"Bhikkhu Bodhi's sophisticated, nuanced, practical instructions on how to read the Pali of the Buddha's discourses is meant for students of early Buddhism who are already familiar with the basics of Pali grammar and, having become acquainted with the style and terminology of the suttas, wish to progress further in their reading, and for those who would like to gain as intimate an acquaintance with the language and idiom of the texts as possible and see how translations are constructed on the basis of the original Pali without studying the language grammatically. Ven. Bodhi's meticulously selected anthology of suttas from the Samyutta Nikaya includes canonical, post-canonical, commentarial, subcommentarial, medieval, and different types of literature composed in Pali, all prose texts. Students read and analyze suttas from the major chapters of the Samyutta Nikaya with Ven. Bodhi as he takes a sutta and gives a literal translation of each sentence followed by a more natural English rendering, after which he explains the meaning of each word and the grammatical forms involved. By comparing the literal translations with the Pali, and following closely the grammatical explanations, the student can determine the meaning of each word and phrase and gain familiarity with the syntax of Pali sentences and the distinctive idioms and style of expression in the Pali suttas. The passages are taken exclusively from the Samyutta Nikaya not only for linguistic reasons (to preserve the fairly uniform terminology and highly structured presentation of the Samyutta and avoid the great variety of words and styles of all four major Nikayas, making it ideal for students with limited time) but also for doctrinal reasons. The major chapters of the Samyutta Nikaya, if rearranged, provide a systematic overview of the Buddha's teachings that mirrors the four noble truths, generally regarded as the most concise formulation of the Buddha's program of liberation.

The system emerges from the order of the chapters of this book: The first chapter contains selections from the Saccasamyutta (SN 56), the Connected Discourses on the Four Noble Truths, which are elsewhere described as the "special Dhamma teaching of the buddhas." The four truths serve as the most concise statement of the Buddha's core teaching, a "matrix" that generates all the other teachings and a framework into which most other teachings can fit. We then turn to the other chapters in this anthology for more detailed treatment on the content of the four noble truths, such as the Khandhasamyutta (SN 22) for the five aggregates, or the Nidanasamyutta (SN 12) for dependent origination, or the three groups of suttas on the path of practice-the Satipatthanasamyutta (SN 47) for the four establishments of mindfulness, the Bojjhangasamyutta (SN 46) for the seven factors of enlightenment, and the Maggasamyutta (SN 45) for the noble liberating eightfold path. The Buddha's discourses are linked through a complex network of allusions and cross-references: a theme or topic treated briefly in one place may be elaborated elsewhere; a term used in one sutta may be analyzed in detail in another. This unique anthology provides not only exceptional instruction in language acquisition and translation theory and practice but also a systematically sophisticated and nuanced study of the substance, style, and method of the major early Buddhist discourses"--.