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An Introduction to Itivuttaka [Archived]

4 weeks

All levels

8 lessons

0 quizzes

149 students

Overview
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“Khujjuttara’s recollection of Buddha’s discourses” – a four week course.

The Itivuttaka, a collection of 112 short discourses, takes its name from the statement at the beginning of each of its discourses: this (iti) was said (vuttam) by the Blessed One. The collection as a whole is attributed to a laywoman named Khujjuttara, who worked in the palace of King Udena of Kosambi as a servant to one of his queens, Samavati. Because the Queen could not leave the palace to hear the Buddha’s discourses, Khujjuttara went in her place, memorized what the Buddha said, and then returned to the palace to teach the Queen and her 500 ladies-in-waiting. For her efforts, the Buddha cited Khujjuttara as the foremost of his laywomen disciples in terms of her learning. She was also an effective teacher: when the inner apartments of the palace later burned down, killing the Queen and her entourage, the Buddha commented (in Udana VII.10) that all of the women had reached at least the first stage of Awakening. (excerpt from Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s translation available here)

A project in collaboration with

Bhante Sujato

Ajahn Sujato, fondly known as Bhante Sujato was born as Antony Best in Perth, Western Australia in 1966 to a liberal Catholic family. Impressed by the profound visions of the world opened up through science, and especially the Theories of Relativity, he rejected his Catholic beliefs while in his teens. Before leaving to Thailand in 1994 he read philosophy and literature at the University of Western Australia. The main influences in Bhante Sujato’s spiritual development have been twofold. This congruence is regarded as the single most important historical clue to the Buddha’s original message, and Bhante Sujato has taken the lead in introducing cross-tradition text studies to the Buddhist community. The second major spiritual influence comes from his two main meditation teachers. From the little-known Thai monk Ajahn Maha Chatchai he learnt the practice of loving-kindness that still forms the backbone of his own meditation and teaching. From Ajahn Brahmavanso he learnt especially how to understand this practice within the overall context of the Buddha’s path. Since 2003 Bhante Sujato has been leading an international team of Buddhist scholars to bring the teachings of the Buddha from all traditions under one domain. As a result of his selfless efforts, today the seekers of the dhamma can freely access the words spoken by the Buddha in many modern languages. Visit SuttaCentral.net for details. SuttaCentral.net is for anyone who wants to learn for themselves what the Buddha taught. The design of SuttaCentral has one razor-sharp focus. That is to remove anything that stands between you and the Buddha's words. From 2015 to 2018 Bhante Sujato lived in isolation and completed translating the Sutta Pitaka from Pali to the English language. Bhante Sujato is a sought-after dhamma teacher and he is continuing help the seekers of Dhamma across the world. Bhante is currently residing in Lokanta Vihara, a humble urban dwelling in Sydney, Australia.

An Introduction to Itivuttaka [Archived]

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