The resources below may be of help in your exploration of Theravada Buddhism. This is one of the few pages on this website that contains links to other websites (indicated by "»").
To reach those links, you'll first have to connect your computer to the Internet.
There are many directories of retreat centers, monasteries, meditation groups, etc., both online and in print media. Some are more carefully maintained and up-to-date than others, so you may have to explore several of them before you find what you're looking for. Here are some suggested starting points:
» Inquiring Mind: A Journal of the Vipassana Community, a free semiannual magazine, devotes several pages of each issue to a directory of meditation centers and a list of independent "sitting groups". To order a copy of the current issue, see their website or write to: Inquiring Mind, PO Box 9999, Berkeley, CA 94709-0999, USA.
» Tricycle: The Buddhist Review is a quarterly magazine that contains advertisements of meditation centers in the back of each issue. Their website has a searchable directory of meditation centers.
If you are new to Pali you might find "A Guide to Learning the Pali Language" useful in getting started with the language. Among other things, that document contains information about Pali language textbooks, how to handle Pali diacritical marks on computers, and where to obtain Pali fonts. The web also offers these excellent resources:
Pali Canon: On-line editions:
» The Pali Tipitaka Project (Vipassana Research Institute) contains the Chattha Sangayana (Sixth Council, 1954-1956) edition of the Tipitaka, transcribed from the Myanmar print edition.
» The Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project (in association with the Journal of Buddhist Ethics, Middle Tennessee State University, USA) offers a free public-domain edition (ASCII text files, zipped) of the Sri Lanka Buddha Jayanti Tripitaka edition of the Tipitaka and Commentaries (in romanized Pali). Although this edition hasn't yet been thoroughly proofread, it's still a tremendously valuable resource.
Pali Canon: CD-ROM editions:
» BUDSIR -- Buddhist Scriptures Information Retrieval (Mahidol University, Thailand) is a CD-ROM containing the Thai edition of the Pali Tipitaka and Atthakatha (commentaries) in romanized script. Cost: about US$300.
» Chattha Sangayana (Sixth Council) Tipitaka CD (Vipassana Research Institute) is a CD-ROM containing the Chattha Sangayana (Sixth Council, 1954-1956) edition of the Tipitaka, transcribed from the Myanmar print edition. It also includes the Tipitaka, Atthakatha (commentaries), and Tika and AnuTika (sub-commentaries), all displayed in seven scripts, including Roman and Devanagari. Cost: varies according to shipping destination.
Inward Path Publisher
PO Box 1034
10830 Penang
Malaysia
Tel/Fax: +60 604 659 6696 and +60 604 890 6696
WWW: » http://www.buddhanet.net/ipp.htm
Inward Path offers a growing catalog of free Dhamma books in their "Inward Journey" series, by such authors as Nyanaponika Thera, Sayadaw U Silananda, and Francis Story. Contact Inward Journey at the above address if you are interested in obtaining books, sponsoring the publication of a particular book, or contributing towards the publication of Dhamma books.
Sati Center Book Fund
c/o Sati Center for Buddhist Studies
PO Box 2021
Santa Cruz, CA 95063-2021
USA
WWW: » http://www.sati.org/
The Sati Center distributes copies of Handful of Leaves, an anthology of sutta translations by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. See their website for ordering information and availability.
Wat Pah Baan Taad
The Editors
Wat Pah Baan Taad
Ampher Meuang
Udorn Thani, 41000
Thailand
WWW: » http://www.luangta.or.th/english/index.html
Wat Pah Ban Taad is the forest monastery of Ajaan Maha Boowa. The website provides a list of free books by Maha Boowa, many of which are available upon request in both print and electronic formats.
Wisdom Audio-Visual Exchange (WAVE)
c/o Mrs Lim Tay Poh
No. 2, Jln Chan Ah Thong
Off Jln Tun Sanbanthan
50470 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
WAVE has an extensive catalog of Dhamma books for free distribution, with titles by such authors as Ajaan Lee, Ajaan Chah, Mahasi Sayadaw, and many others. WAVE welcomes donations to sponsor publication of new books or to reprint old titles.
Buddhist Cultural Centre
125, Anderson Road
Nedimala-Dehiwala
Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 1-734256
Fax: +94 1-736737
WWW: » http://www.buddhistcc.com/
The Buddhist Cultural Centre is a nonprofit distributor of Buddhist books. Their catalog includes an unusual and wide-ranging selection of books, many of which are impossible to find in the US.
Buddhist Publication Society
54, Sangharaja Mawatha
P.O. Box 61
Kandy
Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 8 237283
Fax: +94 8 223679
WWW: » http://www.bps.lk/
The BPS is a nonprofit publisher of books on Theravada Buddhism, with an excellent international mail-order service. Their current international mail-order catalog is available from their website. The BPS runs the Nyanaponika Dhamma Dana Project, which distributes free copies of BPS publications to libraries and schools. Publications from the BPS are distributed in the Americas (North and South) by Pariyatti Book Service and in Europe by Wisdom Books. (Some selected titles from the BPS are available online here.)
Dharma Publishing
2910 San Pablo Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94702
USA
Tel: 800-873-4276
WWW: » http://www.dharmapublishing.com
Although Dharma Publishing publishes and sells books primarily from the Nyingma Tibetan Buddhist tradition, some of their titles -- especially their series of beautifully illustrated children's books of the Jataka tales -- will also be of interest to Theravadins.
Pali Text Society
73 Lime Walk
Headington
Oxford, OX3 7AD
England
Tel: +44 865-67575
Fax: +44 865-750079
WWW: » http://www.palitext.demon.co.uk
Since its founding in 1881, the PTS (a nonprofit organization) has been the world's pre-eminent publisher of texts from the Pali Canon. They offer a hardbound edition of the complete Pali Tipitaka in romanized Pali, and most of the Tipitaka in English translation. Some of their translations of key texts are now very badly out of date, and have been superseded by more fluent translations from other publishers (for example, their translation of the Digha Nikaya dates back to 1899; Maurice Walshe's Long Discourses of The Buddha, published by Wisdom Publications in 1987, is a much more useful text). Nevertheless, many of the translations are still valuable. Their romanized Pali editions are indispensible tools for the serious Pali student. PTS books are distributed in North America by Pariyatti Book Service.
The Pariyatti Book Service is a nonprofit bookseller with a large online catalog of books on Buddhism and meditation from various publishers. Pariyatti is the official North American distributor for the Buddhist Publication Society and the Pali Text Society.
Wisdom Books
25 Stanley Road
Ilford
Essex
IG1 1RW
England
Tel: +44 208 553 5020
Fax: +44 208 553 5122
WWW: » http://www.wisdom-books.com/
Wisdom Books is a for-profit publisher and distributor of Buddhist books and is the official European distributor for the Buddhist Publication Society.
Wisdom Publications
199 Elm Street
Somerville, MA 02144
USA
Tel: (800) 272-4050
WWW: » http://www.wisdompubs.org
Wisdom is a nonprofit publisher and distributor of Buddhist books, including several important modern translations of the Digha, Majjhima, and Samyutta Nikayas.
Dharma Seed Tape Library
Box 66
Wendell Depot, MA 01380
USA
Tel: (800) 969-SEED or (413) 772-1848
WWW: » http://www.dharmaseed.org
Dharma Seed is a nonprofit publisher and distributor of audio cassette recordings of meditation instructions and teachings by teachers from the » Insight Meditation Society.
Audio tapes of Dhamma talks by Ven. Sister Ayya Khema, from retreats given in the USA, are available from: Carl Provder, 1416 Elva Terrace, Encinitas, CA 92024, USA. Proceeds to benefit Buddha Haus. Send US$2 for list of tapes.
» Beyond the Net (B.P. De Silva Ceylon Ltd., Sri Lanka) has a collection of good short introductory articles about Theravada Buddhism by such authors as Bhikkhu Bodhi, Piyadassi Thera, Mithra Wettimuny, and Lily de Silva. (Note: because this site makes heavy use of graphics and applets, downloads can be slow. The site also requires a frames-compatible browser.)
» BuddhaNet (Australia) has a large archive of Buddhist texts in a variety of formats.
» BuddhaSasana (Binh Anson) offers a good selection of articles and translations by contemporary authors (mostly Theravadin), in a very readable format (HTML).
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