Tagged: Sutta-piṭaka
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Bucknell - The Buddhist Path to Liberation (1984)
1In his analysis, Rod Bucknell argues that the Noble Eightfold Path is an incomplete representation of the Buddhist course to liberation, as it omits the crucial final stages of "right insight" (sammā-ñāṇa) and "right liberation" (sammā-vimutti). By comparing the Eightfold Path with four other, similar lists of stages found in the Tipiṭaka, including a more comprehensive "tenfold path," he demonstrates that they all describe a consistent, sequential practice where morality (sīla) and concentration (samādhi) are followed by the development of insight. Bucknell refutes the common interpretation that insight is covered by "right view" (the first stage), positing that this is merely a preliminary understanding, whereas true liberating insight is an advanced practice undertaken only after mastering concentration. He concludes that the Eightfold Path is not the definitive summary of Gotama's teaching but one of many versions, and possibly a simplified one that omits the most advanced meditative stages.
Norman - Pāli Literature - A History Of Indian Literature (1983)
2K.R. Norman's *Pāli Literature* provides a comprehensive overview of the literary tradition of Theravāda Buddhism, also encompassing the canonical works of other Hīnayāna schools in Prakrit and Sanskrit. The literature is centered on the Pāli Canon or Tipiṭaka, which is divided into the Vinaya-piṭaka (monastic rules), the Sutta-piṭaka (discourses of the Buddha, organized into five nikāyas), and the Abhidhamma-piṭaka (systematic philosophical analysis). The text details the history of the Pāli language as a standardized Middle Indo-Aryan dialect, its transmission through oral reciters (bhānakas) and councils, and its eventual commitment to writing in Ceylon in the first century B.C. Beyond the canon, a vast post-canonical literature developed, including foundational commentaries (aṭṭhakathās) by figures like Buddhaghosa, sub-commentaries (ṭīkās), historical chronicles (vaṃsas) like the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, hermeneutical guides, poetry (kāvya), and grammatical works, which flourished not only in India and Ceylon but also in Burma and Thailand.