Pathfinder asked: “What were the Buddha’s actual words? Is the sutta central one just a condensed one, or does the link Jittanato sent have additional commentaries, with words not from the Buddha himself?”
1. The problem is that you focused on one of the deepest/most complex suttas.
- I don’t think any of those translators understand the meaning of those verses the Buddha delivered to Ven. Bahiya.
2. Even in the case of many other suttas, “word-by-word” translations cannot provide the embedded meaning. Such suttas need to be explained in detail.
- Most suttas are in the “very brief” (uddesa) or “brief” (niddesa) versions. They cannot be translated “word-by-word” but require detailed explanations.
- In the old days, bhikkhus would take a single verse or a few verses from a sutta like that and explain in detail in long verbal discourses.
- Please read “Sutta Interpretation – Uddēsa, Niddēsa, Paṭiniddēsa” and “Elephant in the Room 1 – Direct Translation of the Tipiṭaka“
3. There will come a time when there are no Ariyas (at or above the Sotapanna stage) who can explain Buddha’s teachings. That is the end of Buddha Gotama’s Buddha Sasana.
- All the books of the Tipitaka will be there, but no one to explain them.
- Then, the world must wait for another Buddha to be born to learn the teachings of a Buddha.
- That is why having a “kalyana mitta” to explain the fundamentals is a requirement to attain the Sotapanna stage: “Four Conditions for Attaining Sotāpanna Magga/Phala“
4. People who visit this website have wide-varying backgrounds. I do not know each person’s background enough to recommend specific posts/sections. One needs to scan through various sections. The following sections discuss fundamental concepts:
- “Three Levels of Practice“
- “Living Dhamma“
- “Key Dhamma Concepts“
- Also, I have discussed in detail some suttas: “Sutta Interpretations.”
5. Hopefully, this will also help clarify some of the questions you asked in other threads.
- Please select a few posts from those sections (or any other section) and start asking questions from them if things are not clear. That is probably a good way to clarify issues.