WELCOME...
...to the virtual Reading Room at the BCBS website, a unique and growing source of information
for those pursuing the study of Buddhist texts as part of their Dharma practice. We feature both original interpretations of Pali texts created by the BCBS core faculty, articles from the full moon Insight Journal, as well as recommendations for books and other resources. As new material is added,
existing content will remain, so that over time a rich resource of tools for investigating Dharma texts will arise.
Changes to this material, new translations of Pali texts, and other news from BCBS are covered in our monthly full moon Insight Journal. Please click on "Sign up for our Email Newsletter" above if you would like to receive it. (You may opt out at any time through a link in the newsletter itself.)
If you have any thoughts about the Reading Room, you may email bcbswebmaster@dharma.org. (Please note this email is checked only periodically. Urgent BCBS business should go to bcbs@dharma.org)
Sutta Studies
With the May 2011 full moon, we began a transition in how we communicate our offerings to you. It marked both the final printed edition of Insight Journal and the first electronic edition of the new full moon Insight Journal. For information on this transition, please go here.
For this month's offering, please see the current edition of the full moon Insight Journal.
All the previous developed materials on the Mettā Sutta are still available: click here for the Mettā Sutta on our Sutta Studies page.
To get notice of new material added each month, sign up for the BCBS email newsletter. (See the "Sign Up" link at the top left of this page.)
Recommended Books
Annotations will be added to the existing list over time. Books from the previous full-moon listing in "New Books" are moved to the appropriate topic category. The annotations are moved as well, so you can see previous "new books" by looking for full annotations on the list. (This is the third version of the list since we began.) There is an updated pdf of the book list on the page if you would like to download and/or print it.
Using categories and recommendations, "Recommended Books" lists established classics in each category,
as well as highlighting new works of interest as they are published. Prepared by Mu Soeng, BCBS Scholar in Residence responsible for the BCBS library, it is organized into categories by topic (tradition, history, meditation, etc.) and will be updated periodically. It begins with the category "new books" showing recent publications of note from all categories.
Click here for listings of Recommended Books.
Other Dharma Text Resources
Updated in October 2012
In March of 2012, BCBS will offer a follow-up for the Pali language course offering In November 2010, Pali is the language of the Pali Canon, the earliest of the Buddhist texts. As a result of that development and eager participation by the students, we have an updated list of resources for studying and learning about Pali. Please see our revised Other Dharma Text Resources page and try some of the new links there, including a list of Pali primers. Using one of these to get up to speed on Pali grammar is a prerequisite for the March 2012 course.
Many rich, helpful websites and other materials already exist for those interested in studying Dharma texts. We have compiled a list of the best ones we know, just in case you might have missed some of them. We focus on resources for studying Buddhist texts in particular, especially those in the Theravadin/Nikaya tradition. Many other places on the web have done an excellent job of listing general interest Dharma sites; for example, the Insight Meditation Society offers many of these here.
If you know of other text-related websites or other resources that you feel should be listed here, please email bcbswebmaster@dharma.org.
Click here for lists of other Dharma Text Resources.
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