Middle Discourses

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Buddha declares that only those following his path can genuinely experience the four stages of awakening. This is because, while much is shared with other systems, none of them go so far as to fully reject all attachment to the idea of a self.

A disrobed monk, Sunakkhatta, attacks the Buddha’s teaching because it merely leads to the end of suffering. The Buddha counters that this is, in fact, praise, and goes on to enumerate his many profound and powerful achievements.

Challenged to show the difference between his teaching and that of other ascetics, the Buddha points out that they speak of letting go, but do not really understand why. He then explains in great detail the suffering that arises from attachment to sensual stimulation.

A lay person is puzzled at how, despite their long practice, they still have greedy or hateful thoughts. The Buddha explains the importance of absorption meditation for letting go such attachments. But he also criticizes self-mortification, and recounts a previous dialog with Jain ascetics.

Venerable Moggallāna raises the topic of admonishment, without which healthy community is not possible. He lists a number of qualities that will encourage others to think it worthwhile to admonish you in a constructive way.

The Buddha explains various ways one can become emotionally cut off from one’s spiritual community.

While living in the wilderness is great, not everyone is ready for it. The Buddha encourages meditators to reflect on whether one’s environment is genuinely supporting their meditation practice, and if not, to leave.

Challenged by a brahmin, the Buddha gives an enigmatic response on how conflict arises due to proliferation based on perceptions. Venerable Kaccāna draws out the detailed implications of this in one of the most insightful passages in the entire canon.

Recounting his own experiences in developing meditation, the Buddha explains how to understand harmful and harmless thoughts, and how to go beyond thought altogether.

In a practical meditation teaching, the Buddha describes five different approaches to stopping thoughts.

A discourse full of vibrant and memorable similes, on the importance of patience and love even when faced with abuse and criticism. The Buddha finishes with the simile of the saw, one of the most memorable similes found in the discourses.

One of the monks denies that prohibited conduct is really a problem. The monks and then the Buddha subject him to an impressive dressing down. The Buddha compares someone who understands only the letter of the teachings to someone who grabs a snake by the tail, and also invokes the famous simile of the raft.

In a curious discourse laden with evocative imagery, a deity presents a riddle to a mendicant, who seeks an answer from the Buddha.

Venerable Sāriputta seeks a dialog with an esteemed monk, Venerable Puṇṇa Mantāniputta, and they discuss the stages of purification.

The Buddha compares getting trapped by Māra with a deer getting caught in a snare, illustrating the ever more complex strategies employed by hunter and hunted.

This is one of the most important biographical discourses, telling the Buddha’s experiences from leaving home to realizing awakening. Throughout, he was driven by the imperative to fully escape from rebirth and suffering.

The Buddha cautions against swift conclusions about a teacher’s spiritual accomplishments, comparing it to the care a tracker would use when tracking elephants. He presents the full training of a monastic.

Sāriputta gives an elaborate demonstration of how, just as any footprint can fit inside an elephant’s, all the Buddha’s teaching can fit inside the four noble truths. This offers an overall template for organizing the Buddha’s teachings.

Following the incident with Devadatta, the Buddha cautions the mendicants against becoming complacent with superficial benefits of spiritual life and points to liberation as the true heart of the teaching.

Similar to the previous. After the incident with Devadatta, the Buddha cautions the mendicants against becoming complacent and points to liberation as the true heart of the teaching.

The Buddha comes across three mendicants practicing diligently and harmoniously, and asks them how they do it. Reluctant to disclose their higher attainments, they explain how they deal with the practical affairs of living together. But when pressed by the Buddha, they reveal their meditation attainments.

Several senior mendicants, reveling in the beauty of the night, discuss what kind of practitioner would adorn the park. They take their answers to the Buddha, who praises their answers, but gives his own twist.

For eleven reasons a cowherd is not able to properly look after a herd. The Buddha compares this to the spiritual growth of a mendicant.

Drawing parallels with a cowherd guiding his herd across a dangerous river, the Buddha presents the various kinds of enlightened disciples who cross the stream of transmigration.

Saccaka was a debater, who challenged the Buddha to a contest. Despite his bragging, the Buddha is not at all perturbed at his attacks.

In a less confrontational meeting, the Buddha and Saccaka discuss the difference between physical and mental development. The Buddha gives a long account of the various practices he did before awakening, detailing the astonishing lengths he took to mortify the body.

Moggallāna visits the heaven of Sakka, the lord of gods, to see whether he really understands what the Buddha is teaching.

To counter the wrong view that a self-identical consciousness transmigrates from one life to the next, the Buddha teaches dependent origination, showing that consciousness invariably arises dependent on conditions.

The Buddha encourages the mendicants to live up to their name, by actually practicing in a way that meets or exceeds the expectations people have for renunciants.

The labels of being a spiritual practitioner don’t just come from external trappings, but from sincere inner change.

The Buddha explains to a group of brahmins the conduct leading to rebirth in higher or lower states, including detailed explanations of the ten core practices which lay people should undertake, and which also form the basis for liberation.

Similar to the previous. The Buddha explains the conduct leading to rebirth in higher or lower states, including detailed explanations of the ten core practices.

A series of questions and answers between Sāriputta and Mahākoṭṭhita, examining various subtle and abstruse aspects of the teachings.

The layman Visākha asks the nun Dhammadinnā about various difficult matters, including some of the highest meditation attainments. The Buddha fully endorses her answers.

The Buddha explains how taking up different practices may have harmful or beneficial results. The memorable simile of the creeper shows how insidious temptations can be.

While we all want to be happy, we often find the opposite happens. The Buddha explains why.

While some spiritual teachers prefer to remain in obscurity, the Buddha not only encouraged his followers to closely investigate him, but gave them a detailed and demanding method to do so.

Despite the Buddha’s presence, the monks of Kosambī fell into a deep and bitter dispute. The Buddha taught the reluctant monks to develop love and harmony, reminding them of the state of peace that they sought.

The Buddha ascends to a high heavenly realm where he engages in a cosmic contest with a powerful divinity, who had fallen into the delusion that he was eternal and all-powerful.

Māra, the trickster and god of death, tried to annoy Moggallāna. He not only failed but was subject to a stern sermon warning of the dangers of attacking the Buddha’s disciples.

The Buddha discusses mindfulness meditation with lay practitioners. Contrasting the openness of animals with the duplicity of humans, he explains how to practice in a way that causes no harm to oneself or others.

Asked by a householder to teach a path to freedom, Venerable Ānanda explains no less than eleven meditative states that may serve as doors to the deathless.

The Buddha is invited by his family, the Sakyans of Kapilavatthu, to inaugurate a new community hall. He invites Venerable Ānanda to explain in detail the stages of spiritual practice for a lay trainee.

When Potaliya got upset at being referred to as “householder”, the Buddha quizzed him as to the true nature of attachment and renunciation.

The Buddha’s personal doctor, Jīvaka, hears criticisms of the Buddha’s policy regarding eating meat, and asks him about it.

The Buddha disagrees with a Jain ascetic on the question of whether physical or mental deeds are more important. When he hears of this, the Jain disciple Upāli decides to visit the Buddha and refute him, and proceeds despite all warnings.

Some ascetics in ancient India undertook extreme practices, such as a vow to behave like an ox or a dog. The Buddha meets two such individuals, and is reluctantly pressed to reveal the kammic outcomes of such practice.

The leader of the Jains, Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta, gives his disciple Prince Abhaya a dilemma to pose to the Buddha, supposing that this will show his weakness. Things don’t go quite as planned.

The Buddha resolves a disagreement on the number of kinds of feelings that he taught, pointing out that different ways of teaching are appropriate in different contexts, and should not be a cause of disputes. He goes on to show the importance of pleasure in developing higher meditation.

The Buddha teaches a group of uncommitted householders how to use a rational reflection to arrive at practices and principles that are guaranteed to have a good outcome, even if we don’t know all the variables.

Using the “object lesson” of a cup of water, the Buddha explains to his son, Rāhula, the importance of telling the truth and reflecting on one’s motives.

The Buddha tells Rāhula to meditate on not-self, which he immediately puts into practice. Seeing him, Venerable Sāriputta advises him to develop breath meditation, but the Buddha suggests a wide range of different practices first.

A monk demands that the Buddha answer his metaphysical questions, or else he will disrobe. The Buddha compares him to a man struck by an arrow, who refuses treatment until he can have all his questions about the arrow and the archer answered.

A little baby has no wrong views or intentions, but the underlying tendency for these things is still there. Without practicing, they will inevitably recur.

A monk refuses to follow the rule forbidding eating after noon, but is filled with remorse and forgiven.

Again raising the rule regarding eating, but this time as a reflection of gratitude for the Buddha in eliminating things that cause complexity and stress. The Buddha emphasizes how attachment even to little things can be dangerous.

After dismissing some unruly monks, the Buddha is persuaded to relent, and teaches them four dangers for those gone forth.

Those who practice do so not because they are failures, but because they aspire to higher freedom. When he speaks of the attainments of disciples, the Buddha does so in order to inspire.

A monk comes down to the community from the wilderness, but doesn’t behave properly. Venerable Sāriputta explains how a mendicant should behave, whether in forest or town.

A third discourse that presents the health benefits of eating in one part of the day, and the reluctance of some mendicants to follow this.

The Buddha denies being omniscient, and sets forth the three higher knowledges that form the core of his awakened insight.

Refusing to take a stance regarding useless metaphysical speculations, the Buddha illustrates the spiritual goal with the simile of a flame going out.

In the final installment of the “Vacchagotta trilogy”, Vacchagotta lets go his obsession with meaningless speculation, and asks about practice.

Deftly outmaneuvering an extreme skeptic, the Buddha discusses the outcomes of belief and disbelief. Rather than getting stuck in abstractions, he encourages staying close to the feelings one experiences.

Accused by a hedonist of being too negative, the Buddha recounts the luxury of his upbringing, and his realization of how little value there was in such things. Through renunciation he found a far greater pleasure.

Venerable Ānanda teaches a group of wanderers how there are many different approaches to the spiritual life, many of which lead nowhere.

Unlike many teachers, the Buddha’s followers treat him with genuine love and respect, since they see the sincerity of his teaching and practice.

A wanderer teaches that a person has reached the highest attainment when they keep four basic ethical precepts. The Buddha’s standards are considerably higher.

A wanderer teaches his doctrine of the “highest splendor” but is unable to give a satisfactory account of what that means. The Buddha memorably compares him to someone who is in love with an idealized women who he has never met.

Starting off similar to the previous, the Buddha goes on to explain that one is not converted to his teaching just because of clever arguments, but because you see in yourself the results of the practice.

The Buddha relates an unusual account of a past life in the time of the previous Buddha, Kassapa. At that time he was not interested in Dhamma, and had to be forced to go see the Buddha. This discourse is important in understanding the development of the Bodhisattva doctrine.

A wealthy young man, Raṭṭhapāla, has a strong aspiration to go forth, but has to prevail against the reluctance of his parents. Even after he became a monk, his parents tried to persuade him to disrobe. The discourse ends with a moving series of teachings on the fragility of the world.

A rare extended mythic narrative, telling of an ancient kingly lineage and their eventual downfall.

In Madhurā, towards the north-western limit of the Buddha’s reach during his life, King Avantiputta asks Venerable Mahākaccāna regarding the brahmanical claim to be the highest caste.

Admitting that he used to believe that pleasure was to be gained through pain, the Buddha explains how his practice showed him the fallacy of that idea.

Ignoring warnings, the Buddha ventures into the domain of the notorious killer Aṅgulimāla and succeeds in converting him to the path of non-violence. After becoming a monk Aṅgulimāla still suffered for his past deeds, but only to a small extent. He uses his new commitment to non-violence to help a woman in labor.

A rare glimpse into the marital life of King Pasenadi, and how he is led to the Dhamma by his Queen, the incomparable Mallikā. She confirms the Buddha’s teaching that our loved ones bring us sorrow; but that’s not something a husband, father, and king wants to hear.

King Pasenadi takes a chance to visit Venerable Ānanda, where he asks about skillful and unskillful behavior, and what is praised by the Buddha. He offers Ānanda a valuable cloth in gratitude.

King Pasenadi, near the end of his life, visits the Buddha, and shows moving devotion and love for his teacher.

King Pasenadi questions the Buddha on miscellaneous matters: caste, omniscience, and the gods among them.

The oldest and most respected brahmin of the age sends a student to examine the Buddha, and he spends several months following his every move before reporting back. Convinced that the Buddha fulfills an ancient prophecy of the Great Man, the brahmin becomes his disciple.

A brahmanical ascetic named Keṇiya invites the entire Saṅgha for a meal. When the brahmin Sela sees what is happening, he visits the Buddha and expresses his delight in a moving series of devotional verses.

A precocious brahmin student is encouraged against his wishes to challenge the Buddha on the question of caste. His reluctance turns out to be justified.

A brahmin denies that there is such a thing as a principled renunciate life, but Venerable Udena persuades him otherwise.

The reputed brahmin Caṅkī goes with a large group to visit the Buddha, despite the reservations of other brahmins. A precocious student challenges the Buddha, affirming the validity of the Vedic scriptures. The Buddha gives a detailed explanation of how true understanding gradually emerges through spiritual education.

A brahmin claims that one deserves service and privilege depending on caste, but the Buddha counters that it is conduct, not caste, that show a person’s worth.

A corrupt tax-collector is redeemed by his encounter with Venerable Sāriputta.

Two brahmin students ask the Buddha about what makes a brahmin: birth or deeds? The Buddha points out that, while the species of animals are determined by birth, for humans what matters is how you chose to live. This discourse anticipates the modern view that there are no such things as clearly defined racial differences among humans.

Working hard is not valuable in and of itself; what matters is the outcome. And just as in lay life, spiritual practice may or may not lead to fruitful results.

Angered by the devotion of a brahmin lady, a brahmin visits the Buddha. He positions himself against traditionalists and rationalists, as someone whose teaching is based on direct experience.

The Buddha tackles a group of Jain ascetics, pressing them on their claim to be practicing to end all suffering by self-mortification. He points out a series of fallacies in their logic, and explains his own middle way.

A middle length version of the more famous Brahmajāla Sutta (DN1), this surveys a range of speculative views and dismisses them all.

The Buddha teaches the monks to not dispute about the fundamental teachings, but to always strive for harmony.

Hearing of the death of the Jain leader Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta, the Buddha encourages the Saṅgha to swiftly resolve any disputes. He lays down a series of seven methods for resolving disputes. These form the foundation for the monastic code.

Not all of those who claim to be awakened are genuine. The Buddha teaches how true spiritual progress depends on an irreversible letting go of the forces that lead to suffering.

Beginning with profound meditation absorption, the Buddha goes on to deeper and deeper levels, showing how insight on this basis leads to the detaching of consciousness from any form of rebirth.

The Buddha compares the training of an accountant with the step by step spiritual path of his followers. But even with such a well explained path, the Buddha can only show the way, and it is up to us to walk it.

Amid rising military tensions after the Buddha’s death, Venerable Ānanda is questioned about how the Saṅgha planned to continue in their teacher’s absence. As the Buddha refused to appoint a successor, the teaching and practice that he laid down become the teacher, and the Saṅgha resolves issues by consensus.

On a lovely full moon night, one of the mendicants presents the Buddha with a series of questions that go to the heart of the teaching. But when he hears of the doctrine of not-self, another mendicant is unable to grasp the meaning.

A good person is able to understand a bad person, but not vice versa.

The Buddha describes in technical detail the process of insight of Venerable Sāriputta. Many ideas and terms in this text anticipate the Abhidhamma.

If someone claims to be awakened, their claim should be interrogated with a detailed series of detailed questions. Only if they can answer them clearly should the claim be accepted.

The Buddha explains that a truly good person does not disparage others or feel superior because of their attainment.

The Buddha sets up a framework on things to be cultivated or avoided, and Venerable Sāriputta volunteers to elaborate.

Beginning by praising a wise person, the Buddha goes on to explain that one becomes wise by inquiring into the elements, sense fields, dependent origination, and what is possible and impossible.

Reflecting on the changes that even geographical features undergo, the Buddha then recounts the names of sages of the past who have lived in Mount Isigili near Rājagaha.

A discourse on the prerequisites of right samādhi that emphasizes the interrelationship and mutual support of all the factors of the eightfold path.

Surrounded by many well-practiced mendicants, the Buddha teaches mindfulness of breathing in detail, showing how it relates to the four kinds of mindfulness meditation.

This focuses on the first aspect of mindfulness meditation, the observation of the body. This set of practices, simple as they seem, have far-reaching benefits.

The Buddha explains how one can make a wish to be reborn in different realms.

The Buddha describes his own practice of the meditation on emptiness.

A group of mendicants have taken to socializing too much, so the Buddha teaches on the importance of seclusion in order to enter fully into emptiness.

Venerable Ānanda is invited by the Buddha to speak on the Buddha’s amazing qualities, and proceeds to list a series of apparently miraculous events accompanying his birth. The Buddha caps it off by explaining what he thinks is really amazing about himself.

Venerable Bakkula, regarded as the healthiest of the mendicants, explains to an old friend his strict and austere practice. The unusual form of this discourse suggests it was added to the canon some time after the Buddha’s death.

A young monk is unable to persuade a prince of the blessings of peace of mind. The Buddha offers similes based on training an elephant that would have been successful, as this was a field the prince was familiar with.

Success in the spiritual life does not depend on any vows you may or may not make, but on whether you practice well.

A lay person becomes confused when encouraged to develop the “limitless” and “expansive” liberations, and asks Venerable Anuruddha to explain whether they are the same or different.

A second discourse set at the quarrel of Kosambī, this depicts the Buddha, having failed to achieve reconciliation between the disputing mendicants, leaving the monastery. He spends time in the wilderness before encountering an inspiring community of practicing monks. There he discusses in detail obstacles to meditation that he encountered before awakening.

A fool suffers both in this life and the next, while the astute benefits in both respects.

Expanding on the previous, this discourse contains the most detailed descriptions of the horrors of hell.

This discourse opens with a short but powerful set of verses extolling the benefits of insight into the here and now, followed by an explanation.

The same discourse as MN 131, but spoken by Venerable Ānanda.

The verses from MN 131 are explained in a different way by Venerable Mahakaccāna.

A monk who does not know the verses from MN 131 is encouraged by a deity to learn them.

The Buddha explains to a brahmin how your deeds in past lives affect you in this life.

Confronted with an overly simplistic version of his own teachings, the Buddha emphasizes the often overlooked nuances and qualifications in how karma plays out.

A detailed analysis of the six senses and the relation to emotional and cognitive processes.

The Buddha gives a brief and enigmatic statement on the ways consciousness may become attached. Venerable Mahākaccāna is invited by the mendicants to draw out the implications.

Achieving peace is no simple matter. The Buddha explains how to avoid conflict through contentment, right speech, understanding pleasure, and not insisting on local conventions.

While staying overnight in a potter’s workshop, the Buddha has a chance encounter with a monk who does not recognize him. They have a long and profound discussion based on the four elements. This is one of the most insightful and moving discourses in the canon.

Expanding on the Buddha’s first sermon, Venerable Sāriputta gives a detailed explanation of the four noble truths.

When his step-mother Mahāpajāpatī wishes to offer him a robe for his personal use, the Buddha encourages her to offer it to the entire Saṅgha instead. He goes on to explain that the best kind of offering to the Saṅgha is one given to the dual community of monks and nuns, headed by the Buddha.

As the great lay disciple Anāthapiṇḍika lies dying, Venerable Sāriputta visits him and gives a powerful teaching on non-attachment.

The monk Channa is suffering a painful terminal illness and wishes to take his own life.

On the eve of his departure to a distant country, full of wild and unpredictable people, Venerable Puṇṇa is asked by the Buddha how he would respond if attacked there.

When asked to teach the nuns, Venerable Nandaka proceeds by inviting them to engage with his discourse and ask if there is anything that needs further explanation.

The Buddha takes Rāhula with him to a secluded spot in order to lead him on to liberation.

The Buddha analyzes the six senses from six perspectives, and demonstrates the emptiness of all of them.

Explains how insight into the six senses is integrated with the eightfold path and leads to liberation.

In discussion with a group of householders, the Buddha helps them to distinguish those spiritual practitioners who are truly worthy of respect.

The Buddha notices Venerable Sāriputta’s glowing complexion, which is the result of his deep meditation. He then presents a series of reflections by which a mendicant can be sure that they are worthy of their alms-food.

A brahmin teacher advocates that purification of the senses consists in simply avoiding seeing and hearing things. The Buddha explains that it is not about avoiding sense experience, but understanding it and learning to not be affected by sense experience.