The Pali Scriptures

The Tipitaka (Pali ti, “three,” + pitaka, “baskets”), or Pali canon, is the collection of primary Pali language texts. One of the baskets, the Sutta Pitaka, is a collection of discourses attributed to the Buddha and a few of his closest disciples, containing all the central teachings of Theravada Buddhism.

By reading some of these verses, we can have a better understanding of what the Buddha was saying to us, without interpretation of intermediaries.

“The body of Pali texts in the Nikayas is remarkably coherent. There are no contradictions or discrepancies between the teachings in different suttas. Avoid bringing additional meaning into Sutta passages from the traditional Pali commentaries and the Abhidhamma texts. It is unnecessary and it complicates things. The Buddha was perfectly capable of teaching the Dhamma.”

Anthony Markwell

An excellent introduction to the Pali scriptures, with downloads, is at AnthonyMarkwell.com

Sources for more information

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/

https://www.learnreligions.com/buddhist-scriptures-an-overview-450051

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/befriending.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%81li_Canon

Pali Scriptures