Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Is there a "Buddhist Bible"? We'll consider some key Buddhist texts, by analogy with the Old and New Testaments. What are they, and how do they relate to one another?
NB: This is not intended to be an exhaustive list! For example, I only barely touched the surface of the Mahāyāna Sūtras. For more examples and discussion, see (e.g.): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana_sutras
🧡 If you find this material useful, check out my Patreon page and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: patreon.com/dougsseculardharma
🧡 You can also make donations through: paypal.me/dougsdharma
📙 Check out my book, A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with a Foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
☸️ Free mini-course at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org.
🎙Check out my podcast with Jon Aaron, Diggin' the Dharma: digginthedharma.com
✅ Books mentioned:
Majjhima Nikāya trans. by Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi amzn.to/2hq5AyA
Dīgha Nikāya trans. by Walshe amzn.to/2zyIXyz
Aṅguttara Nikāya trans. by Bodhi amzn.to/2zxRRwb
Saṃyutta Nikāya trans. by Bodhi amzn.to/2Az96vb
Dhammapada trans. by Fronsdal amzn.to/2zx4Pdq
Sutta-Nipāta trans. by Bodhi amzn.to/2hqStx9
Questions of King Milinda trans. by Max Muller and Rhys Davids amzn.to/2hZyYZC
Udāna and Itivuttaka trans. by Ireland amzn.to/2yoW2ai
Therigatha trans. by Hallisey amzn.to/2i1cOWA
The Lotus Sutra: Revised Edition (BDK English Tripitaka) amzn.to/3vHP96R
Nagarjuna's Middle Way: Mulamadhyamakakarika trans. by Siderits and Katsura amzn.to/3PRX5JB
The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga trans. by Ñāṇamoli amzn.to/3JbVQRD
✅ Videos mentioned:
A Hidden Meaning Behind the Buddha's Second Sermon on Non-self — youtu.be/Ro0BV84dci4
Buddha's Fire Sermon and ... Our House Fire — youtu.be/dhTULnK8BWo
Unveiling "Skillful Means" in Buddhism: Early Developments — youtu.be/ZIyykKhN1Pk
Buddha Nature — youtu.be/9wc9LW31hFA
The Early History of the Bodhisattva Ideal — youtu.be/ECI_3ytgxcQ
Two Kinds of Buddhist Interdependence: Dependent Origination and Indra's Net — youtu.be/CQN7sVmckso
✅ Suttas mentioned:
suttacentral.net/dn1/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/dn16/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/mn10/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/mn22/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn56.11/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn22.59/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn35.28/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/an3.65/en/sujato
Webpage: dougsdharma.com
Facebook: facebook.com/onlinedharmainstitute
Mastodon: https://mindly.social/@dougsdharma
Instagram: instagram.com/dougsdharma
Threads: threads.net/@dougsdharma
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dougsdharma.bsky.social
Thumbnail images courtesy of vined mind and Ag Ku on Pixabay.
❤️ Thanks to Patreon Patrons:
Anonymous (3)
John Oborne
DunJing
Jimmy Maa
Debbie Mattison
Steve H.
Ron Peat
Michael S. Kearns
Anne
Matthew Smith
Shantha Wengappuli
Karma_CAC
Jorge Seguel
Christopher Apostolof
GailJM
David Bell
T Pham
VCR
Upayadhi
Andi and Erik
ATGuerrero686
Michael Scherrer
khobe schofield
Alex Perdomo
Benji Forsyth
Blaze Way
Sonny Flink
Steve Marlor
Joy L Lee
Andrew Tom
Anthony Tucker
Karlee R
Ethan M
Billy in Singapore
Olivia Otter
Carl Lennartson
xiao mao
Jeff Harvey
Andrew Ingrouille
Kenneth Grandchamp
Rene Gariepy
Russell Needham
Smoggyrob
Mac Roja
Bernardo
Clémence Ortega Douville
Kwan Alex
Scott Johnston
Richard J Beninger
Nathanael O. Arnquist
SaturnianMandala
Trin P
Letesa Isler
Dorien Izel
Robert Paterson
Jake Tobiason
Louvenia Ortega
Steve S.
Richard Rappuhn
Sarah Kress
John Aaron
Paul Niklewski
Kong Ing Kai
Dave Gorman
rhys reed
Osanda Wijeratne
Scarlett Farrow
BJ - RetreaTours™
Michael Lefsky
Matthieu Tregnier
Roland Harris
karen
Dr Ru
Rob
John
00:00 Intro
01:21 Buddhist “Old Testament”
22:45 Buddhist “New Testament”
30:06 Other key Buddhist texts
33:25 Later Buddhism, further material
35:59 Recommendations
Note: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are affiliate links where I will earn a very small commission on purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thank you!
Is there a "Buddhist Bible"? We'll consider some key Buddhist texts, by analogy with the Old and New Testaments. What are they, and how do they relate to one another?
NB: This is not intended to be an exhaustive list! For example, I only barely touched the surface of the Mahāyāna Sūtras. For more examples and discussion, see (e.g.): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana_sutras
🧡 If you find this material useful, check out my Patreon page and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: patreon.com/dougsseculardharma
🧡 You can also make donations through: paypal.me/dougsdharma
📙 Check out my book, A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with a Foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook
☸️ Free mini-course at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org.
🎙Check out my podcast with Jon Aaron, Diggin' the Dharma: digginthedharma.com
✅ Books mentioned:
Majjhima Nikāya trans. by Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi amzn.to/2hq5AyA
Dīgha Nikāya trans. by Walshe amzn.to/2zyIXyz
Aṅguttara Nikāya trans. by Bodhi amzn.to/2zxRRwb
Saṃyutta Nikāya trans. by Bodhi amzn.to/2Az96vb
Dhammapada trans. by Fronsdal amzn.to/2zx4Pdq
Sutta-Nipāta trans. by Bodhi amzn.to/2hqStx9
Questions of King Milinda trans. by Max Muller and Rhys Davids amzn.to/2hZyYZC
Udāna and Itivuttaka trans. by Ireland amzn.to/2yoW2ai
Therigatha trans. by Hallisey amzn.to/2i1cOWA
The Lotus Sutra: Revised Edition (BDK English Tripitaka) amzn.to/3vHP96R
Nagarjuna's Middle Way: Mulamadhyamakakarika trans. by Siderits and Katsura amzn.to/3PRX5JB
The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga trans. by Ñāṇamoli amzn.to/3JbVQRD
✅ Videos mentioned:
A Hidden Meaning Behind the Buddha's Second Sermon on Non-self — youtu.be/Ro0BV84dci4
Buddha's Fire Sermon and ... Our House Fire — youtu.be/dhTULnK8BWo
Unveiling "Skillful Means" in Buddhism: Early Developments — youtu.be/ZIyykKhN1Pk
Buddha Nature — youtu.be/9wc9LW31hFA
The Early History of the Bodhisattva Ideal — youtu.be/ECI_3ytgxcQ
Two Kinds of Buddhist Interdependence: Dependent Origination and Indra's Net — youtu.be/CQN7sVmckso
✅ Suttas mentioned:
suttacentral.net/dn1/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/dn16/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/mn10/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/mn22/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn56.11/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn22.59/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/sn35.28/en/sujato
suttacentral.net/an3.65/en/sujato
Webpage: dougsdharma.com
Facebook: facebook.com/onlinedharmainstitute
Mastodon: https://mindly.social/@dougsdharma
Instagram: instagram.com/dougsdharma
Threads: threads.net/@dougsdharma
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dougsdharma.bsky.social
Thumbnail images courtesy of vined mind and Ag Ku on Pixabay.
❤️ Thanks to Patreon Patrons:
Anonymous (3)
John Oborne
DunJing
Jimmy Maa
Debbie Mattison
Steve H.
Ron Peat
Michael S. Kearns
Anne
Matthew Smith
Shantha Wengappuli
Karma_CAC
Jorge Seguel
Christopher Apostolof
GailJM
David Bell
T Pham
VCR
Upayadhi
Andi and Erik
ATGuerrero686
Michael Scherrer
khobe schofield
Alex Perdomo
Benji Forsyth
Blaze Way
Sonny Flink
Steve Marlor
Joy L Lee
Andrew Tom
Anthony Tucker
Karlee R
Ethan M
Billy in Singapore
Olivia Otter
Carl Lennartson
xiao mao
Jeff Harvey
Andrew Ingrouille
Kenneth Grandchamp
Rene Gariepy
Russell Needham
Smoggyrob
Mac Roja
Bernardo
Clémence Ortega Douville
Kwan Alex
Scott Johnston
Richard J Beninger
Nathanael O. Arnquist
SaturnianMandala
Trin P
Letesa Isler
Dorien Izel
Robert Paterson
Jake Tobiason
Louvenia Ortega
Steve S.
Richard Rappuhn
Sarah Kress
John Aaron
Paul Niklewski
Kong Ing Kai
Dave Gorman
rhys reed
Osanda Wijeratne
Scarlett Farrow
BJ - RetreaTours™
Michael Lefsky
Matthieu Tregnier
Roland Harris
karen
Dr Ru
Rob
John
00:00 Intro
01:21 Buddhist “Old Testament”
22:45 Buddhist “New Testament”
30:06 Other key Buddhist texts
33:25 Later Buddhism, further material
35:59 Recommendations
Note: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are affiliate links where I will earn a very small commission on purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thank you!
