Theravada

The renowned Sri Lankan scholar Y. Karunadasa examines Abhidhamma perspectives on the nature of phenomenal existence. He begins by discussing dhamma theory, which describes the bare phenomena that form the world of experience. He then explains the Abhidhamma view that only dhammas are real and that anything other than these basic phenomena are conceptual constructs. This, he argues, is Abhidhamma’s answer to common-sense realism—the mistaken view that the world as it appears to us is ultimately real.

Among the other topics discussed are

This book brings together several of Professor Toshiichi Endo’s previously published articles on the Buddha-concept in the Pāli Commentaries. Overall, it deals with two spiritual powers of the Buddha: the knowledge power (ñāṇabala) and the physical power (kāya-bala).

Ven. Sāriputta’s Paṭisambhidāmagga and some parts of Pāḷi literature as a whole contain a list and analyses of five types of morality that throw into relief aspects of the moral life that range from an ethical practice that needs to be improved upon and is limited via those forms that catalyze progress on the Buddhist path toward liberation to a form that constitutes full moral blossoming.

This text of Kaccāyana's Pāli grammar is intended to be used as a companion to its English translation book. In fact, the study of English translation alone will be incomplete without its original grammar text in Pāli as both of them can only enhance each other in the form of a handy reference and a practical learning aid for all students. 

Bibliography:

Kaccayana Pali Grammar. Ed. Vol. 1.  A. Thitzana. Washington: Pariyatti Publishing, 2016. Print.

Keawkungwal, Sriruen. Therapeutic Approaches in Theravada Buddhism and Existentialism: A Comparison. Canada, Edmonton: University of Alberta. 1971.

This book presents a comprehensive study of the Abhayagiri Fraternity of ancient Sri Lanka, with a special reference to its new Buddhist practices and trends, which made a great contribution to the development of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It involves a consideration of both primary and secondary literary sources, and also takes into account archaeological findings, epigraphic material and liturgical artifacts. It contains a detailed examination of how the Abhayagiri School adopted heterodoxy Buddhism of other Buddhist traditions apart from the orthodox Theravada teachings and practices.

Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind and Body Through Abhidhamma by Sayalay Susil. Abhidhamma is a Pali word , the language in which the Theravadin records of the teachings of the Buddha have been recorded. The word is composed of the two parts, ‘abhi’ meaning ‘higher’ or ‘greater’ and ‘dhamma’ which means ‘reality’ or ‘truth’ (it can be loosely translated as to mean ‘everything which is real’). The teachings of Abhidhamma may appear dull or complicated in daily life and meditation practices. Therefore it is largely ignored.

The Doctrine Of Paticcasamuppada By U Than Daing with the subtitle “The Law of Dependent Origination” is a guide for the yogi who seeks the path to end all suffering and for the English speaking reader an explanation of the various mental and physical phenomena we call personality. This work has a great insight to the Buddhist doctrines of Anatta, Non-Ego og Not-self (something only found in Buddhism and a very few temporary schools).

Early Buddhism borrowed two of its central terms from the workings of fire. Upadana, or clinging, originally referred to the fuel that kept fire burning; nibbana, the name of the goal, to a fire's going out. This is the first book to examine these terms from the perspective of how the early Buddhists themselves viewed fire--what they saw happening as a fire burned, and what happened to the fire when it went out--to show what light this perspective throws on Buddhist doctrine in general, and the practice of meditation in particular.

The Seventy Three Kinds of Knowledge describes at a glance the knowledges Buddhas and their disciples gain in the attainment of mundane and supramundane states. Since these knowledges are, as a Summary, very briefly stated, the present translation has explanatory notes in order to facilitate the reader understand them, at least intellectually, more easily. These explanations are based on the Pañisambhidà-magga, the Visuddhi-magga and their corresponding commentaries, and their references are clearly distinguished.

The body is thought to be most obviously “me,” what I regard as the most tangible part of myself. Around it therefore are constructed many views, all of them distorted to some extent, which prevent insight arising into the body as it really is. This book is a small anthology relating to the body in various ways, and presents material which, if contemplated by the earnest and sincere student of Dhamma, will eventually provide fruitful insight and, thereby, freedom from the many desires and fears centered on the body.

As Buddhist meditation becomes more popular, it is vital that clear and accurate guidance is available. For many years, there has been an unfortunate lack of thorough instruction in simple English on the deeper states of meditation called Jhanas. Even though the Jhanas are, perhaps, the theme most repeated by the Buddha in the Suttas, and in spite of the fact that the old teachers of the Thai forest tradition encouraged, preached and taught Jhanas, a description of their development is hard to come by. This ebook, then, serves to remedy this lack of practical information.

Clearing the Path is a work book. Its purpose is to help the user to acquire a point of view that is different from his customary frame of reference. Necessarily, an early step in accomplishing this change is the abandonment of specific mistaken notions about the Buddha’s Teaching and about the nature of experience.

The Seven Stages of Purification and The Insight Knowledges is a guide to the progressive states of Buddhist meditation by Matara Sri Nanarama. The seven stages of purification provide the framework for the practising disciple’s gradual progress from the cultivation of virtue up to the attainment of the final goal. Integral to the higher stages of purification are the nine types of insight-knowledge, by which the disciple breaks through the delusions covering his mental vision and penetrates through the the real nature of phenomena.

Samadhi for Liberation consists of short, advanced and personal instructions for medition by Ajahn Anan Akincano: “With the heart being at ease, there may be the feeling that our body expand. Our body becomes imbued with blissful feelings called piti, waves of joy and rapture rolling on to the shore. When piti is strong, we might experience the body becoming light, as if it was floating up in the air. The body is light, the mind is light, still and peaceful. If these experiences in meditation come up for just for a few moments, they are called khanika-samadhi, momentary concentration.

The Perfections Leading to Enlightenment by Sujin Boriharnwanaket is a 200 page guide to The Ten Perfections, paramís, are most important as conditions for the complete eradication of defilements. Sujin Boriharnwanaket writes that all should study the paramís, understand their significance and further develop them:

In this booklet five practising Buddhists, all with modern backgrounds, offer their reflections on the significance of karma and its relation to ethics, spiritual practice, and philosophical understanding. The contributers include: Nyanaponika Thera, Bhikkhu Nanajivako, Francis Story, Nina Van Gorkom, and Leonard Bullen.

The idea of nirvaṇa (Pāli: nibbāna) is alluring but elusive for nonspecialists and specialists alike. Offering his own interpretation of key texts, Steven Collins explains the idea in a new, accessible way – as a concept, as an image (metaphor) and as an element in the process of narrating both linear and cyclical time. Exploring nirvana from literary and philosophical perspectives, he argues that it has a specific role: to provide ‘the sense of an ending’ in both the systematic and the narrative thought of the Pāli imaginaire.

Buddhaghosa. The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga. tr. By Nyanamoli. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 2010. PDF, <http://www.bps.lk>

There is another scanned image edition, you can get it here: http://elibrary.ibc.ac.th/node/218

The idea of nirvana (Pali: nibbana) is alluring but elusive for non-specialists and specialists alike. Offering his own interpretation of key texts, Steven Collins explains the idea in a new, accessible way - as a concept, as an image (metaphor) and as an element in the process of narrating both linear and cyclical time. Exploring nirvana from literary and philosophical perspectives, he argues that it has a specific role: to provide `the sense of an ending' in both the systematic and the narrative thought of the Pali imaginaire.

Weber's claim that Buddhism is an otherworldly religion is only partially true. Early sources indicate that the Buddha was sometimes diverted from supramundane interests to dwell on a variety of politically-related matters. The significance of Asoka Maurya as a paradigm for later traditions of Buddhist kingship is also well-attested. However, there has been little scholarly effort to integrate findings on the extent to which Buddhism interacted with the political order in the classical and modern states of Theravada Asia into a wider, comparative study.

Dr. Endo's primary task, as he states, is to present the data and information embodied in the Pali Atthakatha concerning the Buddha-concept as much and as systematically as possible. He begins with a brief examination of the Buddha-concept found in the pre-commentarial literature as a prelude to his main themes both of the Buddha-concept and the Bodhisatta concept from Chapter I onwards. Findings presented in his work clearly indicate that the Buddha-concept in the Atthakatha literature forms in itself an important and dynamic force to reckon with for the establishment of what we later regard as Theravada Buddhism reflected in the commentarial and subsequent literature.