Majjhima Nikāya
The Middle-Length Discourses — the core teachings, in narrative discourses.
The discourses
111 texts
MN 111 · One After Another (Anupada Sutta)
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Sāriputta's meditation is analyzed factor by factor through the jhānas and formless states, showing insight arising moment by moment.
BuddhismSutta PiṭakaTextIndianThe BuddhaṬhānissaro BhikkhuMajjhima NikāyaDiscoursePaliEarly BuddhistLibrary
MN 113 · A Person of Integrity (Sappurisa Sutta)
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The qualities of a superior person are contrasted with those of an inferior one, who takes pride in status or attainment.
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MN 117 · The Great Forty (Mahā Cattārīsaka Sutta)
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A detailed exposition of the noble eightfold path, showing right view as forerunner and distinguishing mundane from transcendent factors.
BuddhismSutta PiṭakaTextIndianThe BuddhaṬhānissaro BhikkhuMajjhima NikāyaDiscoursePaliEarly BuddhistLibrary
MN 118 · Mindfulness of Breathing (Ānāpānasati Sutta)
BuddhismSutta PiṭakaTextIndianThe BuddhaṬhānissaro BhikkhuMajjhima NikāyaDiscoursePaliEarly BuddhistLibrary
Sixteen steps of mindfulness of in-and-out breathing, fulfilling the four establishings of mindfulness and the factors of awakening.
BuddhismSutta PiṭakaTextIndianThe BuddhaṬhānissaro BhikkhuMajjhima NikāyaDiscoursePaliEarly BuddhistLibrary
MN 119 · Mindfulness Immersed in the Body (Kāyagatā-sati Sutta)
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The many forms and benefits of mindfulness immersed in the body, from postures and bodily parts to cemetery contemplations.
BuddhismSutta PiṭakaTextIndianThe BuddhaṬhānissaro BhikkhuMajjhima NikāyaDiscoursePaliEarly BuddhistLibrary
MN 121 · The Shorter Discourse on Emptiness (Cūḷa Suññata Sutta)
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The Buddha describes progressive stages of meditative emptiness, moving through perceptions toward an unshakable, undistorted dwelling of mind.
BuddhismSutta PiṭakaTextIndianThe BuddhaṬhānissaro BhikkhuMajjhima NikāyaDiscoursePaliEarly BuddhistLibrary
MN 122 · The Greater Discourse on Emptiness (Mahā Suññata Sutta)
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Practical guidance on developing, sustaining, and safeguarding a meditative dwelling in emptiness, and on proper conduct toward one's teacher.
BuddhismSutta PiṭakaTextIndianThe BuddhaṬhānissaro BhikkhuMajjhima NikāyaDiscoursePaliEarly BuddhistLibrary
MN 123 · Amazing & Astounding Qualities (Acchariy’abbhūtadhamma Sutta)
BuddhismSutta PiṭakaTextIndianThe BuddhaṬhānissaro BhikkhuMajjhima NikāyaDiscoursePaliEarly BuddhistLibrary
Ānanda recounts the marvelous events surrounding the Buddha's conception, birth, and early life as signs of his awakened nature.
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MN 125 · The Level of the Tamed (Dantabhūmi Sutta)
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The gradual taming of an untrained mind is compared to the training of a wild elephant, step by careful step.
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MN 126 · To Bhūmija (Bhūmija Sutta)
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Right view and the eightfold path, not mere wishing or aspiration, are shown as the true condition for the fruits of the holy life.
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MN 128 · Defilements (Upakkilesa Sutta)
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The mental defilements—doubt, sloth, fear, agitation—that obscure inner light and concentration, taught after the Kosambī monks' quarrel.
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MN 130 · The Deva Messengers (Devadūta Sutta)
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The five deva messengers—a newborn, the aged, the sick, a punished criminal, a corpse—as warnings that spur heedful conduct before death and judgment.
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MN 131 · An Auspicious Day (Bhaddekaratta Sutta)
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Not chasing the past or future but clearly seeing present phenomena, developing the heart with ardent, unshaken attention today.
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MN 133 · Mahā Kaccāna & the Auspicious Day (MahāKaccāna Bhaddekaratta Sutta)
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Mahā Kaccāna's detailed exposition of the "auspicious day" verses, showing how clinging to the five aggregates through past, future, and present arises and is abandoned.
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MN 135 · The Shorter Analysis of Action (Cūḷa Kamma-vibhaṅga Sutta)
BuddhismSutta PiṭakaTextIndianThe BuddhaṬhānissaro BhikkhuMajjhima NikāyaDiscoursePaliEarly BuddhistLibrary
Why human beings differ in lifespan, health, beauty, status, and wealth: the law that beings are owners and heirs of their own actions.
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MN 136 · The Greater Analysis of Action (Mahā Kamma-vibhaṅga Sutta)
BuddhismSutta PiṭakaTextIndianThe BuddhaṬhānissaro BhikkhuMajjhima NikāyaDiscoursePaliEarly BuddhistLibrary
A fuller account of kamma correcting simplistic views, showing how present conduct, intention, and prior results interweave in producing outcomes.
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MN 137 · An Analysis of the Six Sense-Media (Saḷāyatana-vibhaṅga Sutta)
BuddhismSutta PiṭakaTextIndianThe BuddhaṬhānissaro BhikkhuMajjhima NikāyaDiscoursePaliEarly BuddhistLibrary
The six sense media and the two kinds of feeling, renunciation-based and household-based, distinguishing which forms of distress and joy serve the path.
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MN 138 · An Analysis of the Statement (Uddesa-vibhaṅga Sutta)
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Guarding consciousness so it is neither scattered outward toward objects nor fixated inward, cutting the seed of future birth and stress.
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MN 140 · An Analysis of the Properties (Dhātu-vibhaṅga Sutta)
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The six properties—earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness—as the basis of a person, taught to the wanderer Pukkusāti in a potter's shed.
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MN 141 · An Analysis of the Truths (Sacca-vibhaṅga Sutta)
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Sāriputta's exposition of the four noble truths first set forth at Isipatana: stress, its origin, its cessation, and the path to its end.
BuddhismSutta PiṭakaTextIndianThe BuddhaṬhānissaro BhikkhuMajjhima NikāyaDiscoursePaliEarly BuddhistLibrary