ཆས་ཀྱ་འཁར་ལའ་མད intro.14

intro.14

In general, the plethora of versions that exist of this teaching in Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan are very similar, yet all of them contain a number of idiosyncrasies—some minor, others significant—that set them apart from the rest. These differences have been studied in great detail over the last two centuries and a rich body of scholarship on the philological and theoretical aspects of this teaching has emerged.⁹ As a result, we now know that the teaching on the four truths as we today find it included in the various canons is the product of several editorial revisions over the centuries. The “original” version of this teaching consequently remains elusive, as does the role played by this teaching in the earliest days of the Buddhist tradition.¹⁰