“Thus have I heard….”
Many sutras begin with this phrase, as the Buddha’s teachings were maintained by oral tradition for hundreds of years before they were written down.
Background
In 2003 BDK America prepared a CD Audiobook version of The Teaching of Buddha so that people could hear the Teachings instead of simply reading them. Now that the CD Audiobook is no longer in print, we are posting the individual tracks for your use as needed. The list above shows the major part titles of the print publication for orientation. As you listen to the narrator in the audio files, he identifies the disc number, chapter, and section title and number as well. (For a full correlation, feel free to refer to the detailed table here.)
Notes
- File Formats. The audio files are in the MP3 format, reflecting options at the time of the publication of the 2003 CD Audiobook.
- Access to Files. You may click and play these files from the website or download them to your personal device. For those in the Windows PC world, to download a file you can right-click the file and choose the “save as” option,
- Use of Numbered Sections. The convention of having discrete numbered sections or tracks was created for the CD Audiobook of The Teaching of Buddha. Print versions do not follow this convention. To compare sections of the CD Audiobook sections to the chapters of the printed version, see the table here.
- Gaps in Numbered Sections and Differences with Print Editions. You may notice an occasional gap in the numbering of sections. These gaps reflect editorial decisions instituted across our print versions, As we no longer distribute our books with the material in these sections, we are publishing those audio files represented in our current editions. Print editions following the 2003 CD Audiobook may have other minor editorial changes; however, the audio files have not been otherwise updated.