The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [28]
7. Vatthūpama Sutta: The Simile of the Cloth. With a simple simile the Buddha illustrates the difference between a defiled mind and a pure mind.
8. Sallekha Sutta: Effacement. The Buddha rejects the view that the mere attainment of the meditative absorptions is effacement and explains how effacement is properly practised in his teaching.
9. Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta: Right View. A long and important discourse by the venerable Sāriputta, with separate sections on the wholesome and the unwholesome, nutriment, the Four Noble Truths, the twelve factors of dependent origination, and the taints.
10. Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta: The Foundations of Mindfulness. This is one of the fullest and most important suttas by the Buddha dealing with meditation, with particular emphasis on the development of insight. The Buddha begins by declaring the four foundations of mindfulness to be the direct path for the realisation of Nibbāna, then gives detailed instructions on the four foundations: the contemplation of the body, feelings, mind, and mind-objects.
11. Cūḷasīhanāda Sutta: The Shorter Discourse on the Lion’s Roar. The Buddha declares that only in his Dispensation can the four grades of noble individuals be found, explaining how his teaching can be distinguished from other creeds through its unique rejection of all doctrines of self.
12. Mahāsīhanāda Sutta: The Greater Discourse on the Lion’s Roar. The Buddha expounds the ten powers of a Tathāgata, his four kinds of intrepidity, and other superior qualities, which entitle him to “roar his lion’s roar in the assemblies.”
13. Mahādukkhakkhandha Sutta: The Greater Discourse on the Mass of Suffering. The Buddha explains the full understanding of sensual pleasures, material form, and feelings; there is a long section on the dangers in sensual pleasures.
14. Cūḷadukkhakkhandha Sutta: The Shorter Discourse on the Mass of Suffering. A variation on the preceding, ending in a discussion with Jain ascetics on the nature of pleasure and pain.
15. Anumāna Sutta: Inference. The venerable Mahā Moggallāna enumerates the qualities that make a bhikkhu difficult to admonish and teaches how one should examine oneself to remove the defects in one’s character.
16. Cetokhila Sutta: The Wilderness in the Heart. The Buddha explains to the bhikkhus the five “wildernesses in the heart” and the five “shackles in the heart.”
17. Vanapattha Sutta: Jungle Thickets. A discourse on the conditions under which a meditative monk should remain living in a jungle thicket and the conditions under which he should go elsewhere.
18. Madhupiṇḍika Sutta: The Honeyball. The Buddha utters a deep but enigmatic statement about “the source through which perceptions and notions tinged by mental proliferation beset a man.” This statement is elucidated by the venerable Mahā Kaccāna, whose explanation is praised by the Buddha.
19. Dvedhāvitakka Sutta: Two Kinds of Thought. With reference to his own struggle for enlightenment, the Buddha explains the way to overcome unwholesome thoughts and replace them by wholesome thoughts.
20. Vitakkasaṇṭhāna Sutta: The Removal of Distracting Thoughts. The Buddha teaches five methods for dealing with the unwholesome thoughts that may arise in the course of meditation.
21. Kakacūpama Sutta: The Simile of the Saw. A discourse on the need to maintain patience when addressed with disagreeable words.
22. Alagaddūpama Sutta: The Simile of the Snake. A bhikkhu named Ariṭṭha gives rise to a pernicious view that conduct prohibited by the Buddha is not really an obstruction. The Buddha reprimands him and, with a series of memorable similes, stresses the dangers in misapplying and misrepresenting the Dhamma. The sutta culminates in one of the most impressive disquisitions on non-self found in the Canon.
23. Vammika Sutta: The Ant-hill. A deity presents a monk with an obscure riddle, which is unravelled for him by the Buddha.
24. Rathavinīta Sutta: The Relay Chariots. The venerable Puṇṇa Mantāṇiputta explains to Sāriputta that the goal of the holy life, final