Classes / courses

The Living Word of the Buddha · Living the Word of the Buddha

Sutta Discovery: directly seeing the Buddha’s Teachings

The most direct way to learn Buddhism is to read and live the Pali suttas which contain some of the oldest records we have of the Buddha’s teachings. As we search these scriptures, we will discover ourselves amidst their stories, teachings and practices, and even take a first step towards spiritual awakening.

This series will also help you learn and master the Pali Canon: to locate suttas, teachings and stories, and have an idea of how Suttas are transmitted and translated. Wherever feasible, comparative studies are made between the Pali, Sanskrit and Chinese (Agama) versions of the suttas. Although a very basic knowledge of Buddhism (the 5 Precepts, etc) is helpful, no knowledge of these languages is required for this course. This class is suitable for beginner and mid-range level.

The Sutta Discovery (SD) series started with the NUS Buddhist Society weekly Sutta Study Group (SSG) classes in February 2002, and the Buddhist Fellowship SD series started in February 2003. The SD materials are now freely available worldwide on dharmafarer.org. There is an on-going global team of volunteer Sutta readers who regularly study the suttas and essays, and proof-read them at the same time.

ONLINE CLASSES via Zoom Meeting