Introduction - Core Teachings

This section of the website provides summaries of what is considered the core teachings of the Buddha, which are topics and concepts common across the canons of the various sects of Buddhism. In the following pages, I have usually presented the simplest version of each concept, translated from the Suttapiṭaka, but in some cases have referenced variations and elaborations of the concepts.

Based on analysis in The Evolution of the Buddha’s teachings, the following can be regarded as the core teachings, presented roughly in the order that they would have been developed over the Buddha’s lifetime.

Core concepts in the first three discourses

These are the concepts incorporated in the first three discourses, included as part of the Mahākhandhaka, and therefore represent the earliest formulation of the Buddha’s teachings.

paṭiccasamuppādo Dependent Origination

majjhimā paṭipadā Middle Way

cattāri ariyasaccāni Four Realisations

pañcupādānakkhandhā Five Collections

saḷāyatana Six Senses

For a summary of these concepts, and how they inter-relate to each other:

What did the Buddha teach? Core Concepts expressed in a diagram and accompanying explanation

Factors related to awakening (bodhipakkhiyā dhammā)

These are a set of concepts listed in various suttas, common across different sects. They are however not mentioned in the Vinaya (apart from the eightfold path) so presumably are a later addition to the Buddha’s teachings, formulated to provide additional clarity on the reflective thinking and memory reconsolidation that form the basis for the awakening process.

`cattāro satipaṭṭhānā` Four Reflections

`cattāro sammappadhānā` Four Right Exertions

`cattāro iddhipādā` Four Bases of Success

`pañcindriyāni` Five Faculties

`pañca balāni` Five Powers

`satta bojjhaṅgā` Seven Awakening Factors

`ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo` Eightfold Path

Additional pre-sectarian concepts

These concepts are common across the Abhidharma literature of three different sects, so these presumably represent pre-sectarian concepts. All these are fairly marginal and can be safely ignored. The so called “five” precepts” are seldom mentioned in the early Pāḷi canon, and so must have gained prominence much later. The “components of perceptual experience” are just an expansion of the Third Discourse and the four mental dispositions are not mentioned in the Vinaya and therefore also a later addition.

pañca sikkhāpadāni Five Precepts

dhātuyo Components of Perceptual Experience

jhānā Mental dispositions

Later additions or “non-core” teachings

The following is a non-exhaustive list of concepts that are likely to have been introduced following the Buddha’s death and unlikely to have been taught by him:

• kamma - this is a Jain concept, and not mentioned at all in the Vinaya
• 4 states of mind (catasso appamaññāyo), also referred to as the “divine dwellings” - these are not common across the literature of the various sects so presumably is a later addition
• 4 stages of awakening (catuariyaphala ) - also not discussed in the Vinaya (except as an indirect reference), and not common across the Abhidharma literature of the various sects¹
• arupa jhānā - these are Jain meditative techniques, two of which were refuted by the Buddha in 9M/3.6 Pāsarāsisutta and 9M/4.6 Mahāsaccakasutta, also not common across the Abhidharma literature of the various sects
• the three higher knowledge (tevijja) - not mentioned in the Mahākhandhaka, also refuted as a necessary prerequisite to liberation in 12S2/1.7.10 Susimaparibbājakasutta.
• meditation - not mentioned in the Mahākhandhaka. Common concepts associated with meditation in the core teachings are misunderstandings of translators and in my opinion actually refer to other concepts such as awareness, introspection, reflective thinking, mental dispositions and memory reconsolidation.

Accordingly, the above concepts will not be analysed any further in this website.

Footnotes

1. Joy Manné, Case Histories From The Pāli Canon II: [1] Sotāpanna, Sakadāgāmin, Anagāmin, Arahat - The Four Stages Case History Or Spiritual Materialism And The Need For Tangible Results, PTS XXI(2) pp. 35-128 (1995) ↩