For the discussion of the Dharma taught by Shakyamuni Buddha and the contemplative study of the Buddhist Discourses, known as Sutra and Sutta; these works form the foundation for the Dharma, the teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Here is a poem by the Soto Zen Monk, Ryokan, which exhibits the spirit of this Forum:

Even if someone lives a hundred years, their life is like a floating weed, drifting with the waves, east and west continually, no time for rest.

Shakyamuni renounced nobility and devoted his life to preventing others from falling into ruin. On the earth eighty years, proclaiming the Dharma for fifty, bestowing the sutras as an eternal legacy;

Today, still a bridge to cross over to the other shore.

--Ryokan, based on the John Stevens translation