This is a list of the suttas in the Majjhima Nikaya collection of middle-length discourses, part of the Tipiṭaka Buddhist Canon. English translations were done by Bhante Sujato.
General list Sutta Parts Divisions Pali Title English Title Description MN 1Mūlapannāsapāli - The Root Fifty DiscoursesMūlapariyāya Vagga - The Division of the Discourse on the Root Mulapariyaya Sutta The Root Sequence 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. MN 2 Sabbasava Sutta All the Fermentations Also called "All The Taints" (Bhikkhu Bodhi) This sutta explains the seven ways to remove the taints by seeing, restraining, using, enduing, avoiding, removing, and by developing. MN 3 Dhammadayada Sutta Heirs in Dhamma 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. MN 4 Bhaya-bherava Sutta Fear and Terror 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. MN 5 Anangana Sutta Without Blemishes 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. MN 6 Akankheyya Sutta If a Bhikkhu Should Wish According to the Buddha, careful observance of ethical precepts is the foundation of all higher achievements in the spiritual life. MN 7 Vatthupama Sutta The Simile of the Cloth 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. MN 8 Sallekha Sutta The Discourse on Effacement 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. MN 9 Sammaditthi Sutta Right View 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. MN 10 Satipatthana Sutta Frames of Reference/Foundations of Mindfulness 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. MN 11Sīhanāda Vagga - The Division of the Lion's Roar Cula-sihanada Sutta The Shorter Discourse on the Lion's Roar 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. MN 12 Maha-sihanada Sutta The Great Discourse on the Lion's Roar 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. MN 13 Maha-dukkhakkhandha Sutta The Greater Discourse on the Mass of Suffering 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. MN 14 Cula-dukkhakkhandha Sutta The Shorter Discourse on the Mass of Suffering 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. MN 15 Anumana Sutta Inference 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. MN 16 Cetokhila Sutta The Wilderness in the Heart The Buddha explains various ways one can become emotionally cut off from one’s spiritual community. MN 17 Vanapattha Sutta Jungle Thickets 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. MN 18 Madhupindika Sutta The Ball of Honey 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. MN 19 Dvedhavitakka Sutta Two Sorts of Thinking Recounting his own experiences in developing meditation, the Buddha explains how to understand harmful and harmless thoughts, and how to go beyond thought altogether. MN 20 Vitakkasanthana Sutta The Removal of Distracting Thoughts In a practical meditation teaching, the Buddha describes five different approaches to stopping thoughts. MN 21Opamma Vagga - The Division of Similes Kakacupama Sutta The Simile of the Saw 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. MN 22 Alagaddupama Sutta The Water-Snake Simile 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. MN 23 Vammika Sutta The Ant In a curious discourse laden with evocative imagery, a deity presents a riddle to a mendicant, who seeks an answer from the Buddha. MN 24 Ratha-vinita Sutta Relay Chariots Venerable Sāriputta seeks a dialog with an esteemed monk, Venerable Puṇṇa Mantāniputta, and they discuss the stages of purification. MN 25 Nivapa Sutta The Bait 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. MN 26 Ariyapariyesana Sutta The Noble Search 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. MN 27 Cula-hatthipadopama Sutta The Shorter Elephant Footprint Simile 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. MN 28 Maha-hatthipadopama Sutta The Great Elephant Footprint Simile 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. MN 29 Maha-saropama Sutta The Greater Discourse on the Simile of the Heartwood 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. MN 30 Cula-saropama Sutta The Shorter Discourse on the Simile of the Heartwood 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. MN 31Mahāyamaka Vagga - The Great Division of Pairs Cula-gosinga Sutta The Shorter Discourse in Gosinga 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. MN 32 Maha-gosinga Sutta The Greater Discourse in Gosinga 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. MN 33 Maha-gopalaka Sutta The Greater Cowherd Discourse This sutta explains the eleven ways for a bhikkhu to make progress in the path. MN 34 Cula-gopalaka Sutta The Shorter Discourse on the Cowherd 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. MN 35 Cula-saccaka Sutta The Shorter Discourse on the Saccaka Saccaka was a debater, who challenged the Buddha to a contest. Despite his bragging, the Buddha is not at all perturbed at his attacks. MN 36 Maha-Saccaka Sutta The Greater Discourse on the Saccaka 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. MN 37 Cula-tanhasankhaya Sutta The Shorter Discourse on the Destruction of Craving Moggallāna visits the heaven of Sakka, the lord of gods, to see whether he really understands what the Buddha is teaching. MN 38 Maha-tanhasankhaya Sutta The Greater Discourse on the Destruction of Craving 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. MN 39 Maha-Assapura Sutta The Greater Discourse at Assapura 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. MN 40 Cula-assapura Sutta The Shorter Discourse at Assapura The labels of being a spiritual practitioner don’t just come from external trappings, but from sincere inner change. MN 41Cūḷayamaka Vagga - The Shorter Division of Pairs Saleyyaka Sutta The Brahmans of Sala 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. MN 42 Veranjaka Sutta The Brahmins of Veranjaka 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. MN 43 Maha-vedalla Sutta The Greater Set of Questions-and-Answers A series of questions and answers between Sāriputta and Mahākoṭṭhita, examining various subtle and abstruse aspects of the teachings. MN 44 Cula-vedalla Sutta The Shorter Set of Questions-and-Answers The layman Visākha asks the nun Dhammadinnā about various difficult matters, including some of the highest meditation attainments. The Buddha fully endorses her answers. MN 45 Cula-dhammasamadana Sutta The Shorter Discourse on Ta