What Is the Pali Canon of Buddhism?

[@DougsDharma]

✅ Check out this playlist next, an intro to early Buddhism: kzbin.info/aero/PL0akoU_OszRhV4QOn4fPa2Stu6aZQCK7n 🧡 If you find benefit in my videos, consider joining us on Patreon and get fun extras like exclusive behind-the-scenes videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: www.patreon.com/dougsseculardharma 🙂

[@manderson7341]

Doug... my teacher ( pra’ajahn) says Bihari

[@leninpavon7985]

I was introduced by Buddhism by your videos and I'm grateful of your amazing work. You've motivated me to pursue a deeper practice and your work has been crucial in achieving that. Thank you and I hope you continue making such amazing videos

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Lenin, I wish you the best with your practice!

[@samanthamoore6961]

Same here!

[@xiaomaozen]

Thanks for your ongoing good work here. I appreciate it a lot. 😊

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure xiao mao! 😊

[@SirinGuera]

You helped me a lot to understand a little bit of what Buddhism is, I'm looking for knowledge related to Buddhism, thank you Ps (I'm Brazilian kk)

[@DougsDharma]

Glad to have you here Siringuera, thanks for the comment!

[@greazy8037]

Thanks for your videos Doug! You are doing a great thing by providing clarity and insight on a topic so vast and oftentimes confusing. Greatly appreciated.

[@DougsDharma]

You are very welcome, Greazy!

[@rajbidika9123]

Great research on Pali canon as a foreigner........Thanks for your insightful contributions on Buddhism.

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure, Raj. Thanks for your comment! 🙏

[@Webuddhists-z5j]

In this case , what we buddhists beleive is all three pitakas are 84000 teachings and 82000 are words of buddha himself, 2000 are words of diciples that were agreed by Buddha. Nothing is older and after added. All teachings were collected in councils very first, in the first council that was 3 months right after the Buddhas passing away.

[@udayangadananjaya7914]

Yah thats what we believe

[@meteor541]

But what about the meeting held by Kanisha ? As it's believed by many historians that it was set up to resolve the conflict different Buddhists sect have with Pali canon.

[@dr.jeffreyzacko-smith324]

Well explained … an essential understanding for all Buddhists!

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks so much for your comment. 🙏

[@AmericanShia786]

Yet another excellent video. Paying off medical bills, so I can't quite subscribe your Patreon yet. For general Buddhism, I like your KZbin channel the best.

[@DougsDharma]

No worries Philip, thanks for watching and for your kind comment! 🙏

[@DougsDharma]

And I hope you are recovering well from whatever ailed you!

[@xiaomaozen]

Get well soon! ❤

[@sanjaylamsalufl]

Thanks Doug; I am learning a lot from your videos and loving them. I am originally from Nepal and my first inclination to learn about Buddhism arose while reading - the undefeated Mind, my Alex Likerman who practices Buddhism . And my journey continues

[@DougsDharma]

Wonderful, thanks Sanjay. 🙏

[@noahdanielg]

Very good overview Doug! Although I myself gravitate more to the Mahāyāna Sūtras, the Pāli Canon is as well very enriching if not a little hard to read.

[@DougsDharma]

Great, thanks Noah! Yes parts of the Canon can be difficult to read but on the whole it's got a lot of great stories and interesting arguments. It really brings ancient India to life.

[@noahdanielg]

@@DougsDharma One question, which volume of the hardcover Pāli Canon collections would you recommend to pick up if I can only get one?

[@DougsDharma]

@@noahdanielg Either start with the Majjhima Nikāya or with Bhikkhu Bodhi's overview called In the Buddha's Words.

[@patricktoh5191]

@@noahdanielg From what I had from 2 Chinese Buddhist monks,the samyutta nikaya was the earliest nikaya whereas the rest of them were later added with additional and longer suttas.

[@donosvald7446]

Could you talk about the Chinese and Tibetan buddhist canon in the future?

[@DougsDharma]

I'd like to do that eventually, though I'd need to find a good scholarly rundown on them and their histories first.

[@TheWayOfRespectAndKindness]

Thanks for your candor. 🙏🏼

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure!

[@christophertito8118]

Just a small correction Doug, Pali isn't a dialect of Sanskrit, but it's instead a daughter language, meaning that it descended from Sanskrit. Kind of like how Old French and Old Spanish both descend from Latin. Other than that, nice video :)

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks for the info Christopher. As I understand it, a dialect is a language characteristic of a particular group that is closely similar to and thus largely mutually intelligible with another language. Pāli and Sanskrit have this relationship. (Indeed, there are many different varieties of Sanskrit, some that may postdate the introduction of Pāli). It may be that both classical Sanskrit and Pāli derived from the same earlier Sanskritic form, though that doesn't really matter to its being a dialect, and at any rate I think a lot of this early history is in dispute. I don't know much about it myself. 🙂

[@stevebelzer4758]

@@DougsDharmatrue enough about dialect however for example in China - there are many (MANY) dialects of Mandarin - and MOST Chinese themselves cannot understand a neighboring dialect These arose due to geographic separation of people Same is true in parts of Mexico ❤

[@amityadav-lt5bc]

How did you conclude that Pali is the daughter language and not Sanskrit? I've not seen a single piece of evidence of Sanskrit writing older than Pali.

[@christophertito8118]

@@amityadav-lt5bc because Sanskrit, in the form of Vedic Sanskrit, was used in the Vedas. The Vedas are much older than the Pali texts. Furthermore, you can deduce it from sound changes. Pali phonology is simpler from Sanskrit. In some cases, some sounds in Pali have merged whereas they were two different sounds in Sanskrit. Examples (Sanskrit in the left, Pali in the right): Sapta (seven) -> Satta Sattva (creature) -> Satta Dharma (law, religion) -> Dhamma Sutra (text, sermon) -> Sutta

[@amityadav-lt5bc]

@christophertito8118 Can anyone have any evidence for the Vedas and Vedic period? It's only present in books. No archaeological evidence, whatsoever. It doesn't bother you that there is a full city of Indus Valley and not a single evidence of Vedic period? Even the script of Indus Valley is very similar to Pali and not like Devanagari at all. Where do we have any Vedic text that predates Pali text in physical form? If not, then why did everyone accept it to be the case? And, Pali phonology was simpler and it was not enough to contain all the words as it was getting bigger day by day due to the immense work done in Nalanda, Taxilla and at other places, that's why to get rid of the confusion they had to Sanskrities (to modify) the Pali language. With the help of Padini's 1000 shlokas addressed by Fa-Xiyan, not the 4000 shlokas which comes later down the time in the form of 'Ashtadhyai', without these 4000 shlokas one can not write Sanskrit. That's why you'll first find Buddhist Hybrid sanskrit in the 4th century then later in 7th century we will see the classical Sanskrit written in Devanagari script. You'll never see the Devnagari script before the 7th century. Just because language phonology gets simpler with time doesn't mean it cannot go another way around because that was a time when languages were still evolving it is much later that language will start to get simplified.

[@KarunMalhotra]

Thanks for sharing 🙏

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure!

[@venthawhizaa2964]

Great massage.

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@AnattaAnattata]

Thank you so much! from Thailand🙏

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure, and welcome! 🙏😊

[@stevebelzer4758]

Very helpful Doug - ❤

[@DougsDharma]

Glad it was helpful! 🙏

[@2nmahesh]

Could you please do a video on the authenticity of the Abhidharma, as there are a lot of debates on this topic ? How likely that the Bhudda really taught Abhidhamma , Traditionally some commentaries says that it was taught to Deva first then to the disciple Sariputtta.. Thanks

[@DougsDharma]

Hi Mahesh, I've mentioned the abhidhamma offhand in a number of videos. It is from a later tradition, after the Buddha's death. I may do a video on it eventually, but it's a complex topic so it may take awhile! 😀

[@udayangadananjaya7914]

Yah tradition says abhidarma was firstly taught to the gods of thawathinsa heven and mainly to the mothergod(mathru divyarajaya) who was the mother of sidhhartha gauthama and after her death she was born as a male god in heven thawathinsa. And as a thanksgiving buddha taught him and other abhidarma for three heven days and that become 3 months in earth. And after that buddha taught it to saripuththa and to ananda thero.

[@lifegoeson494]

Who is reading Majjhima Nikaya during quarantine days at home?

[@DougsDharma]

Well ... some of us are! 😄

[@haovan5273]

I am now and feeling tremendously lucky and thankful that I can still read the Budda's words today.

[@babeksaber2702]

Very informative. Thank you

[@DougsDharma]

Glad it was helpful!

[@isiahs9312]

Thanks!

[@DougsDharma]

You're most welcome! And thanks to you!

[@shubhankarsingh5353]

Buddha's work memorization has nothing to do with Hindu Vedic caste of brahmin. They are not related here. It's normal for monastics to learn thier chants. It's human ability.

[@DougsDharma]

Culturally it comes through Vedic Brahmanism. It isn't typical to memorize enormous amounts of spoken information, but many brahmins involved in early Buddhism would have known techniques.

[@udayangadananjaya7914]

And as srilankan buddhists we believe that arahath maha mahinda was arrived to sri lanka in a june month and we celebrate that day.

[@DougsDharma]

Interesting, thanks!

[@timetraveller5721]

Sir please make video on jataka tales.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks for the suggestion TT, it's something I might do eventually.

[@HossainSalahuddin]

@@DougsDharma I recently read Rafe Martin's books "Endless Path" and also "Before Buddha was Buddha' - both books contain excellent commentaries on the Jataka tales (I particularly enjoyed "Endless Path"). It would great to hear what your views are on the Jataka stories in general and their applicability in teaching morality to children in a modern age.

[@eddygan325]

Hi Doug, is it the time of King Ashoka, Sangha started to record the sutta by using text ? I heard the first Pali text is written down in Sri Lanka. However, i wonder is it any sutta recorded by text before that , and how about sutta in text that recorded as Agamas, is it recorded in text earlier that pali by Sri lanka ?

[@DougsDharma]

So far as we know the first Buddhist texts were written down around the 1st c. BCE, which is after Asoka's lifetime. We can speculate that some texts might have been written down earlier, but so far as I know there is no direct evidence for it. Chinese Āgamas were translated out of Indic originals in the early centuries of the CE.

[@prashant1760]

at 2:30 Buddha period you that you showed is 480-400 BC but on unesco site it is 623 BC. so do you tell what is the most probable years of Buddhas period.

[@DougsDharma]

The scholarly consensus now is c. 480-400 BCE.

[@udayangadananjaya7914]

Yah

[@valerieevanier9632]

I am interested in finding out what the Buddha said about the practice and types of meditation. Where is the best place to find this? I have no idea where to even start looking. Let me add these are such wonderful videos!

[@DougsDharma]

Sure! Check out my playlist on beginning Buddhist practice. There are a lot of videos in there on that subject: kzbin.info/aero/PL0akoU_OszRihO7Z4ynccF5rmGgyfNLQr

[@deela262]

Hi. Here are 3 sources from the Theravada Tripitaka. Mahanama sutta ( AN 11.13): the Buddha tells the householder Mahanama of 6 bases of Meditative reflections ...1. reflecting on the virtues of The Buddha - Buddhanussati, 2.qualities of The Dhamma- Dhammanussati, 3. qualities of The Sangha ( Buddha's disciples who attained fruition, Nirvana)- Sanghanussati , 4. ones own virtues- silanussati, 5. ones own generosity - chaganussati and 6. virtues of the devas/ heavenly beings- devatanussati. These reflections would arouse Joy ( priti) , dispelling hindrances & bringing clarity & peace. 'Karaniya Metta Sutta- the Discourse on loving kindness/ Goodwill. Metta is the powerful antidote against all forms of aversion.. Maha Satipattana Sutta( The Great Discourse on Mindfulness)... classified under 4 headings, indicating the steps on how to do Vipassana reflections on the body and mind. Altogether 21 methods are given in this Sutta. 1. Kayanupassana - reflections on the true nature of the body ...14 alternative bases are given to arouse mindfulness ( sati) , including meditation on breath- anapana sati. Also on meditation on the loathsomeness of the body, and " corpse meditation " ... 2. Vedananupassana- mindfulness on feeling (sense pleasures & extra sensory pleasures ..) 3. Chittanupassana- mindfulness on states of mind ( lust full/ averseful.. etc) 4. Dhammanupassana- mindfulness on mental factors or thought patterns

[@kyotomasterlord3888]

Hi Doug! I'm glad to see your channel growing. What's your opinion on the writings of Chogyam Trungpa?

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Kyoto! I haven't read a lot of Chögyam Trungpa's work, though I did use one of his essays in my video awhile back on spiritual materialism: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYSrfKZ8d96ng5I

[@kyotomasterlord3888]

@@DougsDharma Thanks I appreciate you!

[@PabloVestory]

Thank you 🙏

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@stevebelzer4758]

The Tatooween Sand People would load the cannons on the Pali Cliffs and fire huge Dharma Bombs designed to hit all Sentient Beings (Sentient is a small M Class Planet in the Amitabaa System 😂

[@DougsDharma]

😄😄

[@stevebelzer4758]

@@DougsDharma thx I try to mention sense of humor- Doug you might enjoy KZbin Dharma talks by Ven Miao Jing of Great Compassion Bohdi Temple Toronto - she’s from Taiwan her mission is to use social media to transmit compassion (her accent is really cute ) I am reading “ Handbook of Buddhism “ by John Snelling He’s a British guy who almost became a monk He is also a skilled writer who tied in historical context , nomenclature and cosmology In an engaging style He was at one time Recording Secretary for British Buddhist Society and editor of its journal Lions Roar

[@harshalgawai746]

Namo Buddhaya

[@sameerdadra]

Can you please post the link for video on Asoka

[@DougsDharma]

This one? kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGWbameLnJ2MacU

[@maxmatthews2463]

How can I make my practice intentional, and how do I wake up with virtues in sight?

[@DougsDharma]

Well those are huge questions Max, and will depend on any number of factors. But I'd say spending time with mindfulness practice would be great. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJLIgnt7ZtSGidk

[@andrewtom8407]

Buddhism stresses on non-attachment to everything, including intentions. The importance is in practicing mindfulness without focusing on any intentions.

[@Spazz983]

Thank you

[@DougsDharma]

You're very welcome Jc.!

[@Iiieevvueúiie]

Pali,written in the Dhamma script, and the Buddha are older (600 bc) than the Brahmanism, the Buddha is mentioned in the unwritten Vedas/Mahabharata etc.

[@adityaguru6654]

Where can I find the most authentic version of Pali Canon with Hindi translation? Also, are the Jataka stories part of the Pali canon?

[@DougsDharma]

I don't know about a Hindi translation. The Jātakas are part of the Khuddaka Nikāya, a miscellaneous basket of texts. Many (but not all) of these texts are considered late, post-dating the Buddha's life.

[@adityaguru6654]

@@DougsDharma What about the most authentic English translation?

[@DanielRivera-lg8wn]

Can I buy the Pali canon book somewhere?

[@DougsDharma]

Well it's several books. I have the principal ones listed in the show notes.

[@babyshakya3707]

Can you please come to Canada for teaching Buddhism here.. We can sponsor for you

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks for the offer, I love Canada but am not sure I can leave my home here just now! 🙏

[@andregonzalez1496]

Thank you so much Doug 💓 💖 💗 🙏 🙏🙏🙏💐💐💐💐🥥🥥🥥🥥

[@frigginryusseraphim]

appreciate ur content, i am.

[@DougsDharma]

Thank you very much Poomnipit! 🙏🙂

[@vishalbansode4898]

Pāli seems closely related to the Old Indo-Aryan Vedic and Sanskrit dialects but is apparently not directly descended from either of these.

[@joshgraham4399]

traditionally the vipassana teaching is free, ( we live in a different society ) which is what the buddha practised to reach his enlightenment and what he taught. It is still free, world wide with food and bed although they accept donations ( I cant imagine them doing it without accepting donations ).

[@DougsDharma]

I've done a video on this topic which you can find here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYq3ZoyjopKthac

[@joshgraham4399]

@@DougsDharma Fair play, just watched the video and I agree! You have a very calm soft voice by the way, have you ever thought about doing guided meditations ? I subscribed 😊

[@DougsDharma]

@@joshgraham4399 Thanks! I might eventually, we'll see. 🙂

[@surraiyasiddiqui2185]

Can you please describe if Buddhist texts can be categorised as scriptures.

[@DougsDharma]

Sure, they can be described that way.

[@sahadevindlia8832]

Sir, if you are claiming something please provide evidence for the same : 1) How pali is a dialect of sanskrit 2) how veda came before buddha

[@DougsDharma]

These are and have been both firm consensus opinions within the academy for centuries. The Buddha himself mentions the Vedas in the suttas for example, and they were composed in Vedic Sanskrit.

[@sahadevindlia8832]

@@DougsDharma Thanks for the information sir, correct me if I am wrong but there is no archaeological evidence found that sanskrit or vedas existed before buddha everything that is found is either in pali (dhamm lipi) or mixture of sanskrit and pali (approx not before 2 AD) but not a single inscription was found written only in sanskrit.

[@santiagokaderian544]

I've seen news about the XIX and XX centuries discoveries about texts, Does this change something about interpretations?

[@DougsDharma]

I'm not sure which news you're referring to Santiago.

[@chepep0n]

In the end most of the "Why" end up to be irrelevant. The Dharma was written and that's what counts.

[@DougsDharma]

Sure, but history is also interesting for its own sake, and particularly if we want to figure out how the dhamma that we have today actually might have developed.

[@binoybhusanari1703]

My dear Doug sir, how many people have you motivated in Buddhism?

[@DougsDharma]

I have no idea! It would be very hard to say for sure.

[@amityadav-lt5bc]

May I know, how you concluded that Sanskrit is the older language and Pali is a part of it and not the other way around?

[@DougsDharma]

This is not in question among linguists and scholars of language. To take one example, Vedic Sanskrit is centuries older than Pāli.

[@amityadav-lt5bc]

@@DougsDharma understood, but one should be able to verify the claims of scholars, right?

[@amityadav-lt5bc]

@@DougsDharma hello? I asked for an explanation on the existing understanding/belief. Saying scholars and linguists believe that is not an answer. Give me 2, 3 solid points which confirms sanskrit being older.

[@amityadav-lt5bc]

@@AnandPratapSingh-pk6lc time travel is not possible, not in the past for sure. Apne Narad ko bol ke pta laga le tu. Science reasoning aur evidence se chalta h, khayali khaniyon se nhin. Vishnu ko bol phir se paida ho ke saari kahani clear kar de 😂

[@ximalpopoca735]

Dough, I've a simple question: Why do some scholars call Siddhartha 'The Buddha" and not just Buddha? Like Jeshua is called Christ and not "The Christ". Of course, I understand that there were other Buddhas before Siddhartha just like there were other Christs before Jeshua (or Jesus).

[@DougsDharma]

Well I think in a funny way the use of the definite article cuts against the idea of there having been other Buddhas. Gotama is "the" Buddha. That said, I would imagine it's interpreted as meaning he is "the" Buddha of our age.

[@ximalpopoca735]

@@DougsDharma Oh, Ok! Thanks 😊

[@ximalpopoca735]

@Buddhist Beast Very interesting, 👍

[@liffyruben5929]

Please everyone send me good wishes because I’m suffering intensely

[@DougsDharma]

Very sorry to hear it Liffy! I hope you get better soon. 🙏

[@goingrichfkc]

Best wishes to you

[@GH-kx8gl]

I wish u to become happy !

[@andrewtom8407]

Om mani padme hum, Om mani padme hum, Om mani padme hum, ...

[@QuyNguyen-lm1gq]

Please present Buddhist viewpoint on some social ploblems such as LGBT , same sex marriage ,euthenasia , etc. Thank you .

[@DougsDharma]

I have done a video on euthanasia recently: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2eVi5qMjKaBsJY . LGBT and same-sex marriage were not topics that were discussed in the early texts, so likely they didn't matter to the Buddha.

[@andrewtom8407]

One of the many very important ideas that Sakamuni Buddha presented was "all living beings are equal", and that we should treat others no different from treating ourselves. This pretty much concludes His view on everything including LGBT and same sex marriage, LGBT and same sex marriages are not problems. The intolerance, fear of, and discrimination of certain population against others who are different from them is the root problem.

[@hemanthajayasundera7363]

“A history of Pali literature” Foreword by Wilhelm D Geiger. (You can download a pdf version) The above publication was the effort of a large team of researchers. Their conclusion is completely different from what you say. It concludes that Pali was brought to India from Ceylon. It says that it is a pure invention of the theras of Ceylon, if not exactly that of “Buddhagosa. “Sanskrit is of latter origin. “There are no foreign elements in Pali.” Please download this research and study it. You will understand that Pali did not originate in India and was never used there.

[@MouYijian]

This video is very interesting, but Pali is NOT a dialect of Sanskrit! Both are Indo-Aryan languages but are better described as sister or cousin languages. Phonetically and grammatically, Sanskrit is incredibly conservative compared to Proto-Indoeuropean, while Pali is much more innovative - and in a sense, 'simpler' than Sanskrit - as long as declensions and conjugations are concerned, though I would not call it 'easier' than Sanskrit. The extremely close kinship between Pali and Sanskrit made it very easy to translate the earliest scriptures into Sanskrit, and that is why many sutras were preserved in Sanskrit, though Sanskrit never really was a lithurgical language for Buddhism.

[@ayethant02331chaungu]

🌍🌎🌏🌐🗺🏔⛰

[@Queenie-the-genie]

Maybe starting over would help. India seems be a completely male dominated place. Was it different back in the days before recorded history, possibly within smaller, more shamanic influences that were not male dominated? I wonder if this domination is the reason that - despite the existance of many great teachings and practices, India remains an unenlightened place - still male dominated and stricken with extreme poverty and presently under the rule of a fascist dictator - the effects of climate change looming? Perhaps, because of the male domination of literally everything on the planet - India has made no progress spiritually and the planet is in severe crisis. Could the nature of hierarchical male domination and the exclusion of women in the dialogue be contributing to this sad state of affairs? Perhaps our dear mother earth is sick and tired of it. This male domination can only be so successful beginning with the application of brute force. Of course India is only one country. The entire planet suffers from make domination. an asthma

[@DougsDharma]

Yes I’m afraid the problem is pretty universal Kathleen, like so many human problems.

[@jacksynmajor8764]

If you're going to refer to the Pali translation the term Dhamma is used, not dharma. Dharma is the sanskrit version.

[@DougsDharma]

Dharma is an English term, which is why I use it.

[@thinlo1679]

I am doubtful what you said.

[@haovan5273]

what he said based on the scholarly consensus which based on many anthropology and sociology. If you're doubtful, you also need to base on something for your doubt.

[@dara_1989]

1:00 pali is a dialect of prakrit . sanskrit is a non spoken language i.e. it is d language of d books . used to write scriptures .

[@thinlo1679]

Are you doubt about Pali Canon?

[@DougsDharma]

How do you mean?

[@bondgirl3396]

Pali is older than Sanskrit

[@Athato_Brahmajijnasa]

Not true

[@greylitz7547]

Quite insulting writing Buddha's teachings.

[@DougsDharma]

How so?

[@greylitz7547]

@@DougsDharma I mean we can judge someone like 'Budhha' it's not something that's going to forgotten or something... sooner or later people start seeking for it by themselves because it's not intended or imagination It is what we even see today.

[@jyungsam]

another misinformation 😏 pali isnt a part of Sanskrit

[@sumankharate8990]

thank you

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure 🙏