The Four Noble Truths
จตฺตาริ อริยสจฺจานิThe four truths at the heart of every teaching, laid out the way a doctor works: name the symptom, find the ca…
4 points
Dhamma Principles
Core teachings summarised set by set from the Tipiṭaka, broken into numbered points in plain language, each with a way to apply it in daily life.
Core teachings
The Five Aggregates
ปญฺจกฺขนฺธาThe five heaps that combine into what we call "me" — look at them one at a time and no single heap turns out t…
5 points
The Three Characteristics
ติลกฺขณํThree marks shared by everything — impermanent, unable to hold its shape, and not a self. Visible in the small…
3 points
Dependent Origination
ปฏิจฺจสมุปฺปาโทThe twelve links by which suffering is produced — see any one link clearly and the chain can be cut right ther…
12 points
The Seven Noble Treasures
สตฺต อริยธนานิSeven inner treasures no thief can steal and no fire can burn — faith, virtue, moral shame, moral dread, learn…
7 points
Kamma in Seven Pairs
จูฬกมฺมวิภงฺโคThe Buddha's answer to why people are born so differently — seven pairs of cause and result, from the Cūḷakamm…
7 points
The Threefold Training
ติสฺโส สิกฺขาThe whole training condensed into three — virtue, concentration and wisdom. Every other teaching fits inside t…
3 points
The Ten Fetters
ทส สํโยชนานิTen bonds that tie the mind to suffering — a map of how far practice has actually come, measured by what has b…
10 points
The Ten Grounds of the Kālāma Sutta
เกสปุตฺตสุตฺตํTen things that are not sufficient reason to accept a claim, and the test the Buddha gave instead — judge by t…
10 points
The Four Factors of Stream-Entry
จตฺตาริ โสตาปตฺติยงฺคานิFour things the Buddha called finer than a world-ruler's treasures — unshakeable confidence in the Triple Gem,…
4 points
The Four Levels of Noble Persons
จตฺตาโร อริยปุคฺคลาFour stages of realisation, measured by which fetters have been abandoned — not by unusual experiences or anyo…
4 points
The Nine Qualities of the Buddha
นว พุทฺธคุณาThe recitation "Itipi so bhagavā…" translated phrase by phrase — a chant said daily by many who have never bee…
9 points
The Three Unwholesome Roots and Three Wholesome Roots
ตีณิ อกุสลมูลานิ · ตีณิ กุสลมูลานิThree roots of wrongdoing — greed, hatred, delusion — and three roots of good — non-greed, non-hatred, non-del…
6 points
The Five Daily Recollections
ปญฺจ อภิณฺหปจฺจเวกฺขิตพฺพฐานานิFive facts to reflect on often — ageing, illness, death, separation and ownership of one's kamma — not to beco…
5 points
The Four Unconjecturables
จตฺตาริ อจินฺเตยฺยานิFour matters not to be speculated about — thinking about them brings only exhaustion and vexation, not freedom…
4 points
Five Qualities of a Jewel of a Lay Follower
ปญฺจ อุปาสกรตนธมฺมาFive qualities of a Buddhist who is a "jewel" rather than an "outcast" lay follower — faith, virtue, not chasi…
5 points
The Similes of the Snake and the Raft
อลคทฺทูปมสุตฺตํStudying Dhamma the wrong way is like grabbing a venomous snake by the tail, and the Dhamma is like a raft for…
4 points
The Burden Discourse: The Five Aggregates as a Burden
ภารสุตฺตํThe burden, the carrier, taking it up and laying it down — a short discourse that explains all suffering throu…
4 points
Be an Island unto Yourself
อตฺตทีปา วิหรถ อตฺตสรณา อนญฺญสรณา"Dwell with yourselves as an island, yourselves as refuge, with the Dhamma as an island, the Dhamma as refuge,…
5 points
The Fundamental Teaching (Ovāda Pāṭimokkha)
โอวาทปาติโมกฺขํThree verses summing up the heart of the teaching — do no evil, cultivate the good, purify the mind — with the…
12 points
Four Things Hard to Obtain: The Blind Turtle
กิจฺโฉ มนุสฺสปฏิลาโภFour things rarely obtained — human birth, staying alive, hearing the true Dhamma, and the arising of a Buddha…
4 points
The Three Characteristics of the Conditioned
ตีณิ สงฺขตสฺส สงฺขตลกฺขณานิThree marks of everything conditioned — its arising is evident, its passing is evident, and while it persists …
4 points
The Sīvaka Discourse: Not Everything Is Due to Past Kamma
สีวกสุตฺตํIllness and feelings can arise from eight causes, and past kamma is only one of them — the Buddha rejected the…
8 points
Three Sectarian Tenets: Beliefs That Lead to Inaction
ตีณิ ติตฺถายตนานิThree doctrines the Buddha rejected — everything is due to past kamma, everything is due to a creator's will, …
4 points
The Salt Crystal Discourse
โลณกสุตฺตํThe same bad deed doesn't bear the same result — a lump of salt makes a cup of water undrinkable but does noth…
4 points
The Three Kinds of Miracle
ตีณิ ปาฏิหาริยานิPsychic power, mind-reading and instruction — the Buddha refused to use psychic powers to win faith, and prais…
3 points
The Outcast Discourse: Not by Birth
วสลสุตฺตํ"One is not an outcast by birth, nor a brahmin by birth. By action one becomes an outcast; by action one becom…
6 points
The Four Great References: Checking Whether It Is Really the Teaching
จตฺตาโร มหาปเทสาThe Buddha's own criteria for checking whether something claimed as his word really is — whoever it is said to…
5 points
The Eight Wonders of the Ocean and the Dhamma
อฏฺฐ อจฺฉริยา อพฺภุตา ธมฺมาEight qualities of the great ocean the Buddha compared to his Dhamma and discipline — gradually deepening, nev…
8 points
The Noble Search
อริยปริเยสนสุตฺตํMost people seek things that age, sicken and die just as they do. The Buddha tells how he turned to seek what …
5 points
The Greater Mass of Suffering: Gratification, Danger and Escape
มหาทุกฺขกฺขนฺธสุตฺตํEverything has three sides to see in full — what is gratifying, what is dangerous, and the way out. The Buddha…
5 points
The Dog-Duty Ascetic: Four Kinds of Kamma
จตฺตาริ กมฺมานิDark kamma, bright kamma, kamma both dark and bright, and kamma neither dark nor bright that leads to the endi…
4 points
The Soṇadaṇḍa Discourse: Virtue and Wisdom Purify Each Other
โสณทณฺฑสุตฺตํA brahmin said a true brahmin needs five qualities, but dropped them one by one until only two remained that c…
6 points
The Māgandiya Discourse: The Leper and the Fire
มาคณฺฑิยสุตฺตํA leper feels relief scorching his sores over a fire, but once cured, no one would want to go back to the fire…
5 points
The Ye Dhammā Verse: What Assaji Said
เย ธมฺมา เหตุปฺปภวาThe short verse Assaji spoke to Upatissa (later Sāriputta): things arise from causes; the Tathāgata has told t…
5 points
The Shorter Elephant Footprint Simile: Don't Conclude from Footprints
จูฬหตฺถิปโทปมสุตฺตํA skilled elephant tracker does not conclude from a big footprint until he sees the elephant itself. True conf…
5 points
The Shorter Discourse on the Destruction of Craving: Nothing Is Worth Clinging To
สพฺเพ ธมฺมา นาลํ อภินิเวสายSakka asks for the briefest teaching on the destruction of craving; the Buddha says, "Nothing is worth clingin…
5 points
The Discourse to Gaṇaka Moggallāna: The Tathāgata Only Shows the Way
มคฺคกฺขายี ตถาคโตTraining in the Dhamma is gradual, like a staircase. Why then do some reach nibbāna and others not? Because th…
5 points
The Greater Heartwood Simile: Don't Mistake the Branches for the Heartwood
มหาสาโรปมสุตฺตํSomeone looking for heartwood who carries off the branches and leaves, the outer bark, the inner bark or the s…
7 points
The Inquirer: Examining Even the Teacher
วีมํสกสุตฺตํThe Buddha tells monks to examine him to see whether he is truly enlightened: by observing what can be seen an…
7 points
The Incontrovertible Teaching: The Course That Is Safe Either Way
อปณฺณกสุตฺตํWithout a teacher they trust, and facing conflicting views such as whether there is another world or whether a…
7 points
The Shorter Discourse to Māluṅkyaputta: The Poisoned Arrow
อพฺยากตญฺจ เม อพฺยากตโต ธาเรถMāluṅkyaputta threatens to leave the robe unless the Buddha answers whether the world is eternal, whether the …
6 points
Monuments to the Dhamma: Why the King Had Confidence
ธมฺมเจติยสุตฺตํKing Pasenadi kisses the Buddha's feet, then describes what he has seen with his own eyes that gives him confi…
8 points
The Discourse with Caṅkī: Preserving, Discovering and Arriving at Truth
จงฺกีสุตฺตํA young brahmin asks whether brahmins can claim "only this is true". The Buddha distinguishes three stages: pr…
8 points
The Shorter Discourse to Saccaka: No One Can Command the Aggregates
จูฬสจฺจกสุตฺตํThe debater Saccaka set out to refute the teaching of non-self. The Buddha asked: if form is your self, can yo…
8 points
The Greater Discourse to Vacchagotta: A Teaching Truly Realised by Many
มหาวจฺฉโคตฺตสุตฺตํVacchagotta asks for a brief teaching on the wholesome and unwholesome, then asks whether anyone has actually …
8 points
The Discourse to Sandaka: Choosing Teachers and Teachings Wisely
สนฺทกสุตฺตํĀnanda explains to the wanderer Sandaka four doctrines that make the holy life meaningless and four kinds of h…
8 points
The Greater Discourse to Sakuludāyī: Why Disciples Truly Honour Their Teacher
มหาสกุลุทายิสุตฺตํSakuludāyī thinks disciples honour the Buddha for five qualities of frugality and contentment. The Buddha reje…
7 points
The Discourse at Kaṇṇakatthala: No One Knows Everything at Once
กณฺณกตฺถลสุตฺตํKing Pasenadi asks about knowing and seeing everything, the four castes, devas and Brahmā. The Buddha says no …
7 points
The Discourse to Subha: Householder or Renunciant, Right Practice Succeeds
สุภสุตฺตํThe young brahmin Subha asks whether householders or renunciants accomplish the wholesome. The Buddha says eit…
7 points
The Request: Lotuses in the Pond and the Choice to Teach
อายาจนสุตฺตํAfter awakening, the Buddha inclines not to teach, since the Dhamma is deep and people delight in attachment. …
7 points
The Siṃsapā Discourse: Leaves in the Hand
สีสปาสุตฺตํThe Buddha picks up a few siṃsapā leaves and says that what he knows but has not taught is as many as the leav…
6 points
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