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I found a quote but I don't know where it comes from and I'm wondering if someone can tell me. The quote is by the Buddha and goes: "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." I also had another question. I have been looking for Buddhist texts to read but I only wanted to read the words of the Buddha himself. Can someone possibly make a list or show me a webpage that lists the texts that are words from only the Buddha? I have the Dhammapada which I really love and I would like to find something similar.

Hi JMflash I found a web site of parallel sayings Jesus and Buddha

http://www.heartlandsangha.org/parallel-sayings.html

Paula~
Thank you for the website link. There are many good sites, like this one.
I use a meta-search engine, which links with a myriad of others to find what you seek: http://www.dogpile.com You only have to type in a few words from a mantra, name of a Sutra, (or just Buddha) to get a whole range of relevant sites.
Jmflash asked me for the translation of my 'signature' mantras (which I provided), but will put them here as well. The first may be familiar to many as the classic one used by Tibetans, to reverence/invoke the Buddha of Compassion: Om Mani Padme Hum. This is simplistically translated as 'Behold!(Hail!) to the Jewel in the Lotus'.
The second is the Prajna Paramita mantra from the Empty Heart/Heart of Great Wisdom Sutra. Translated: 'Go, go, go beyond, go far beyond - awaken - Hail!'

Love & Light,
Makera

Hello JMFlash,

For example, Sutras (or Suttas – in Pali) are considered to include Buddha’s or/and his close students’ words.
But, actually, there’s one little problem with them. The matter is that in the days of Buddha (Sakyamuni) there was a verbal teachings transmission only, and all the texts were written much later. So, to be exact, there is no possibility to know what Buddha really said. Though, various schools have their own arguments regarding the reliability of the sources – and sometimes quite intricate ones!

But, nevertheless, as for the texts, there are a number of groups of them – and different schools were forming paying the most attention to the one or another group and drawing their own classifications.
Unfortunately, I can’t now list some concrete English publications or put here some links. But maybe following information will help you to find something in the Internet or at the library.

Theravada Buddhism is based on the Tipitaka, Pali Canon (there’s also Tripitaka – Sanskrit translation of that) that contains a lot of Suttas. Almost all the Canon was translated in English by the English “Pali Text Society” established in 19th c. by Rhys-Davids. Isaline Blew Horner, one of the presidents of that Society in 20th c., translated many texts. I’ll outline the base structure of the Tipitaka in order that it will be easer to find something you’d like to.

I. Vinaya-pitaka which consists of three parts and contains rules and prescriptions for the monk community and various stories that illustrate those rules (including some stories from Buddha's life).
II. Sutta-pitaka – the collection of Suttas themselves.
(1) Digha-nikaya – outlines the heart of one or another aspect of teaching; the most famous sutta here is Mahaparinibbana sutta, about the last days of the Buddha. Probably, the words you mentioned are from there but I may be wrong.
(2) Majjhima-nikaya – main religious principles;
(3) Samyutta-nikaya – includes, amongst all the other, Dhamma cakka ppavartana sutta about the Dhamma Wheel setting in motion, the first Buddha’s sermon about well-known “Four Noble Truths”, etc.;
(4) Anguttara-nikaya (it contains about 2300 suttas!)
(5) Khuddaka-nikaya which includes such sections as
- Khudakha-patha – the famous 10 main prescriptions are mentioned here;
- Udana – the collection of lyrics ascribed to Buddha;
- Buddhavasana – curriculum vitae of Sakyamuni Buddha and ones of the 24 preceding Buddhas;
- Thera-gatha and Theri-gatha – these ones are ascribed to the Buddha’s close students;
- Dhammapada – you’re already familiar with this part;
- Sutta-nipata – ethic aspects of the teachings;
- Jatakas – stories about previous lives of Buddha Sakyamuni;
III. Abhidhamma-pitaka – basics of psychology and philosophy. It consists of the seven parts.

In Mahayana Buddhism there are its own versions of the Tripitaka texts and also a great variety of specific Mahayana Sutras. They are known from Sanskrit originals and, for the most part, from Tibetan and Chinese translations.
I prefer the following classification:

I. Sutras of the “theoretical” character:
(1) Ones of the prajna-paramita (“great wisdom”) group which form the basis of Madhyamaka school and relate to the teachings on the emptiness and insubstantiality of all the dharmas. The following ones are the main:
- Astasahasrika prajna-paramita sutra (Sutra of 80 Thousands Verses) and its more detailed variations – main ideas, structure features and terminology of this kind of literature;
- Vajracchedika prajna-paramita sutra (“Diamond Sutra”) – it’s very well known one;
- Prajna-paramita hridaya sutra (Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra) – the essence of those teachings;
(2) Sutras representing the same ideas but stating them in quite different way (without the paradoxes which are the characteristic features of prajna-paramita sutras):
- Vimalakirti nirdesa sutra;
- Samadhi raja sutra (Samadhi King Sutra);
(3) Sutras mirroring the “only mind” or “only consciousness” teachings that are the core of Vijnanavada (Yogachara) school:
- Sandhinirmocana sutra (Sutra of Untying of the Most Profound Secret Knot – approx.) – teachings on the “three Dharma wheel turnings” and on the “fact” that all of the three worlds are the mind/consciousness only;
- Lankavatara sutra (Sutra on Coming to Lanka – appr.); it contains, above all, the explanations on Tathagatagarbha, doctrine according to which the true nature of all the beings is the buddha nature; this sutra was also one of great importance for forming Chinese/Japanese Ch’an/Zen school;
(4) Sutras on the Tathagatagarbha itself:
- Mahayana version of the Mahaparinirvana sutra;
- Srimaladevi simhananda sutra (Srimala Queen’s Lion’s Roaring Sutra);
- Tathagatagarbha sutra;
- Gandavjuha sutra (Flower Garland Sutra);
II. Doctrinal sutras – ones about the Bodhisattva way and so on.
Saddharma pundarica sutra (“Lotus Sutra” or “The ‘Good’ Dharma Lotus Sutra”) and Dasabhumika sutra (Sutra on the 10 Stages <of the Bodhisattva’s path>) can be mentioned here.
III. Sutras of the “worship” character which talk about various extraordinary faculties of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, about all kinds of worlds, etc. It’s, for example, Sukhavati-vjuha sutra (Sutra on the appearance of the Land of Bliss), where Buddha Amitabha and his Pure Land are spoken about.

Yours,
Helven
P.S. I think there are English translations of all the above-mentioned Mahayana Sutras (at least of some fragments) and it’s possible to find references to them in the buddhological literature. I’ll run through my catalogue and if there will be some information I’ll post it here.

Excellent and comprehensive detailing of information, Helven ! Ask and you shall receive, eh JM ? Very interesting, as well !

~ Lizzytysh

Wow, Helven! That is so thoughtfully detailed and scholarly!
Ditto, Liz (isn't she a wonder!).

Love,
Makera

Helven, thank you very much. That must have taken a long time to write which I very much appreciate. I guess I will get started now trying to read some of these texts. I already read the Dhammapada which I said before, also I have the full Jataka and the Diamond and Heart Sutra. Some of my confusion regarding this matter is that these books I have read have all had such different qualities that they didn't seem like they were said by the same person. I loved the Dhammapada so much but the Jataka has been a bit disappointing. I was also curious if you know where the 'tiger and the strawberry' story comes from. I saw a childrens' book that said the story was told by the Buddha himself. Yet I figured it would be in the Jataka but I have not seen it. Makera thanks for the quotes, my Heart Sutra has the translation as: "Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, O what an awakening, all hail!"

Helven,

Thank you for the imput! I have to say you have the most astonishing command of the English language. You "speak" it like a native, including all the idioms. One would never know you were Russian. In fact your English is on a par with Makera's. A notable achievement indeed. Don't you think so, Makera?

This may be of some assistance in our understanding of Buddhism?

http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Clubs/buddhi ... a/main.htm

jmflash, I think this may be where you might have read it recently.


http://www.swans.com/library/art5/ga068.html

Juliette~
Thank you, Juliette . I appreciate the compliment, although I am far from perfect (as I'm sure Helven would have noticed, she can put me to shame! ). For example, on a brief proofreading of previous posts, I discovered I had an unconscious habit of misspelling 'speech' as 'speach'! . Upon self-analysis I realized my 'automatic pilot for 'language logic' (definitely an oxymoron) had influenced that repetition, i.e. why when 'speak' has 'ea', should 'speech' have 'ee'? . No doubt my errata are more extensive -- but I shall claim 'typo!' for those!

Now, I must check out all the interesting websites these thoughtful people have posted.

Love,
Makera

Oh, my dear friends thank you, thank you very much for the kind words!
And thanks for the links!

JMFlash, yes, I think Jataka stories seem to be not so inspirational. Actually, they are items of the folk arts. And there’s an opinion they were a kind of “psychotherapy” for the practitioners and used in such cases when someone experiencing emotional crisis needed to hear just some simple funny story, an anecdote, in order to relax and laugh. (It concerns the stories from Tipitaka which often had no connection with the Dhamma teachings; the Jatakas from later Mahayana “authoring” collections has different structure and look like rather moralizing stories illustrating one or another doctrinal or ethic statement.)
Unfortunately, I don’t know the source of the “strawberry” story. The only thing I know is that it’s very popular in the Zen tradition. But where did they get it…

Yours,
TH

Jmflash~
In keeping with the quote in your initial query, regarding only that which "agrees with your own reason and your own common sense", I offer the following analysis for consideration.
The alternate translation, of the Prajna Paramita mantra you quoted, appears incongruous - does it not?. That is, the change to past tense would seem to render the purpose contradictory. For example, if it has already been achieved -- instead of exhorting the heart/soul (infusing the unconscious) to attain it -- what need for the mantra?

The main obstacle to studying spiritual writings from ancient sources (dead languages) is finding truly faithful and accurate translations. I have also found it best to let your intuitive sense and/or 'common sense' guide you. If what you truly seek is Truth, that is what you will draw to yourself.

Love,
Makera

A further note, for clarification:
In the Sanskrit - English dictionaries, that can be found online, the variations in definitions are quite extensive (and naturally dependant upon context). The variations on "gata"('gate'), for instance, include: 'come, come forth from, come to'; also 'going, motion, manner of going'.
Nuances and associations intrinsic to a particular language need to be 'factored in' when translated from one to another. That's why translation is considered an 'art' rather than a 'science'.

Perhaps this could explain, in some degree, the apparent discrepancies and/or different 'tone' between the various writings you mentioned - different translators?

~Makera

PS. Jmflash ~ e.g. just ask Helven what happens to Pushkin when translated into English - or - Leonard Cohen into Russian!!

~Makera