Dīgha Nikāya
The Long Discourses — extended suttas on the whole path of practice.
The discourses
16 texts
DN 01 · The Brahmā Net (Brahmajāla Sutta)
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Catalogs and refutes the sixty-two speculative views about self, world, and eternity held by contemplatives of the Buddha's day.
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DN 02 · The Fruits of the Contemplative Life (Sāmaññaphala Sutta)
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Lays out the tangible rewards of monastic life, tracing the gradual training from virtue through jhāna to liberating insight.
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DN 09 · About Poṭṭhapāda (Poṭṭhapāda Sutta)
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Explores the nature and gradual cessation of perception, showing the Buddha redirecting metaphysical debate toward practice.
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DN 11 · To Kevaṭṭa (Kevaṭṭa Sutta)
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Rejects miracles and conversations with deities as grounds for faith, holding that only mental training toward liberation is trustworthy.
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DN 12 · To Lohicca (Lohicca Sutta)
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Refutes the view that a teacher who has found truth should keep it to himself, distinguishing worthy teachers from unworthy ones.
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DN 15 · The Great Causes Discourse (Mahā Nidāna Sutta)
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Gives a deep analysis of dependent co-arising and not-self, tracing causation from aging-and-death back through consciousness and name-and-form.
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DN 16 · The Great Total Unbinding Discourse (Mahā Parinibbāna Sutta)
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Narrates the Buddha's final months, last teachings, and death, culminating in his total unbinding (parinibbāna).
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DN 20 · The Great Meeting (Mahā Samaya Sutta)
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Recounts a vast gathering of devas and celestial beings from across the cosmos paying homage to the Buddha and his monks.
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DN 21 · Sakka’s Questions (Excerpt) (Sakka-pañha Sutta)
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Sakka, king of the devas, asks the Buddha to trace conflict, envy, and stinginess back to their root causes in craving.
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DN 22 · The Great Establishing of Mindfulness Discourse (Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta)
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Presents the four frames of reference—body, feelings, mind, and mental qualities—as the path for establishing mindfulness toward awakening.
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DN 26 · The Wheel-turning Emperor (Excerpt) (Cakkavatti Sutta)
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A narrative of moral decline shortening human lifespans over generations, and virtue's future restoration under a coming Buddha.
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DN 29 · The Inspiring Discourse (Pāsādika Sutta)
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Addresses how to handle schism and dispute after a teacher's death, and what marks a complete, trustworthy Dhamma-Vinaya.
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DN 33 · The Discourse for Reciting Together (Saṅgīti Sutta)
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Organizes core teachings into numbered lists, from ones to elevens, as a mnemonic device for communal recitation.
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DN 34 · Progressing by Tens (Dasuttara Sutta)
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Catalogs Dhamma teachings in groups of one through ten across ten practical categories, meant for memorization and mastery.
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DN 31 · The Discourse to Sigala (Sigalovada Sutta)
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The Buddha's ethical teaching for householders, reinterpreting a ritual of worshipping six directions as duties owed within family, social, and working relationships.
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DN 32 · Discourse on Atanatiya (Atanatiya Sutta)
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A protective verse (paritta) taught by the four guardian deities for monks' safety from harmful spirits, later chanted for protection.
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