Nyanaponika Thera

Nyanaponika Thera

Nyanaponika Thera

Nyanaponika Thera (Siegmund Feniger) was born on 21 July 1901 in Hanau, Germany. He came into contact with Buddhism early in his youth and left for Sri Lanka in 1936, where he was ordained as a novice and a year later as a monk by the famous German monk Nyanatiloka.

Interned in camps like Dehra Dun’s in India, he worked intensively during the war years on translations of Pali texts. Not only as author of the now classic The Heart of Buddhist Meditation and of many other books and translations, but also as co-founder in 1958, editor and president of the Buddhist Publication Society he made a great contribution to the international dissemination of the Theravāda teachings. He died on October 19, 1994 in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

Abhidhamma Studies
28-12-22
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Abhidhamma Studies

Nyanaponika Thera

The Abhidhamma, the third great division of early Buddhist teaching, expounds a revolutionary system of philosophical psychology rooted in the twin Buddhist…

Advice to Rāhula: Four Discourses of the Buddha
20-08-23

Advice to Rāhula: Four Discourses of the Buddha

Nyanaponika Thera

“A son has been born to thee, O prince!” this was the message that reached Prince Siddhattha when returning from a drive through the city of Kapilavatthu and a…

Advice to Rahula: Four Discourses of the Buddha
28-12-22
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Advice to Rahula: Four Discourses of the Buddha

Nyanaponika Thera

This book contains a collection of teachings the Buddha gave to his son Rahula. The first of the texts translated here, the Exhortation to Rāhula given at…

Anguttara Nikaya Anthology
28-12-22
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Anguttara Nikaya Anthology

Nyanaponika Thera

This book contains an anthology of 154 selected discourses from the Pali canon. The original translation was by Nyanaponika Thera and was published in the BPS…

Devotion in Buddhism
05-04-18

Devotion in Buddhism

Nyanaponika Thera

The Buddha repeatedly discouraged any excessive veneration paid to him personally. He knew that an excess of purely emotional devotion can obstruct or disturb…

Devotion in Buddhism: Three Essays
29-12-22
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Devotion in Buddhism: Three Essays

Nyanaponika Thera

Religion and devotion are inseparable, and Buddhism is no exception to this rule. Theravada, or Buddhism based on the Pali Tipiṭaka, the original Teachings of…

Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Works and Legacy
28-12-22
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Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Works and Legacy

Nyanaponika Thera

Twenty-four of the Buddha's most distinguished disciples are brought to life in ten chapters of rich narration. They include monks who were very close to him…

Mudita: The Buddha’s Teaching on Unselfish Joy
29-12-22
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Mudita: The Buddha’s Teaching on Unselfish Joy

Nyanaponika Thera

This book contains several short essays, one by the editor, Venerable Nyanaponika, and three by lay practitioners on one of the lesser known and too-little…

Stories of Old: Gathered from the Pali Commentaries
29-12-22
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Stories of Old: Gathered from the Pali Commentaries

Nyanaponika Thera

These stories have been collected from the ancient commentaries to the Pali Canon that were compiled and translated in Sri Lanka by Venerable Buddhaghosa in the…

Taming the Mind: Discourses of the Buddha
29-12-22
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Taming the Mind: Discourses of the Buddha

Nyanaponika Thera

Selected discourses of the Buddha on meditation and the mind, compiled by the renowned Buddhist monk Nyanaponika Thera.

The Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest
28-12-22
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The Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest

Nyanaponika Thera

Many are the obstacles which block the road to spiritual progress, but there are five in particular which, under the name of hindrances (nivarana)…

The Four Nutriments of Life
29-12-22
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The Four Nutriments of Life

Nyanaponika Thera

All beings subsist on nutriment” — this, according to the Buddha, is the one single fact about life that, above all, deserves to be remembered…

The Four Sublime States & The Practice of Loving-Kindness (Metta)
28-12-22
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The Four Sublime States & The Practice of Loving-Kindness (Metta)

Nyanaponika Thera

This booklet contains two essays: Four Sublime States by Nyanaponika Thera and The Practice of Loving-Kindness (Mettā) by Ñāṇamoli Thera. The “four sublime…

The Greater Discourse on the Elephant-Footprint Simile
29-12-22
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The Greater Discourse on the Elephant-Footprint Simile

Nyanaponika Thera

The Greater Discourse on the Elephant-footprint Simile (Mahāhatthipadopama Sutta) is the 28th sutta of the Majjhima-Nikāya (Middle Collection).

The Heart of Buddhist Meditation
28-12-22
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The Heart of Buddhist Meditation

Nyanaponika Thera

This is a classic text on the essence of Buddhist meditation. It is an excellent, indepth description of mindfulness practice and its benefits.

The Life of Sariputta
29-12-22
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The Life of Sariputta

Nyanaponika Thera

Sariputta is a man of profound intellect and sublime nature, a true disciple of the Great Teacher, whose story we have set down, to the best of our ability…

The Power of Mindfulness
29-12-22
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The Power of Mindfulness

Nyanaponika Thera

This is a commentary on the Satipatthana mindfulness meditation, an inquiry into the scope of their attention and the principal sources of its strength.

The Roots of Good and Evil
28-12-22
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The Roots of Good and Evil

Nyanaponika Thera

Greed, hatred, and delusion – these are the three bad roots in us. Conversely the good ones are non-greed (i.e generosity), non-hatred (love)…

The Simile of the Cloth, and the Discourse on Effacement
29-12-22
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The Simile of the Cloth, and the Discourse on Effacement

Nyanaponika Thera

This discourse of the Buddha — the seventh in the Collection of Middle Length Texts (Majjhima Nikaya) — deals first with a set of sixteen defilements of the…

The Snake Simile
29-12-22
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The Snake Simile

Nyanaponika Thera

The discourse of the Buddha on the Snake Simile (Alagaddupama Sutta) that is presented here, together with explanatory notes taken mostly from the commentarial…

The Threefold Refuge
29-12-22
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The Threefold Refuge

Nyanaponika Thera

In making an actual and intelligent use of that fourfold devotional Road of the Ancients, we shall preserve the most popular religious practice in the Buddhist…

The Vision of Dhamma
28-12-22
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The Vision of Dhamma

Nyanaponika Thera

The distinguished German scholar-monk Nyanaponika Thera explains some of the core issues in the teachings of the Buddha in lucid and accessible language.

Three Cardinal Discourses of the Buddha
28-12-22
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Three Cardinal Discourses of the Buddha

Nyanaponika Thera

This booklet contains the first three discourses that the Buddha gave after his Awakening. In these three discourses the Buddha displays the fundamental…