In our next class, we’ll establish the context from which the teaching of the Eightfold Path emerged. We’ll do a very short review of the Buddha’s life and times, and we’ll look in moderate detail at the very first teaching he gave, which culminated in the teaching of the Path. The following web-based resources will be helpful, not only to an understanding of what we will cover in our first class, but to understanding all of the classes that follow.

• The course syllabus outlines the Eightfold Path and reviews the direction we’ll take in studying it. The three web pages referred to in the last section of the syllabus—Bhikkhu Bodhi’s short book on the Path, Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo’s essay on The Path to Peace and Freedom for the Mind, and the Wikipedia article on the Path—will provide basic reference materials throughout the course.
• There are several essays on the Dharma Study site which will help provide the context for our study of the Path.
  • A short review of the Buddha’s early life, leading up to the first teaching.
  • A rendering of that first teaching, known as the Dhammacakkappavatthana Sutta (The Discourse on Turning the Wheel of the Law). That page also contains links to a couple of other translations of that Sutta, somewhat more literal than the one I prepared.
  • An annotated map of the Buddha’s life; I’ll pass out a copy of the map itself in our first class.
  • A fairly detailed outline of the concept of Dhamma—the Buddha’s essential message, at the center of which is the concept of the Eightfold Path.
  • A review of how the Pali Canon came to be, and a look at the reasons we have for trusting its authenticity.
• Stephen Batchelor is one of the most insightful teachers of Buddhism around today, and there are a number of audio talks by him at the Dharmaseed website; you can either download those talks and load them onto your iPod or other MP3 player, or you can stream them for listening online at your computer. The talk that is particularly relevant to our course is his talk on the Buddha’s Middle Way.