nathan, thanks for the comment!

[@tcw7757]

Very interesting doug. Thank you very much

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Tcw 77!

[@osanda2313]

Namaste Sire! I am Osanda from Sri Lanka. I am flabbergasted by your knowledge on Oriental esoteric traditions.

[@DougsDharma]

So nice of you Osanda, thanks! 🙏

[@osanda2313]

@@DougsDharma I hope to watch your channel everyday. Please also enlighten us about Buddhism as well as Jainism. Also tell us about the concept of God the Lord Buddha mentioned about. On which ground he rejected God Almighty? Also, enlighten us more on Buddhist cosmology.

[@deela262]

Thank you for your channel. Binge watching now 💟

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Deela, thanks for watching!

[@MundaSquire]

I enjoy Doug's videos because he takes a rational approach to the texts and the teachings. Like him, I prefer the secular approach that, for me, loses nothing in terms of the main thrust of the teachings.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Michael, good to hear!

[@aliciamontero7061]

Very wise approach!

[@DougsDharma]

Thank you kindly Alicia! 🙏

[@lordmerlin6714]

Thera gatha is really good book, poems and gatha in that book were experinced of buddhist monks who archived nirvana, most of the poems explain about our wild mind.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes there is a lot of great material in the early tradition.

[@dannygardiner1823]

Your videos are always interesting and useful🙂... the Greeks wrote a lot about early buddhism when Alexander made it to India.

[@DougsDharma]

Glad to hear it Danny!

[@jordixy]

Great video (as always)!!! You've mentioned that we cannot even draw an exact parallel between Early Buddhism and the Theravada tradition. I've heard sometimes that the Hinayana path of the Tibetan Buddhism is related to the Early Buddhism, but now I wonder what are the actual similarities between them. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that. Thank you!!

[@DougsDharma]

Well "Hinayāna" is a pejorative term used by those in the Mahayāna to denigrate other approaches. It's not clear it actually refers (at least fairly) to any other actual Buddhist school, though I think it's intended to refer more or less to the abhidharma and indeed to some degree to early Buddhism as well.

[@aliciamontero7061]

In Tibetan Buddhism, Hinayana is defined in terms of motivation, as opposed to Mahayana motivation. If you practice generosity or meditation with the goal of attaining liberation from suffering, it would be considered a Hinayana practice. If you do the same practices with the aim of having all the possible abilities to help all beings, like a Samma Sambuddha, like Buddha Shakyamuny, then it is a Mahayana practice. Besides that it is also stated one cannot have real Mahayana motivation without having developed first the Hinayana one. First one needs to have some understanding of suffering and develop a strong motivation to be free of suffering for ever and end samsara to be able to genuinely extend that wish to all beings. This is my understanding, after 30 years receiving teachings from Tibetan lamas, mainly Geshes from monastic universities in the Guelug school. 🙏

[@soilsenasuil]

What is your opinion of Atthakavagga or Book of Eights... it seems to be very early, at least in regards to Buddhism ideals... but I am just starting down this road and was curious about different opinions. Thank you...

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, it is early, but there are several such early books and suttas.

[@madman7413]

Very Important vedio

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Mad Man.

[@rajchamar8641]

Thanks

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@calvinsadewa3326]

Thank you for very informative video! If early buddhism sole source of information is the EBT, do we have any indication how complete is information in EBT regarding early buddhism? thought occur to me that it may be possible that some kind of ritual/ceremony/tradition/meditation/etc of early buddhism may not be documented as well in the EBT. Also that impression of simplicity in EBT may be due to bias in preserved information and medium used (recittal in case of EBT)

[@DougsDharma]

It's always possible calvin that there is some other element of early Buddhism that is not preserved in our texts, although those texts do record the Buddha as saying that he did not teach with a "closed fist", which is to say that all he taught was taught orally to all his monastics. Nothing was held back. If there is some other element that is not preserved in those texts though, there is no way to know about it. Nothing else remains. Archaeology is great at unearthing social structures but it isn't very good at reconstructing philosophical systems.

[@lawnmower4884]

Cool Video

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks!

[@osanda2313]

Sir, you seem more knowledgeable than a Sri Lankan monk. Could you please do an easy-to-digest video of Abhidharma which they claim to be the most complex parts of Buddhist teachings? I am blown away by your knowledge on indology in general. Also, please do a video on Kasina meditation.

[@DougsDharma]

My focus is on early Buddhism, so I've been putting off discussing the Abhidhamma, since it stems from a slightly later tradition. That said, I probably will do a video on it eventually. Kasina meditation is something that's barely discussed in the early texts, so I'd need a good, scholarly historical review to feel comfortable doing a video on it. We'll see. 🙂

[@Zipjin]

Dear Doug, Some scholars like Choong Mun-keat have explored the Navanga sasana (nine-fold teaching) of the Buddha. Could you share more about that?

[@DougsDharma]

I’d have to look that one up, but if I find something interesting I might discuss it in a video. Thanks!

[@rseyedoc]

I see "early buddhism" as simply the first group (or groups) of people to write down their understanding of Buddhas teaching. An odd analogy comes from my divorce experience. The first one to file in court sets the tone for all the following proceedings... doesn't mean their correct. Thankfully, and ultimately, truth is personal and experiential, not scholarly.

[@DougsDharma]

Sure, and if we read through those early teachings we find hallmarks of their earliness. There are lots of complex matters that they don't even discuss, since they hadn't come up yet, for example. They are less scholastic than most later material, and not at all interested in debating with other Buddhists since there weren't any. That said, of course they are fallible too and no doubt have undergone a lot of change in the intervening millennia. To put any of it into practice we have to set them to the side and do the work ourselves.

[@eaaaaaaaaa4093]

I think there is a story of a monk showing up late to the first council asking what he missed and is told what the Buddha taught had been established and the monk said "well I heard the Buddha teach and I will continue to practice what I heard". So Buddhists were aware way back about the challenge of trying to document an oral tradition.

[@jerebear39]

This is great information! But it's their a complied book that is targeted to everyday people that is short and accessible that's informed by early Buddhism?

[@DougsDharma]

I have a list of them in the notes. Another video on that topic is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3ixl5yvh7Kendk .

[@peaceful_warrior3479]

Hello Doug, You and a cup of coffee before work....... could you explain how Sramana played a role in Buddha and his growth. w/ Metta Robert. Never heard about this before.

[@DougsDharma]

Ha! Yes, I love my coffee as well. "Śramaṇa" just means an ascetic; the Buddha was an ascetic (a "śramaṇa") along with many other ascetics of his day. He left home to persist homeless in the forest. He probably learned the basics of what would become his own philosophy from other ascetics of other belief systems.

[@rajenderchhetri2051]

I think should have discussion with Sungam Talks and intellectual kshetriya like philosophy and history of Sanatan Dharma and Buddhism

[@DougsDharma]

This is a huge topic. The Hinduism that exists today is quite different from the Vedic Brahmanism which existed at the Buddha's day.

[@aronmindfulman7727]

Several times, during the video, you make reference to the different sects or schools that came about after the Buddha and their differing beliefs with regards to the Abhidharma. Did the schools have different ideas about "dhammas" as the fundamental building blocks of all phenomenal experience? I'm thinking of one of the earliest schools known as Sarvāstivāda and a variant known as Vaibhāṣikas.

[@DougsDharma]

That's a great question Aron, I'm not entirely sure but I think so. I know that in general there were some relatively important differences between the abhidharmas of different schools. One famous example with the Sarvāstivādans is their belief in the reality of past and future, which was rejected in for example the Theravāda abhidhamma. Differences between abhidharmas is something I haven't looked into a whole lot.

[@aronmindfulman7727]

@@DougsDharma Since your talk on this video, I have been moved to enhance my knowledge of the early Buddhist schools and their abhidhammic theories by visiting Wikipedia which seems to have a fairly extensive knowledge base. For example, the Sarvastivada school believed in temporal eternalism, "a doctrine which held that dhammas, past present and future, all exist." Correct if I'm wrong; did Buddha teach eternalism?

[@DipayanPyne94]

@@aronmindfulman7727 No. Buddha didn't teach Eternalism. He opposed it. He considered Eternalism to be a 'Wrong View' ...

[@Tomas33392]

One question that would come up after watching the video a second time: Would one be able to understand the basics of early Buddhism by only reading one of the Nikayas? (i.e: the Majjhima Nikaya). Thanks!

[@DougsDharma]

I think you could. Each of the Nikāyas (except maybe the Khuddaka?) is sort of all-encompassing. That said, there are certainly some nuances that only persist in one or another of them, so the broadest picture is gotten by a familiarity with all.

[@Tomas33392]

Doug's Dharma Thank you Doug :)!

[@CrueltyFreeMan]

Thank you, though recently I really enjoy your channel and teachings. I am interested in knowing why Buddhism diminished from India, Pakistan & Afghanistan. If you can share some insights 🙏

[@DougsDharma]

Good question Ugyen Tenzey. I will be releasing a video about that in the next few weeks.

[@CrueltyFreeMan]

Doug's Dharma Thank you 🙏

[@KevinLopez-rl6wq]

2 questions: 1. Is it current scholarly consensus that we can indeed triangulate between the Chinese and Tibetan Agamas and the Pali Nikāyas to theorize about some Buddhist Ur-texts? Or is it that these are just different sectarian variations of how these teachings were put into writing after being preserved via oral tradition? In other words, is it a mistake to assume that there is an original text when we are addressing a tradition that originally preserved its teachings orally? I think this point speaks to the "Abhidharmic" insertions found by comparing Pali sutta to sutras in the Chinese agamas. 2. How do the Ghandari manuscripts fit into your current understanding of early Buddhism?

[@KevinLopez-rl6wq]

perhaps instead it makes more sense to say we can triangulate to an Ur-doctrine or Ur-dharma prior to insertions from sectarian Abhidharma theory. Of course it makes sense to bear in mind the caveats that the historical Buddha adapted his teachings to different audiences and his teaching may have also developed over time.

[@DougsDharma]

Well there is a great deal of overlap between the Pāli Nikāyas and the Chinese Āgamas, as well as the fragmentary material from places like Gandhāra. (Tibet does not have a complete version, as exists in China). This does not mean nor require that there was a "single" Buddhist ur-text, only that there was a relatively dhammically constrained and consistent set of teachings that make up the foundation of all Buddhist schools. In that sense yes, the thought is that perhaps we can triangulate to an ur-dharma if you like.

[@eaaaaaaaaa4093]

Don't the ghandari texts predate the Pali by several hundred years? I understand that there are also prajnaparamita writings in those texts.

[@NullStaticVoid]

I often wonder if there is some lost cultural context in the older Buddhist texts which explicitly mention certain numbers. In many cultures there are certain significance placed on certain numbers that everyone knows, but are rarely mentioned out loud.

[@DougsDharma]

Perhaps so, but as we can see in the Aṅguttara Nikāya, the Buddha made use of a lot of different numbers!

[@Erdbeerheld1]

Hey Doug, thanks for yet another very interesting and informing video! I used to be one of your patreons, right know I don't have any income so I cut the support for now, but as soon as I have more money again, I will resume supporting your dhamma talks again. They really enrich my practise and Patreon is one way to give somethink back :) I struggle with the Buddha's view on sexuality atm. One central statement of the Middle Path is, as far as I understood, to avoid extremes. But how does this fit with the rule for monks to not life any kind of sexuality? I do think there are different 'levels' of how strict you have to be following the Eightfold Path and I do think that sexuality at least in the Western world is very often lived out very harmfully, but not even being allowed to have any kind of physical contact between monks with the opponing gender seems very extreme to me. I am not saying monks should be allowed to kiss or even have coitus, but I want to understand, why the Buddha was so strict in this field. Sorry for my bad English, it's a complex subject and I seem to lack some words :D

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks for your support Jo Nas! As for sexuality, the Buddha was aware of how connected it naturally is to attachment and greed. There's nothing wrong with it as laypeople, so if we want to continue that way, we simply don't become monastics.

[@thekilla42]

Have you seen the video in which ajahn Geoff (thannisaro bikkhu) mentions that ajahn mun, a prominent albeit deceased monk in Thailand, rediscovered true Buddhism by communing with devas alive during the Buddha's time ?

[@DougsDharma]

I hadn't heard that one, John!

[@dipankisaikia3387]

Sir I have a question to u.. For philosophy of early buddhism which book I can read?

[@DougsDharma]

There are no books that I know that focus on early Buddhist philosophy in particular. Perhaps the best known on Buddhist philosophy in general is Mark Siderits's book Buddhism as Philosophy, but it doesn't talk much about the early material.

[@maddiewadsworth4027]

Really enjoy the content about early Buddhism. Have you ever done a video about the contraindications or side effects of meditation?

[@DougsDharma]

I haven't because it's a topic I don't know much about.

[@manishbaj]

Where can we get these books?

[@DougsDharma]

They are all linked in the info box below the video.

[@Kevtron257]

For the Khuddaka Nikāya whos translations would be...closer to the original / less "interpreted"

[@DougsDharma]

To my knowledge, no one person has translated all the Khuddaka Nikāya, and there are a lot of books in it. Bhikkhu Sujato has done a certain amount over on SuttaCentral, I'd recommend his translations; also Bhikkhu Bodhi has done the Sutta Nipāta, it's very good.

[@michaelhanford8139]

An aspect of commentaries make me shake my head, as if 'hey Gotama, you got that piece a bit wrong let me clarify for you' or 'he was really saying this ...' Aka the human desire to leave one's mark on things rather than letting things speak for themselves/stand on their own merits. Commenting on an Arahant doesn't make one on par with an Arahant...there no shortcuts from 'the outside' - either one puts the time & effort into acquiring the perspective of an enlightened being or one does not...outside opinions are just opinions - ego droppings.

[@michaelhanford8139]

...a bit like Nietzsche observing that we made god in our own image because it's easier than leaving our biases, conceits & self importance to the side & confront the material as is...taking him up on his motto 'ehi passiko' come & see - try what i prescribe & see if it works the same for you or not. I admit to being a bit cantankerous so am open to hearing different views on my own views. Thx everyone!

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@christina964]

Hello Doug, Good Morning, Gautama the Buddha was originally Hindu, what were his reasons for leaving Hinduism - from your knowledge & buddhist expertise? Thank's Doug.

[@DougsDharma]

Hi Christina, we wouldn't want to say that Gotama was Hindu. Hinduism is a later development. Those around him were of various beliefs and religions, such as Vedic Brahmanism (the precursor to Hinduism), Jainism, etc. There is no evidence that he subscribed to any of these in particular before he became enlightened. He seems to have studied with both Brahmins and Jains for example when he was looking for the path.

[@neshimanati]

How in Buddhism is it decided who has awakened, or who reached enlightenment?

[@DougsDharma]

In early Buddhism the only question is whether one has totally eliminated greed, hatred, and ignorance. If not, they are not enlightened.

[@jacksonbarua7574]

So only the patimokkha is the earliest vinaya?

[@DougsDharma]

It's hard to say for sure Jackson. Talking with scholars it seems as though the Patimokkha is likely among the earliest parts of the Vinaya.

[@jacksonbarua7574]

@@DougsDharma which patimokkha?Theravada?

[@DougsDharma]

@@jacksonbarua7574 I am guessing this would be a patimokkha that would be pre-sectarian.

[@anjalib2210]

Buddhism is the 2nd oldest religion in India after Jainism There are many Buddha monasteries in India which have been constructed by King Asoka Later on some of them have converted into Temple 😒

[@scottm2553]

I thought there was about 17 or so different schools during the life of the Buddha. Is this not true?

[@DougsDharma]

The schools arose in the centuries after the Buddha's passing.

[@udayangadananjaya7914]

T

[@floptaxie68]

I really want to read the Buddhist texts in my language(Spanish) but they are not as accessible as the bloody book we all know

[@DougsDharma]

Abraham Vélez de Cea has a translation out of the Majjhima Nikāya in Spanish, and I think there are ongoing translation efforts in Spanish over at Sutta Central.

[@floptaxie68]

@@DougsDharma thank you

[@KeithMakank3]

Hi Doug's Myth

[@DougsDharma]

😄

[@Matt_Niro]

6 books in Kuddhaka nikaya are early. Other 10+ are fake.Absolutely

[@Matt_Niro]

Of course and the other 4 Nikayas are real.

[@DougsDharma]

Well "fake" is too strong a term. Several were later.

[@iallalli5223]

When Dharmachakkappavattana sutta is not corrected rightly, early Buddhism can't be rightly open to people. Because the start and the last goal is so much wrong. There is only the Tathagatha I in that sutta, but Buddhist people easily say, that there is no such I. Without your I who do practice? Without your I who do enlighten? Without your I who do see rightly? Without your I who do hear rightly? Without your I who do say Buddha Dharma and Fruit? Without your I who do say Middle way? Without your I why people need study Buddhism? When you enlighten then you so say whole is you. You are the Nondual with whatever! BigBang@!

[@johnytulanga2881]

Buddhism might be the most coherent religious system in many respects but there is still a lot nonsense attached to it.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, which is why I prefer a secular approach. But to be fair, one person's nonsense is another person's truth. This doesn't mean one isn't right and the other wrong, but it does mean we should be humble about the possibility we are the ones in the wrong.

[@billybutcher6504]

Sir, I wanna know that whether Buddha was Khattiya or Kshatriya? Khattiya as some ppl say that he was born farmer in a democratic republic family. But, hindus, who are pretty obsessed with caste system invariably claims that Buddha was born as hindu kshatriya. I wanna know what is reality? Whether Buddha was born in Shraman tradition or Brahmanical tradition?

[@DougsDharma]

Khattiya is just the Pāli word for the Sanskrit kshatriya. They are essentially the same word with the same meaning. That said, to my knowledge scholars generally believe the Buddha was brought up in a place at the edge of Brahminical influence. This may be why in some suttas he says that khattiyas are higher than Brahmins socially.

[@billybutcher6504]

@@DougsDharma But some ppl say that Buddha was born a Khattiya and they interpret it by saying that Buddha was a farmer. Does word khattiya also means farmer? Even Buddhist stupas are found in Harappan civilization, so some ppl concludes that Buddhism is part of Shraman tradition and Buddha was born in farmer family, and when he was born, his father became Raja coz they lived in democratic republic country where ppl could be raja chance by chance. Whats ur take on it, sir?