The Majjhima Nikāya — the Middle Collection — is the second collection in the Sutta Piṭaka. It takes its name from the length of the discourses it contains: shorter than those in the Long Collection, longer than those in the Connected and Numerical Collections. There are 152 suttas in all. This anthology offers complete translations of 100 of these suttas, and excerpts from three.
The suttas in the Majjhima Nikāya are among the most interesting and informative of the Canon. However, when they were collected they were organized for ease of memorization, not for ease of study. So, as an introduction to the collection, here is a list of suttas organized by topic, from the more fundamental to the more advanced.
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Buddha, Dhp 276
Handful of Leaves: An Anthology from the Sutta Pitaka
Thānissaro BhikkhuThis all-in-one book bundles all of the sutta collections: the Dīgha, Majjhima, Saṁyutta, and Aṅguttara Nikāyas, as well as six books from the Khuddaka Nikāya…
Handful of Leaves vol. 1: An Anthology from the Digha Nikaya
Thānissaro BhikkhuThis volume is the first in a four-volume anthology of suttas (discourses) drawn from the Sutta Piṭaka (discourse basket or repository) of the Pāli Canon.
Handful of Leaves vol. 3: An Anthology from the Samyutta Nikaya
Thānissaro BhikkhuThe Saṁyutta Nikāya, a collection of short to medium-length discourses, takes its name from the way the discourses are organized into groups connected…
Handful of Leaves vol. 4: An Anthology from the Anguttara Nikaya
Thānissaro BhikkhuThe Aṅguttara Nikāya, a collection of short to medium-length discourses, takes its name from the way the discourses are grouped by the number of their parts…
Advice to Rahula: Four Discourses of the Buddha
Nyanaponika TheraThis 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
Nyanaponika TheraThis 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…