Recommended for experienced students
MŪLAPARIYĀYASUTTA
The Root of All Things
The Buddha examines how the notion of a permanent self emerges from the process of perception. A wide range of phenomena are considered, embracing both naturalistic and cosmological dimensions. An unawakened person interprets experience in terms of a self, while those more advanced have the same experiences without attachment.
Translations
Recommended for intermediate students
SABBĀSAVASUTTA
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 certain cases.
Translations
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DHAMMADĀYĀDASUTTA
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 experience the fruits of the path.
Translations
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BHAYABHERAVASUTTA
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.
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ANANGAŅASUTTA
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 whether we are aware of them.
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ĀKAŃKHEYYASUTTA
One Might Wish
According to the Buddha, careful observance of ethical precepts is the foundation of all higher achievements in the spiritual life.
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VATTHASUTTA
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 purity comes from bathing in sacred rivers.
Translations
Recommended for intermediate students
SALLEKHASUTTA
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.
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SAMMĀDITTHISUTTA
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
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 body, and is regarded as one of the most important meditation discourses.