Thus Have I Heard: Readings From the Sutras of the Buddha

The Sutra on Right View

Here are excerpts from the more lengthy Sammaditthi Sutta, the sutta on Right View. This sutta, a dialogue between the venerable Sariputta and a group of bikkhus, explores what constitutes "right view," considering ideas such as what is wholesome and unwholesome, the Four Noble Truths, and how the roots of our suffering abide in our feelings, clinging,  and craving.

Thus Have I Heard: Readings From the Sutras of the Buddha (Trailer)

Discourse of Advice to Rahula

In this reading from the suttas, the monk Rahula receives advice from the Buddha. This sutta is the origin of  meditation on the elements - earth, water, fire, air, and space. Each is defined, and the Buddha notes the dispassion of each... "Just as people throw clean things and dirty things on the earth, and the earth is not repelled, humiliated, and disgusted because of that, so too, Rahula, develop meditation that is like the earth; for when you develop meditation that is like the earth, a...

To the Kalamas

This reading of the Kalama Sutta is from the Anguttara Nikaya. Here, the Buddha travels to a village of the Kalamas called Kesaputta. The people there, having heard the teachings of many wandering ascetics, express their doubt to the Buddha as to whom to believe. In the ensuing dialogue, the Buddha encourages them to not simply address teachings on their face value, but to examine any teaching from the point of view of their own personal experience.

The Removal of Distracting Thoughts

In this sutra, The Removal of Distracting Thoughts, the Buddha examines thought patterns based in greed, hate and delusion. Seeing that these thoughts lead to suffering, the Buddha details strategies for abandoning them, leaving the mind "quieted, brought to singleness, and concentrated."

Two Kinds of Thought

In the Dvedhavtikka Sutra, Two Kinds of Thought, the Buddha teaches how to consider thoughts along two lines -- those which obstruct wisdom and those which do not.