Chanting › Dhammaniyāma Sutta — The Regularity of the Dhamma
Dhammaniyāma Sutta — The Regularity of the Dhamma
Suttas often chanted

Dhammaniyāma Sutta — The Regularity of the Dhamma

Dhammaniyāmasuttaṃ (uppādasuttaṃ)

A short sutta on the three truths that hold whether or not a Buddha appears: all formations are impermanent, all are suffering, and all things are not self.

When it is chanted

Being short, it is often chanted at the end of evening chanting, or before sitting meditation to settle the mind.

Some temples use it at funerals and memorial services, because it speaks about impermanence plainly, without blaming anyone and without laying anything at the door of the person who died.

If you chant it alone, go slowly, perhaps three times, then sit quietly for a while. You will notice that the three statements match what is actually happening in the mind.

Background

This sutta is in the Book of Threes of the Aṅguttara Nikāya, where it is called the Uppāda Sutta. In Thailand it is better known as the Dhammaniyāma Sutta, from the phrase dhammaniyāmatā in the text: the way things regularly are.

The content is very short. Whether or not a Tathāgata appears, the Buddha says, these three facts stand as they are. What a Tathāgata does is awaken to them and then tell, teach, make known, set out, reveal, analyse and make plain.

That sentence places the Buddha clearly: a discoverer and an explainer, not the maker of a rule. And it places the listener too — we do not have to believe because we were told; we can watch for ourselves whether what is put together really does change.

Pali

  1. Uppādā vā bhikkhave tathāgatānaṃ anuppādā vā tathāgatānaṃ Monks, whether Tathāgatas arise or do not arise,
  2. Ṭhitāva sā dhātu dhammaṭṭhitatā dhammaniyāmatā that element still stands: the way things are stable, the way things regularly are —
  3. Sabbe saṅkhārā aniccāti that all formations are impermanent.
  4. Taṃ tathāgato abhisambujjhati abhisameti A Tathāgata awakens to this and understands it.
  5. Abhisambujjhitvā abhisametvā ācikkhati deseti paññāpeti Having awakened to it and understood it, he tells it, teaches it, makes it known,
  6. Paṭṭhapeti vivarati vibhajati uttānīkaroti sets it out, reveals it, analyses it and makes it plain:
  7. Sabbe saṅkhārā aniccāti all formations are impermanent.
  8. Uppādā vā bhikkhave tathāgatānaṃ anuppādā vā tathāgatānaṃ Monks, whether Tathāgatas arise or do not arise,
  9. Ṭhitāva sā dhātu dhammaṭṭhitatā dhammaniyāmatā that element still stands: the way things are stable, the way things regularly are —
  10. Sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhāti that all formations are suffering.
  11. Taṃ tathāgato abhisambujjhati abhisameti A Tathāgata awakens to this and understands it.
  12. Abhisambujjhitvā abhisametvā ācikkhati deseti paññāpeti Having awakened to it and understood it, he tells it, teaches it, makes it known,
  13. Paṭṭhapeti vivarati vibhajati uttānīkaroti sets it out, reveals it, analyses it and makes it plain:
  14. Sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhāti all formations are suffering.
  15. Uppādā vā bhikkhave tathāgatānaṃ anuppādā vā tathāgatānaṃ Monks, whether Tathāgatas arise or do not arise,
  16. Ṭhitāva sā dhātu dhammaṭṭhitatā dhammaniyāmatā that element still stands: the way things are stable, the way things regularly are —
  17. Sabbe dhammā anattāti that all things are not self.
  18. Taṃ tathāgato abhisambujjhati abhisameti A Tathāgata awakens to this and understands it.
  19. Abhisambujjhitvā abhisametvā ācikkhati deseti paññāpeti Having awakened to it and understood it, he tells it, teaches it, makes it known,
  20. Paṭṭhapeti vivarati vibhajati uttānīkaroti sets it out, reveals it, analyses it and makes it plain:
  21. Sabbe dhammā anattāti all things are not self.
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