Buddham Dhammam

Recommended for intermediate students

SABBĀSAVASUTTA

MN 2

All the Defilements

The diverse problems of the spiritual journey demand a diverse range of responses. Rather than applying the same solution to every problem, the Buddha outlines seven methods of dealing with defilements, each of which works in...

Translations

Recommended for beginner students

DHAMMADĀYĀDASUTTA

MN 3

Heirs in the Teaching

Some of the Buddha's students inherit from him only material profits and fame. But his true inheritance is the spiritual path, the way of contentment. Venerable Sāriputta explains how by following the Buddha's example we can...

Translations

Recommended for beginner students

BHAYABHERAVASUTTA

MN 4

Fear and Dread

The Buddha explains the difficulties of living in the wilderness, and how they are overcome by purity of conduct and meditation. He recounts some of the fears and obstacles he faced during his own practice.

Translations

Recommended for beginner students

ANANGAŅASUTTA

MN 5

Unblemished

The Buddha's chief disciples, Sāriputta and Moggallāna, use a simile of a tarnished bowl to illustrate the blemishes of the mind and conduct. They emphasize how the crucial thing is not so much whether there are blemishes, but...

Translations

Recommended for beginner students

ĀKAŃKHEYYASUTTA

MN 6

One Might Wish

According to the Buddha, careful observance of ethical precepts is the foundation of all higher achievements in the spiritual life.

Translations

Recommended for beginner students

VATTHASUTTA

MN 7

The Simile of the Cloth

The many different kinds of impurities that defile the mind are compared to a dirty cloth. When the mind is clean we find joy, which leads to states of higher consciousness. Finally, the Buddha rejects the Brahmanical notion that...

Translations

Recommended for intermediate students

SALLEKHASUTTA

MN 8

Self-Effacement

The Buddha differentiates between peaceful meditation and spiritual practices that encompass the whole of life. He lists forty-four aspects, which he explains as "effacement", the wearing away of conceit.

Translations

Recommended for experienced students

SAMMĀDITTHISUTTA

MN 9

Right View

Venerable Sāriputta gives a detailed explanation of right view, the first factor of the noble eightfold path. At the prompting of the other mendicants, he approaches the topic from a wide range of perspectives.

Translations

Recommended for intermediate students

MAHĀSATIPATTHANASUTTA

MN 10

The Discourse on Mindfulness Meditation

Here the Buddha details the seventh factor of the noble eightfold path, mindfulness meditation. This collects many of the meditation teachings found throughout the canon, especially the foundational practices focusing on the...

Translations