This is a useful resource. The Tipitaka is like a bajillion pages long and I’m not even sure that it’s been wholly translated into English. If you’re interested in the practice of Buddhism there are much better sources, but if you’re interested in the spiritual philosophy of Buddhism then as far as I know diving into Wikipedia is probably the best place. My advice is to be wary of Mahayana or Tibetan memes and also to stay wary of interpretations of the original text that appear to be patently wrong. Also it is important to remember that oftentimes interpretations do not take care to keep the map-territory distinction in mind, which can result in misconstrual of the original meaning. Also it is important to remember that Buddhist and Taoist ontology is not Western. When the Buddha talks of “rebirth” he almost certainly does not mean the patently absurd thing that most Westerners imagine. Reading lots of Wikipedia articles should give you hints about what further texts you should read. accesstoinsight.org is pretty cool. This, for instance. Also, I find this to be concise, chilling, and a hint at the alien-ness of the Buddha’s original message. I have a hard time reconciling Buddhism (or Taoism) with my metaphysical default of bland computational Neoplatonism.
This is a useful resource. The Tipitaka is like a bajillion pages long and I’m not even sure that it’s been wholly translated into English. If you’re interested in the practice of Buddhism there are much better sources, but if you’re interested in the spiritual philosophy of Buddhism then as far as I know diving into Wikipedia is probably the best place. My advice is to be wary of Mahayana or Tibetan memes and also to stay wary of interpretations of the original text that appear to be patently wrong. Also it is important to remember that oftentimes interpretations do not take care to keep the map-territory distinction in mind, which can result in misconstrual of the original meaning. Also it is important to remember that Buddhist and Taoist ontology is not Western. When the Buddha talks of “rebirth” he almost certainly does not mean the patently absurd thing that most Westerners imagine. Reading lots of Wikipedia articles should give you hints about what further texts you should read. accesstoinsight.org is pretty cool. This, for instance. Also, I find this to be concise, chilling, and a hint at the alien-ness of the Buddha’s original message. I have a hard time reconciling Buddhism (or Taoism) with my metaphysical default of bland computational Neoplatonism.