The Buddha’s Philosophy: Selections from the Pali Canon and an Introductory Essay, Volume 1

The main content is divided into two principal parts. Part One, “Introduction: Buddha and Dhamma,” provides the conceptual foundation of the book by discussing the Aryans, Brahmans, Brahma, Gotama Buddha, Nibbāna, anicca, kamma and rebirth, dukkha, the Four Truths, the Eightfold Path, the causal formula, the five khandhas, anattā, the three characteristics, Buddhist mental culture, the sublime states of mind, jhāna, satipaṭṭhāna, the muni, silence, truth as refuge, equanimity, peace here and now, the Pāli Canon, the Pāli language, the chronology of Pāli literature, stages in the development of Buddhism, the Sutta Nipāta, Buddhist councils, Vinaya materials, the four Āgamas, and the moralistic religious stage of early Buddhist transmission. Part Two, “The Teaching: Dhamma and Discipline,” presents selected translations from the Pāli Canon, including the Buddha’s First Discourse, the Second Discourse, early sections of the Sutta Nipāta, the Buddha’s code of morality, the primitive Pātimokkha, monastic rules, novice abstentions, the Five Precepts for lay Buddhists, an extract from the Brahmajāla Sutta, the Buddha’s last words, and essential doctrinal items of Buddhist teaching.