Overview

The Saṁyutta Nikāya is an ideal mystical work to read in its entirety in order to understand in all its depth and detail the Wisdom of the Buddha, a timeless wisdom that goes beyond even Samsara itself. The Book with Verses is the first of the five books of the Interwoven Discourses and the most pleasant and gentle way to begin to make contact with the teaching. Each of the suttas in this collection contains verses within a prose narrative. The verses are not exclusive to this book, but we will find them throughout the work. It is interesting to emphasize them because the information they contain is important. This book, unlike the rest of the Collection, is organized by persons. Each saṁyutta contains a conversation involving the Buddha or his disciples with an individual or type of individuals, such as devas, kings, bhikkhunīs, or brahmins. The narrative framework is terse: someone approaches the Buddha and utters a verse, responding to him with a better one. The Discourses Intertwined with the Devas contain 81 discourses in which usually a deity approaches the Buddha in the Sāvatthī monastery, illuminating the night with his glory. The deity addresses the Buddha with a question or verse, which may be a compliment, a challenge, a riddle, or simply a reflection. The Buddha responds, usually by elevating the discourse to a higher plane. The devas learn from the Buddha in most cases. There is no particular theme to the discourses, which range from the simple to the profound. The differences with the following saṁyutta are nominal and there is no difference in meaning. The style of the speeches is similar although here there is a greater emphasis on the theme of renunciation. The Discourses Intertwined with that of Kosala present King Pasenadi of Kosala as a complex human form, with weaknesses and follies, but with great devotion and capacity for growth. The suttas in this collection typically set the verses in which they illustrate the problems besetting a Dhamma-determined king who nevertheless must rule in a world with spies, sacrifices, punishments, wars, and the many temptations of royal life. The Discourses Intertwined with the Māra present him appearing in a frightening or seductive form, hoping to disturb or challenge the Buddha with a whipping verse. The Buddha recognizing him, exposes his delusion in a verse. The Discourses Intertwined with bhikkhunīs feature several retiring bhikkhunīs being challenged by the Māra, sometimes in a sexist manner, alleging a supposed weakness in women. From the rest of the legajos highlight the Intertwined Discourses with the Yakkhas who are local entities worshipped in ancient India, of a lower order than the devas and Brahmās and are presented as ambivalent and even friendly, although they can provoke dread. Finally the Discourses Intertwined with Sakka tell stories involving Sakka, the Lord of the Thirty-three Devas who is shown to be devoted to the Buddha, upholding the Buddhist virtues of kindness and forgiveness, even in the war against the asuras, or demons. The Book of Conditionality is the second of the five books of the Intertwined Discourses. It is named after the first and longest saṁyutta, which deals with conditionality through an analysis of the workings of conditionality. The remaining nine saṁyuttas deal with various secondary topics, some organized by subject, others by person. The Discourses Intertwined with Conditionality is a comprehensive booklet containing 93 discourses on the functioning of conditionality through the chain of conditioning that leads to the origin and extinction of suffering. It is an in-depth analysis of the second and third noble truths. The booklet begins with the definition of each of the terms in the chain that will be applied throughout. The remaining discourses touch on the same theme, expanding it from different perspectives and formulations.

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