The Pāli Canon
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The Tipiṭaka is the canon of the Theravada School and is the only complete collection of texts from an early sect of Buddhism to survive to the present day.
A closeup of a Thai, Pāli manuscript in the Wellcome Library featuring an illustration of Devas in the margin. (CC BY 4.0)
Table of Contents
- Books (20)
- Canonical Works (86)
- Readings (22)
- Audio/Video (11)
- Reference Shelf (10)
- Related Topics (5)
Books (20)
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86 pages
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Canonical Works (86)
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The canonical account of the Buddha’s first days and the story of how the religion was founded.
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A compendium of numerical dhammas, this sutta was perhaps a forerunner of the AN.
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It’s incredible, sir, it’s amazing! How the Buddha tames those who are wild
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I did not delight in the contemplative Gotama’s speech; I condemned it, rose from my seat, and left!
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… seeing this danger in association,
fare singly as the rhino’s horn. -
Why am I afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensual pleasures and unwholesome states?
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When a mendicant meditates rightly contemplating a pair of teachings in this way—diligent, keen, and resolute—they can expect one of two results: enlightenment in the present life or, if there’s something left over, non-return.
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Here, monastics, for the donor there are three factors, and for the receivers there are three factors.
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Rāhula, what do you think? Is the eye permanent or impermanent?
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I’d hold his head with my left hand, and take [the stone] out using a hooked finger of my right hand, even if it drew blood.
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The Buddha taught the meditation on the ugliness of the body, then left to go on retreat. However, many monks, misconstruing the teachings, ended up killing themselves. The Buddha taught breath meditation as a peaceful and pleasant alternative.
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Open are the doors to the deathless!
Let those with ears show their faith -
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I shall keep reciting the Way to the Beyond
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King Pasenadi entered the dwelling. He prostrated himself at the Blessed One’s feet, and then he covered the Blessed One’s feet with kisses, caressing them with his hands and pronouncing his name…
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A straightforward, annotated translation of the first chapter of the Dhammapada.
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… for a long time I have paid homage to the Buddha and the esteemed mendicants. Yet I have never before heard such a Dhamma talk
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A diligent layperson observing these duties
Ascends to the gods called Self-luminous. -
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… although I have long waited upon the Teacher and bhikkhus worthy of esteem, never before have I heard such a talk on the Dhamma
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Remember me, brahmin, as a Buddha.
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A prince or princess in the royal family, a snake, a fire, and a monk. These four things should not be looked down on or belittled because they are young.
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I have taught the Dhamma, Ānanda, without making a distinction between inside and outside. The Tathagata has no closed fist of a teacher in regard to the teachings.
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A wise person would not be too sure of themselves,
Until they have attained the end… -
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But Mahākassapa refused those deities…
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Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī, the Buddha’s foster mother, requests ordination from the Buddha. He declines, until urged to relent by Ānanda. He allows Mahāpajāpatī to go forth on eight conditions, in this very difficult sutta.
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A straightforward, annotated translation of the third chapter of the Dhammapada.
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The Buddha smiles and tells Ānanda an entertaining story of a lay anāgāmī and a reluctant renunciate at the time of the Buddha Kassapa, demonstrating that the Buddha wasn’t always so wise in his previous lives.
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A straightforward, annotated translation of the second chapter of the Dhammapada.
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If you don’t answer me, I’ll drive you insane…
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Allow me, venerable sir, to answer Citta the householder’s question.
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Endowed with these five qualities, a king’s elephant is worthy of a king…
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I had over a thousand sons who were valiant and heroic, crushing the armies of my enemies.
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… dwell with yourselves as your own island, with yourselves as your own refuge
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These four noble truths are real, not unreal, with no alteration. That is why they are called ‘noble truths.’
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Then, dear sirs, he must be an anger-eating yakkha.
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Once upon a time, I was a seer called Rohitassa of the Bhoja people. I was a sky-walker with psychic powers. I was as fast as a light arrow easily shot across the shadow of a palm tree…
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What is the one thing whose killing you approve?
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… in a future time there will be mendicants who won’t want to listen when discourses spoken by the Realized One—deep, profound, transcendent, dealing with emptiness—are being recited.
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Mara the Evil One manifested himself in the form of an ox and approached those almsbowls.
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Take a golden mountain,
made entirely of gold, and double it—
it’s still not enough for one! -
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Coming out from my day’s abiding
on Vulture Peak Mountain… -
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A beautiful reading of some of the most famous verses in Buddhism.
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That bhikkhu sees the Dhamma. Seeing the Dhamma, he sees [the Tathāgata].
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Standing to one side, that deity recited this verse…
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… the Perfectly Enlightened One is declared to be the chief among them. So too, whatever wholesome states there are, they are all rooted in diligence
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… the elephant’s footprint is declared to be the chief among them, that is, with respect to size, so too whatever wholesome states there are, they are all rooted in diligence…
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Of all kinds of fragrant flower, jasmine is said to be the best…
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… in the autumn, when the sky is clear and cloudless, the sun, ascending in the sky, dispels all darkness from space as it shines and beams…
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Evil, for the evil, is easy to do.
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What need for a well
if there were waters always? -
I did not have valuable things to offer. But still, I offered some
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Readings (22)
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… it is perhaps not so much the funeral itself, but rather the description which is so unusual and exceptional
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Ajahn Sujato’s general introduction to Sutta Central is worth a read as an overview of the Pāli Canon and an introduction into the setting of the Early Buddhist Texts.
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Examines the literary style of the Pāli Canon and explains how its textual features are a product of its performative context.
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Gender Discrimination and the Pali Canon: An Open Letter to Ayya Tathaaloka (2009) – Bhikkhu Anālayo
These two cases may already suffice for the time being to alert us to the possibility that gender discrimination in the Pāli canon may well be the result of later developments. Regarding the overall attitude towards nuns in early Buddhism, I think it stands beyond doubt that an order of nuns was in existence, and from that I would conclude that the Buddha approved of its existence.
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Audio/Video (11)
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Bhikkhu Bodhi shares with the Abhayagiri community his favorite section of the Dhammapada: verses 110–115.
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The text jumps inside me to help me out.
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So, when you’re studying Buddhism, what are you studying?
I know the answer. I’m studying me.
I’m studying me. -
A peaceful talk retelling the story of the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.
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A short introduction to the Dhammapada, from Gil Fronsdal’s 2008 translation, read by the author.
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10 min
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Reference Shelf (10)
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A diagram showing how the Pāli Canon is organized.
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A series of recordings demonstrating how to pronounce some Pāli names and terms you may come across while reading the suttas.
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A list of important terms for Teravadan Buddhists and scholars of the early canon.
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