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[ix]
effort needs to be augmented. The active efforts of the Vipassana Research Institute in this direction are admirable.
Initially, when I undertook the responsibility of writing an introduction to this profound and important literature, I thought that it could be accomplished in forty to fifty pages. As I started collecting references from the texts, I found each one superior to the last, each one more inspiring and sublime. These gems radiated with beauty, beneficence and inspiration. Which ones should be included and which ones should be left out? This was my problem. I had to leave many out, though I regretted doing so. After the selection process was complete, over a thousand important passages remained. To do them justice would naturally require a considerably expanded volume. I therefore felt it proper to publish this detailed introduction in the form of a separate book. I hope its publication will prove helpful to the admirers of the Tipitaka and to the meditators.
May the publication of the words of the Buddha and the other Pāli texts be helpful and beneficial to all. May the dawn of peace, happiness and liberation arise for all the readers.
Buddha Pūrnimā 1993.
S. N. Goenka
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