I’ve recently run into a small issue I’m not sure how best to approach. There are few Classical Theravada teachers available where I am, my current teacher recommending works by Narada Thera and Piyadassi Thera and being taught at a monastery in their home country of Sri Lanka seeming orthodox enough.
I’d like to ask sometime about his lineage and his opinions on EBT, Thai Forest and his relation to orthodoxy more or less as described here.
But am not sure the respectful, non-blunt way to ask that. Essentially I want to make sure what tradition I am studying in because I’m not sure.
any advice on what/how to ask this would be appreciated.
Those authors are good. In fact, ven Nārada has written an earlier version of the A Manual of Abhidhamma.
If you want to know if your teacher follows EBT, you can basically ask him what he thinks of the Abhidhamma and Visuddhimagga. EBT people usually do not mix well with these books. In this way, you are asking him what he likes rather than what he is against.
It is likely that The Buddha and His Teachings is being used for basic ed. This is very common and mixes well with most Theravāda students, even EBT.
3 books by ven Nārada books come to mind.
PDF Resources by Ven. Narada Thera on BuddhaNet
The Buddha and His Teachings
A comprehensive presentation of the Buddha’s life and doctrine, translated by Ven. Narada Thera, available as a downloadable PDF. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
A Manual of Abhidhamma
A complete eBook by Ven. Narada Thera explaining the higher teachings of the Buddha through Abhidhamma. Available in PDF form on BuddhaNet’s eBooks section. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
The Buddha and His Teachings