The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya by Bhikkhu Bodhi

The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya Reviews

• 
  Craig Shoemake

  I think Bhikkhu Bodhi read and considered every criticism levelled at his previous offering, The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, and determined to make darn sure he didn't have to hear those criticisms again. The result of his enterprise is an extremely detailed and careful treatment of the second largest collection in the Sutta Pitaka, the Samyutta Nikaya. For this review I'll first discuss briefly the place of the SN in Pali literature, and then give an overview of how BB has treated it.
  
  Along with the Digha, Majjhima, Anguttara and parts of the Khuddhaka Nikayas, the Samyutta Nikaya comes from the oldest strand of Buddhist texts, and is thus critical if one wants to have any hope of determining what the historical Buddha actually taught. It got its name from the fact that its various parts (called vaggas) are made up of suttas that tie directly to one another in terms of their format (the particular pattern or "template" they display) and subject matter. The resulting vaggas are characterized by their focus on, for example, verse sayings, or discourses on dependent arising, the aggregates, the sense bases, the eightfold path, or some other critical doctrinal point. There are also sections devoted to talks by and with certain individuals, famous and not so famous, such as Anuruddha or Channa or Samandaka.
  
  The Samyutta Nikaya is thus at once very heterogeneous in the range of topics it covers, but also much more systematically organized than, say, the Majjhima or Digha Nikayas, where subject matter takes a back seat to other concerns. This makes it very easy to locate suttas on specific issues one is interested in, but it also has the effect of making many of the suttas sound monotonously similar, to the point where it's often tempting to skip ahead upon encountering--for the umpteenth time--the same iteration of terms one just read through a few pages back. As a result, BB has had to do a lot of condensing and made extensive use of ellipses, and indeed, because the suttas seem to bleed into and repeat one another, the tradition itself does not have a solid count of how many individual suttas make up the nikaya. The consensus seems to be around 2,900, give or take a couple dozen.
  
  As noted, BB's translation is thorough. To give you an idea how thorough, I counted about 480 pages of endnotes! Now many of these are of interest only to philologists, but many more add significantly to the text in the form of traditional commentarial materials, as well as BB's own insights into the text. He also is careful to note which sources he is using, as the various redactions from Burma, Sri Lanka or the PTS don't always agree with one another. This is something he was specifically criticized for not doing on the Majjhima Nikaya, so I think scholars in the audience will have fewer bones to pick this time around. In addition to the general introduction, each vagga also gets its own intro, where its particular themes are further discussed; I especially found his intro to the Khandhavagga illuminating. All in all Bhikkhu Bodhi has put an enormous amount of effort into this project and I'm starting to think that Buddhists all over the world owe him a medal or something.
  
  Regarding the text proper: as I've said with previous reviews of translations, I am not a Pali scholar so am not in a position to critique him on specific word choices--except, perhaps, important doctrinal terms. In most cases his translations of such terms are quite standard and unexpected, though I was pleasantly surprised by his rendering of sakkaya not by the traditional "personality," but as "identity." I think this is an improvement and brings increased clarity and accuracy to important terms like sakkayanirodha or sakkayaditthi. The text, as a whole, is highly readable, beautifully presented, and does the best it can with the already noted copious repetitions. Any translator of Pali has to deal with this issue and there are only so many ways of doing it. I think BB has respected the text's integrity by preserving what needed to be preserved, by artful use of ellipses, and by leaving enough so one can reconstruct any particular passage from the clues on hand. And yet, we still have two weighty volumes!
  
  
• 
  robin friedman

  The Samyutta Nikaya
  
  The Samyutta Nikaya -- Connected Discourses of the Buddha -- is an integral work of the Pali Canon of Buddhism, the Scripture of Theravada Buddhism. This work is also considered canonical by later schools of Buddhism. The Connected Discourses is a lengthy, difficult work which focuses on philosophical teachings and on meditation practice. It was probably written for advanced students unlike its companion volumes, the Mid-Length Discourses, (Majhima Nikaya) and the Long-Length Discourses (Digha Nikaya) also available in translation from Wisdom Publications.
  
  This work has been lucidly and beautifully translated by the American scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi who also edited the Majhima. Students of Buddhism are forever in his debt. The Connected Discourses consists of five separate, lengthy books, each of which, except for the first book, concentrates on a specific aspect of the Buddha's teachings. All the teachings in the book center upon understanding of the four noble truths. Each book is arranged in chapters with the suttas generally, but not always, presented in groups of ten. The suttas are generally short and dense and lack the quality of story-telling found in the Long and Middle Discourses. Bikkhu Bodhi has laboriously translated the text and prepared a general introduction to the entire book and an introduction to each of the five parts. There are extensive footnotes, some of which are for the specialist and some of which are for the general reader, which draw in many cases upon the ancient commentaries to the text, together with a concordance and a bibliography. It is an inspiration to have this volume available for study.
  
  There are many famous discourses in this collection, and I will mention some briefly. The first book of the Connected Discourses consists of verses spoken by an interlocutor of the Buddha, frequently a deva or other supernatural being, and the Buddha himself. These cover a range of subjects. Probably the best-known Sutta in this part is the Sutta of Rahitassa, 2:26, in which the Buddha teaches that the end of the world can never be reached by walking but can only be understood through reflection on "this fathom-high carcass endowed with perception and mind." Bikkhu Bodhi comments on this sutta that it "may well be the most profound proposition in the history of human thought."
  
  The second book of the Connected Discourses deals in detail with the difficult doctrine of Dependent Origination which is basic to understanding the four noble truths and to the doctrines of non-self and impermanence. Sutta 12:23, sometimes titled "Transcendental Dependent Origination", is an important part of this collection which adds a component to the doctrine not found elsewhere in the texts. It applies the teachings of Dependent Origination to the pursuit of enlightenment itself rather than only to the explanation of why people ordinarily remain emeshed in a web of delusion and ignorance. This is a profound and important teaching.
  
  The third book of the Connected Discourses includes teachings on the five aggregates (form, feeling, perceptions, volitional formations, consciousness) which are the components of sentient existence. The Buddha presents an understanding of the aggregates as necessary to an understanding of the path of liberation. One of the three earliest "cardinal discourses of the Buddha" delivered just after his Enlightenment is included in this book, at 22:59 which includes the Buddha's first exposition of the doctrine of nonself.
  
  The fourth book deals with the nature of the six sense bases (sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell, consciousness) which are the means through which people understand physical reality. This book includes another of the three cardinal discourses, the famous fire sermon, 35:28, which shows how people are emeshed in sense and need reflection and the Buddha's teachings for awakening.
  
  The final book is the longest of the collection and discusses the path to liberation. It culminates in a discussion of the four noble truths and also includes lengthy treatments of meditation the seven factors of enlightenment, the role of faith in Buddhism, and practices for laymen. This book includes the earliest of the Buddha's teachings delivered to his five original disciples, 56:11, in which the Buddha explained the four noble truths and turned the wheel of Dhamma to make the principles of enlightenment known to the world.
  
  This is an inexhaustible and difficult collection that requires patience and reflection to read. It probably is not suitable for the beginning student of Buddhism because of its spare, philosophical character and because of its length and manner of exposition, which new readers will find hard to follow. The book is not for casual reading but will appeal to those wanting to deepen their understanding of Buddhism's basic teachings and to develop their own practice. As with the suttas as a whole, the book is less an exposition of doctrine than a means for reflection. It is a gift to have these teachings available in English in Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation and guide.
  
  Robin Friedman
• 
  Enrica Garzilli

  "Which do you think, disciples, is more: the water that is in the four oceans or the tears that have flowed and that you shed while on the long journey you were wandering from existence to existence, lamenting and crying because you could enjoy what you hated and did not have what you loved?"
  
  This passage is from the Samyutta Nikaya, one of the first Buddhist texts we were made to read in college. This is actually in Pali, while we read it in Sanskrit (retranslated? Maybe). Yesterday I picked up the book again, in fact it sort of jumped into my hands, leaving me with swarms of dust. So many good memories.
  
  The "Discourses in Groups" is the third of the five Nikayas, or collections, of the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "Three Pillars" that make up the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism, the Buddhist canon in Pali. It was definitely composed before Christ.
  
  When I read it I was so interested in the big questions and wise answers of life. This was perfect, easy and full of good advice. I was a teenager when I started college so it was good enough for me. For those approaching this religion is a great book, light, fresh, non-technical, a typical early Buddhist text. I recommend it both to those who know about Buddhism and those who simply want to find some good guidelines for life.
  
  Now I live more for the day. I haven't asked myself any big questions for a long time, maybe because I'm not interested in the answers, I don't know. I live in a light and bright, cheerful dimension. I would say childlike - or childish, depending on how you want to look at it. Because you know, it takes many years to become young.
  
  But if you want to read an early, easy Buddhist text, that's the one.
• 
  Steve Kemp

  Outstanding , Bhikkhu Bodhi does a superb job at translating these Discourses .
• 
  Antti

  Incredible how the basis of mindfulness and much more was founded already way before the common era... And in what scope of width and depth! Humbles the reader century after century. 🙏🏻
• 
  Brother

  Repetition is NOT the mother of learning, but IS the father of falling asleep while reading. Bhikkhu Bodhi does his best to remove redundancies but......
• 
  Steve

  Some great stuff here.
• 
  Michael

  This is one of the four best books ever.
  The other three books are: The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha, and the Long Discourses of the Buddha. The Connected Discourses, Middle Length, and Numerical were all translated by Bhante Bhikkhu Bodhi. The Long Discourses was translated by Maurice Walshe. There are other translations of some or all of the contents of these books. Notable are the translations of Bhante Thanissaro Bhikkhu which are available in print and via the Internet from accesstoinsight.org.
  
  I have read the Connected Discourses and the other three books many times. The last few times I read these books on Kindle and wrote short annotations that I can read the next time around to deepen my understanding.
  
  Now I have begun reading the Middle Length Discourses again.
  
  The best books ever.
• 
  Bilgehan

  “A tangle inside, a tangle outside,
  This generation is entangled in a tangle.
  I ask you this, O Gotama,
  Who can disentangle this tangle?”
  
  “A man established on virtue, wise,
  Developing the mind and wisdom,
  A bhikkhu ardent and discreet:
  He can disentangle this tangle.
  
  “Those for whom lust and hatred
  Along with ignorance have been expunged,
  The arahants with taints destroyed:
  For them the tangle is disentangled.
  
  “Where name-and-form ceases,
  Stops without remainder,
  And also impingement and perception of form:
  It is here this tangle is cut.”
• 
  Sparrow Knight

  Basic reference, refer to it on a regular basis.