Book Description
This classic anthology from the Pali Canon charts the entire course of spiritual development as prescribed in the most ancient Buddhist texts. Drawing upon the Buddha's own words from the Sutta Pitaka, the compiler has arranged them in accordance with two overlapping schemes of practice: the threefold training in virtue, concentration, and wisdom, and the seven stages of purification. The long chapter on concentration provides sutta sources for all the forty classical subjects of meditation, while the chapter on wisdom cites texts relating to the development of insight. The result is a comprehensive meditation manual composed almost entirely from the Buddha's discourses, illuminated by the author's own brief explanations.