Start with the "Twenty Suttas", that I edited from the Scriptures. I read through the Majjhima Nikaya which is the most important section of the Suttas, I read through the Digha Nikaya, which is another important section, there are almost 200 Suttas in those 2 books. I picked out 16 Suttas from the 2 books and 4 more Suttas from other parts of the Scriptures, I put them together in this edited version of the Suttas. I say edited, I did not translate them but I edited them to make them read more up to date with modern language and sometimes just to correct some things I thought were possibly wrong. I used other people's translations. I often used 6 different translations for one Sutta to try to find the best way to write it into this group of 20.
I put these 20 together for exactly this purpose to help anyone who wants to study the Suttas. It is a starting point, a great starting point. It's twenty Suttas that cover a lot of ground, a lot of various different teachings. Not all the Suttas are teachings given directly by the Buddha, some were given by enlightened followers or in one case a lay woman gives the teaching, she is not ordained.
The selection covers Suttas that are down to earth like the Kalama Sutta, which you all know about. It covers some Suttas that are quite detailed, like the Satipattana Sutta, which is the longest one in there. So there is a lot of information. At the end of every Sutta I put some notes. My notes are not to explain the Sutta, my notes are there to help someone look at the Sutta. It's a whole different concept there. I did not want to explain the Sutta, I wanted to help the reader look at the Sutta in a way that will help them, so if they study more Suttas it will be easier for them.
For example, the very shortest Sutta in there is the Dung Beetle and I think I put in the note, "Did you see the eight worldly dhammas being explained in the Dung Beetle?" The Buddha doesn't use the term "eight worldly dhammas" in that Sutta. He doesn't mention all eight. But it is very clear what he is talking about and if a person has studied the eight worldly dhammas or eight worldly conditions then they will easily see that in the Sutta. Yet, a brand new person who reads it, won't see it if they don't know it is part of the teaching. This is very true in so many of the Suttas. They are almost like a skeleton. You have to put on the flesh, you have to put on the hair, you have to put in the eye balls or whatever else because the Suttas are very much like a skeleton and this is where your practice comes in. If you have done practice that has enabled you to have experiential understanding, then in those skeleton Suttas you are going to be able to fill in the blanks, you are going to be able to make it more whole and that's what my notes are all about. They help somebody to see it better and be able to expand the Sutta from where it is.
So if you are interested in studying the Suttas, the selection of "Twenty Suttas" I put together is very helpful to begin with, and you can get it online our website or by e-mail.