What translated sources of the Buddhism teaching can i read?

Sarah: What translated sources of the Buddhism teaching can i read?
I started discovering Buddhism by reading various articles on the web. I already feel much better. But i want to learn more. What original sources of Buddhism knowledge are there to read in english or russian?
And if the sources are too hard to understand for beginner what should i read then?

Answers and Views:

Answer by P’ang
The earliest Buddhist teachings fall into two groups: the Pali Canon and the Mahayana Canon.

The Pali Canon forms the basis for the practices of the Theravada tradition, while the Mahayana Canon forms the basis for the practices of the – that’s right – Mahayana tradition.

While some people recommend that newcomers read texts from these canons, frankly they are very difficult for people to understand without some basis in Buddhist practice.

If you’d like to find out more about the basic teachings of Buddhism, there are several modern books that digest the teachings from the canons in a very approachable way. Here are two good choices:

“It’s Easier Than You Think” by Sylvia Boorstein

“The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching” by Thich Nhat Hanh

If you’d like to read sutras from the Pali Canon, the Access to Insight website offers English translations of many of these texts:
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/

If you’d like to read sutras from the Mahayana Canon, you can find links to many of these texts here:

Finally, you might remember that Buddhism is primarily a practice tradition, not a belief-oriented tradition. It’s something you *do,* not something you believe. And the best way to learn how to *do* Buddhism is at a Buddhist temple or center. Here’s a good list of temples around the world:
https://www.buddhanet.info/wbd/

Best wishes in your (re)search!