Why is Pali Canon so huge?

Good observations.

Main points to consider:

1. There is no need to read the whole Tipitaka. The three main main sections (Pitaka) serve different purposes. 

• It is the Sutta Pitaka that needs laypeople’s attention the most.
• The Vinaya Pitaka is mainly for the bhikkhus. However, the background of the reason the Buddha established a given Vinaya rule can be informative. For example, the rule not to translate the Tipitaka into Sanskrit was based on a request by two Brahmins who were knowledgeable in the Vedas. See #13 of “Misinterpretation of Anicca and Anatta by Early European Scholars.” Furthermore, there are two books on Thergatha and Therigatha (verses by male and female Arahants) how they cultivated their paths and the concepts they struggled with, etc.
• The Abhidhamma Pitaka is for those who like to be thorough and want to “dig deeper.” Even then, it is not necessary (or even possible) to read all of it.

2.  Tipitaka cannot be read like reading a set of novels or even textbooks on various mundane subjects. One must (at least until the Sotapanna stage) rely on a Noble Person (Ariya) to explain the basic concepts.  

• First of all, most suttas are highly condensed. Even someone with a knowledge of Pali will not be able to grasp the concepts/ideas embedded in the suttas.
• It gets much worse if one tries to read the “word-by-word” English translations, as I have explained in many posts: “Elephant in the Room 1 – Direct Translation of the Tipiṭaka“ 

3. For example, I read comparatively little of the Pali Tipitaka in the first few years of this website’s existence. I mainly listened to the discourses by Waharaka Thero and a few others on the internet.

• Shortly after Waharaka Thero‘s passing, I started allocating significant time to reading relevant suttas in the Pali Tipitaka.
• Both the English and Sinhala translations of the Tipitaka were useless for me.
• Of course, before coming into contact with Waharaka Thero‘s desanas, I had read both English and Sinhala translations (in my school days in the early years) and had many issues to resolve. The incorrect translations caused many inconsistencies.
• While in Sri Lanka, I learned Buddhism as a subject until high school, and I studied Abhidhamma and Pali on my own. Luckily, it is easier for those good in the Sinhala language to learn Pali; there are many common words (for example, all the terms in Paticca Samuppada are the same in Pali and Sinhala.) But all that stopped after high school until I retired in 2009. Only after retiring did I start looking into Buddha Dhamma again and was fortunate to come across Waharaka Thero‘s discourses on the internet. Of course, I had been in the USA for most of that time. 

I hope that will help clarify some questions. Please feel free to ask questions.

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taryal, Yash RS, Jittananto

In the first post in “Elephant in the Room 1 – Direct Translation of the Tipiṭaka,“ I have explained this issue by giving an example. 

• I see that I forgot to add that post to that section. I just now added it. 
• Here is that post: “Distortion of Pāli Keywords in Paṭicca Samuppāda.”
• Please read that post and ask questions on unclear bullet numbers.

No. Chanting suttas is not the way to learn. After learning the meanings embedded in those verses, one could chant them with understanding.

No, the Commentaries will not help either. First, one needs to sort out which Commentaries are reliable. For example, Visuddhimagga is not. I mentioned the reliable Commentaries included in the Tipitaka in those posts. However, even those cannot be understood without some basics.

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taryal

Yes. Even though Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote that book on Abhidhamma (a translation, as I pointed out), he may not fully believe that Abhidhamma is the “word of the Buddha.”

• It would be good if he gets to read that post and learn about that Tipitaka reference in the Vinaya Pitaka.  
• Again, thanks to TripleGemStudent for emailing me that reference.

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taryal

Many religious people say that “what the Buddha said makes sense, but he still is a human.”

I mean what type of critical thinking is that? To be very honest I never knew that people can be this dumb ( no offence by the way, I only feel pity for these people)

When I first encountered this Dhamma, I wanted to spread it to everyone.

I thought that this is so easy to understand. But I had to endure some really lethal bullets of ignorance and ego.

I sent some dhamma videos to  my  friend, she didn’t even open the link and said that “I am too busy right now, but I will definitely watch this later”. That day has never come.

So even though it’s possible that people may understand the Dhamma, they aren’t able to come across it!

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taryal

To be fair the pali canon has a lot of repetition.

Regards.

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Jittananto

1. Yes. Repetition is there, but it seems to serve different purposes. Sometimes, similar suttas can be found in different Nikayas, for example, in Samyutta Nikaya and Anguttara Nikaya. Before the Tipitaka was written down, it was transmitted orally over roughly 500 years. Groups of bhikkhus memorized different Nikayas. When a Buddhist Council (Sangayana) was held, they all recited the whole Tipitaka to ensure the overlapping parts were consistent. From another angle, repetition makes it easier to memorize, and repeated recitals with understanding make it easier to absorb the concepts. 

2. It is true that Buddha Dhamma is not a religion in the traditional sense. It is a worldview that shows the world’s working in great detail, showing how suffering arises and how one can be free of that suffering. The Buddha described that worldview in great detail in Abhidhamma. It is the Grand Unified Theory that Einstein pursued until his death, and scientists today are still pursuing it. But they will never get there by focusing on material phenomena. The fundamental unit of matter is not an atom or a quark but a suddhatthaka (a billion times smaller than an atom) created by the mind! See “The Origin of Matter – Suddhāṭṭhaka.” While scientists will still make more progress (in mundane ways, coming up with new gadgets, etc.), they will never be able to discover anything about the mind.

• I hope to live long enough to explain the Abhidhamma theory in English. Hopefully, that will pique the interest of more scientists and philosophers and eventually show the world how precious Buddha Dhamma is. I feel bad for all those bright minds wasting their time pursuing material phenomena. Human birth is rare. To be born human within a Buddha Sasana is even more rare. Most people do not know they are wasting an opportunity they may never again get for billions (may be trillions) of years.

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Yash RS, 4jhana, dosakkhayo, hojan, Jittananto

Yes. It does.

• The usage of the word “self” must be understood. 

The quoted sentence is in #13 of that post and is as follows:

“The question is not whether there is a “self” or not. Is it wise to think that it is worthwhile to have the perception of a “self” and do things only for the pleasure of the “self”? If born a dog, would it be the same self?  But if one does lowly deeds that a dog does (say defecating in public, having sex with children, etc.), one could be born a dog. The wrong perception of a “self” can lead to immoral actions and suffering in future lives. “

• I made that comment referring to an “unchanging self” (like a soul) in that sentence.
• If there is an “unchanging self” (like a soul), one cannot attain Nibbana, i.e., stop the rebirth process.
• Instead, a given “lifestream” gets a rebirth based on the type of (abhi)sankhara cultivated with avijja. When avijja is removed from a mind (with the comprehension of the Buddha’s worldview or the Four Noble Truths), that Paticca Samuppada process stops, i.e., no more “upadana paccaya bhava” and “bhava paccaya jati.”

P.S. I revised the above-quoted paragraph as follows to make it more clear:

“The question is not whether there is a “self” or not. Is it wise to think that it is worthwhile to have the perception of a “self” and do things only for the pleasure of the “self”? If born a dog, would that dog have the same “self”?  But if one does lowly deeds that a dog does (say defecating in public, having sex with children, etc.), one could be born a dog. The wrong perception of an “unchanging self” can lead to immoral actions and suffering in future lives.”

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Yash RS, taryal

Taryal asked: “Why didn’t they make it easier to understand though?”

• To explain things in one’s own words, one must understand the underlying concepts well.
• Instead, most current translators resort to translating Pali words to English (probably using dictionaries written by “scholars” who did not understand Buddha Dhamma.)

The Commentaries in the Tipitaka are helpful if one has such a good understanding. 

• There are English translations of the Tipitaka Commentaries. However, they are still not useful because the translator does not know the true meaning of a Pali word, per the context.
• For example, in some instances, “phassa” does not mean simple “contact” but “samphassa,” which means “defiled contact.” Yet, the translator does not know that. See, for example, “6. Analysis of Dependent Origination,” an English translation of the Commentary on Paticca Samuppada in Vibhanga Pakarana, a Tipitaka Commentary.  

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Yash RS, taryal