Texts and Translations

Chanting Texts

Major and Minor Chanting Texts:

please note that many chanting texts that used to be listed separately in this section are now gathered together in the Safeguard Recitals book

Chanting for Meditators
(a monthly chanting schedule)

Safeguard Recitals
(a large collection of protection chants)

Daily Chanting
(a weekly chanting schedule)

Thai Chanting
(selections from the Thai tradition)

Mettabhāvanā (Śrī Laṅkā version)
Friendliness Meditation

Mettabhāvanā (Universal version)
Friendliness Meditation

Reflections
for both monastic and lay

Aggasāvikā Bhikkhunī Gāthā
The Great Nun Disciples Verses

Namakkārapāḷi
The Reverence Text

Tigumbacetiyathomanā
Praise of the Tigumba Shrine

Biographical Works

Early Sources for the Life of the Buddha:

Mahākhandhako
The Great Chapter (Vin. Mv. 1-4)

Ariyapariyesanasuttaṁ
The Discourse about the Noble Search (MN 26)

Bodhirājakumārasuttaṁ
The Discourse to Prince Bodhi (MN 85)

Udāna
Exalted Utterances (KN 3)

Pārāyanavaggo
The Way to the Beyond (Sn 5)

Mahāparinibbānasuttaṁ
The Discourse about the Great Emancipation (DN 16)

Pubbakammapilotika-Buddhāpadānaṁ
The Connection with Previous Deeds (Apadāna 39.10 & Comm.)

Nuns and Women

Works in Pāḷi centering on Nuns and Women:

Known Nun Disciples of the Buddha

Aggatherīvatthu
The Stories about the Foremost Elder Nuns (AN & AA 8.51-53)

Mahāpajāpatigotamī-tisuttāni
Three Discourses concerning Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī (AN 8.51-53)

Dakkhiṇāvibhaṅghasuttaṁ
The Analysis of Offerings (MN 142)

Bhikkhunīsaṁyutta
Thematic Discourses about Nuns (SN 5)

Nandakovāda
Nandaka’s Advice (MN 146 & MA 146 & AA 1.4.7)

Cūḷavedallasuttaṁ
The Small Discourse giving an Elaboration (MN 44 & Comms. (part))

Khemāsuttaṁ
The Discourse about Khemā (SN 44.1)

Aggasāvikā Bhikkhunī Gāthā
The Great Nun Disciples Verses

Doctrinal Works

Doctrinal Works from Pāḷi Sources:

Dhammatthavinicchaya
Dhamma Topics and their Analysis (collection)

Khuddakapāṭha
The Short Readings (KN 1)

Dhammapada
Dhamma Verses (KN 2)

Patna Dhammapada
Patna Dhamma Verses

Buddhanīti Saṅgaho
A Collection of Buddhist Wisdom Verses

Dhammacakkappavattanasuttaṁ
The Discourse that Set the Dhamma Wheel Rolling (Vinaya Mv 1)

Vāseṭṭhasuttaṁ
The Discourse concerning Vāseṭṭha
and its commentary (MN & MA 98)

Saccavibhaṅghasuttaṁ
The Discourse giving the Analysis of the Truths (MN 141)

(Paṭiccasamuppāda)-Vibhaṅgasuttaṁ
The Discourse giving the Analysis (of Conditional Origination) (SN 12.2)

Dutiya[-indriya]vibhaṅgasuttaṁ
The Second Discourse giving an Analysis of the Faculties (SN 48.10)

Titthāyatanasuttaṁ
The Belief Systems (AN 3.62)

Paṭhamakathāvatthusuttaṁ
The First Discourse on the Bases for Talk (AN 10.69)

Pattakammasuttaṁ
The Discourse about Suitable Deeds (AN 4.61)

Adhammikasuttaṁ
The Discourse on the Dishonest (AN & AA 4.70)

Ādiyasuttaṁ
The Discourse on the Right Use (of Wealth) (AN 5.41)

Chaḷaṅgadāna
The Six Factors of Giving (AN & AA 6.37)

Meditation Discourses

Works from the Pāḷi Canon on Meditation:

Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasuttaṁ
The Long Discourse about the Ways of Attending to Mindfulness (DN 22)

Mahārāhulovādasuttaṁ
The Long Discourse Giving Advice to Rāhula (MN 62)

Ānāpānasatisuttaṁ
The Discourse about Mindfulness while Breathing (MN 118)

Kāyagatāsatisuttaṁ
The Discourse about Mindfulness related to the Body (MN 119)

Mālunkyaputtasuttaṁ
The Discourse Concerning Māluṅkyaputta (SN 35. 95)

Girimānandasuttaṁ
The Discourse to Girimānanda (AN 10:60)

Abhidhamma

Some Important Works from the Abhidhamma:

Abhidhammamātikā
The Matrix from the Abstract Teaching (Dhammasaṅgaṇī 1 & 2)

Paṭiccasamuppādavibhaṅga
Analysis of Conditional Origination (Vibh. 6)

Satipaṭṭhānavibhaṅga
Analysis of the Ways of Attending to Mindfulness (Vibh. 7)

Paccayuddesaniddesa
The Enumeration and Explanation of the Conditions (Paṭṭhāna 1 & 2)

Post-Canonical Works

Some Important Works from the Post-Canonical Period:

Jātakagāthāvaṇṇanā, 1-300
The Jātaka Verses and their Word Commentaries

Ja 1 Apaṇṇakajātaka
The Story about what is Unquestionable

Ja 2 Vaṇṇupathajātaka
The Story about a Sandy Place

Ja 3 Serivavāṇijajātaka
The Story about the Tradesman from Serivā

Ja 273 Kacchapajātaka
The Story about (the Biting) Turtle

Ja 526 Naḷinikājātakaṁ
or: The Seduction of an Innocent

Kuṇālajātakanidānaṁ (from Ja 536)
or: The Buddha goes to War

Jinacaritaṁ
The Life of the Victorious Buddha (Pāḷi, 13th c. Śrī Laṁkan Text)

Dīpavaṁsa
The Chronicle of the Island

Asoka and the Missions
from the Extended Mahāvaṁsa

Non-Pāḷi Tradition

Some works in Prakrit and Sanskrit:

Dharmāloka-Mukhaṁ
Entrance into the Light of the Dharma (from Lalitavistara Ch. 4)

Uruvilvāto Ṛṣipatanaṁ Gamanaṁ
The Journey from Uruvilvā to Ṛṣipatana (Mhv pp. 322-329)

Dharmacakrapravartanasūtram
The Discourse that Set the Dharma-Wheel Rolling (from Lalitavistara)

Utpadyananirudhyanasūtram
The Discourse on Arising and Ceasing
(The Fourth Discourse of the Buddha) (Mhv pp. 443-9)

Pratītyasamutpādādivibhaṅganirdeśasūtram
The Discourse giving the Explanation and Analysis of Conditional Origination from the Beginning

Arthaviniścaya
An Analysis of the Topics

Dharma-Saṅgraha
The Dharma Collection

Karma-vibhaṅga
The Analysis of Deeds

The Buddhacarita or Life of Buddha
(Sanskrit, 1st c. C.E.)

Prajñāpāramitā-Hṛdayam
The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom

Bhadra-cari-praṇidhānam
The Aspiration for the Good Life

The texts and translations included in this section of the website are all organised in much the same way, with the text printed with a line-by-line translation. This style of presentation was originally developed, when I was first learning Pāḷi to help analyse and follow what was going on in the texts. In this regard one of the first major works I prepared was the text & translation of Pārāyanavagga.

Afterwards it seemed that the same style of presentation would be useful in regard to the texts that are used in recital. So I then proceeded to prepare Safeguard Recitals, which is a text & translation of the protection discourses that are chanted in all-night chantings; and the Daily Chanting book, which is a book used in my own Svejin Nikāya, presenting various texts that are chanted in a weekly cycle. Some of the other indidivual discourses presented in this section are also drawn from these sources.

These works were very well received by many people who saw the material, and I extended the presentation in order to help students of Pāḷi, who are able to follow what is going on in the text when an aid such as this is available. I therefore prepared a new translation of the Udāna; and also a number of discourses that related to meditation e.g. Mahāsatipaṭṭhānasutta, and Mahārāhulovādasutta.

In the past few years I have been working a lot on biographical materials from the Canon, including the story of the Buddha’s first year of teaching in the Mahākhandhaka, and the last year of his life in the Mahāparinibbānasutta. Besides this there are two Lives of the Buddha, one in Sanskrit (Buddhacarita), and the other in Medieval Pāḷi (Jinacarita).

By 2016 there are now well over 4,000 pages of materials prepared in this way. I have tended to change the way I work with the texts in recent years, making the translations in this section much more strict, and including more materials from outside the Pāḷi tradition; and rewriting the ones in the English Only section to give a much freer and more flowing interpretation.