Words of the Buddha

Explore the Buddha’s earliest teachings through his words. Access over 1,067 texts with parallel Pāli-English translations and built-in study tools.

Reflection of the Day

“I do not see any other form that so completely obsesses a man’s mind as the form of a woman.”

AN 1.1 ·

The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame
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The Buddha cast his entire framework of liberation in the language of fire and its cessation. This essay traces that structure using what we now understand about how fire actually works.

Experience is examined starting with the texture of a single moment, to the cascade of experience, across the terrain where consciousness takes root, and to the extinguishing that is Nibbāna.

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Parallel Texts

Read Pāli and English side-by-side or interleaved, with line-by-line fidelity to the source.

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Contextual Tooltips

Click any Pāli word or translated term for on-the-spot explanations that deepen understanding.

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Bookmarks & Highlights

Save discourses and highlight key passages to build your personal collection of insights.

Discourses by Text Collections

Access over 2,200 discourses, verses, sayings, passages, and utterances from 1,067 texts with parallel Pāli-English translations

Collection
The Path of Dhamma
423 verses
100 %
As It Was Said
112 sayings
100 %
Inspired Utterances
80 utterances
100 %
Middle Length Discourses
94 discourses
62 %
The Buddha's Ancient Discourses
44 teachings
62 %
Connected Discourses
527 discourses
18 %
Numerical Discourses
934 discourses
10 %
Minor Passages
7 passages
78 %

Latest Discourses

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Though understanding impermanence and not-self, venerable Channa anxiously struggles to accept Nibbāna, wondering, “Who is my self?” Venerable Ānanda shares the Buddha’s teaching on avoiding the extremes of existence and non-existence, leading Channa to completely breakthrough to the Dhamma.

Last updated on May 21, 2026

Venerable Kaccānagotta asks the Buddha about right view, and the Buddha explains how the world depends on a duality of existence and non-existence, and how the Tathāgata teaches the Dhamma by the middle way.

Last updated on May 21, 2026

Ignorance is the failure to discern that the five aggregates are subject to arising and vanishing. True knowledge is when an instructed disciple of the Noble Ones truly discerns that these physical and mental phenomena are subject to arising and vanishing.

Last updated on May 21, 2026

While a first point of ignorance is not discerned, it can be discerned that ignorance has a supporting condition. The Buddha explains the nutriments for ignorance and the nutriments for true knowledge and liberation, along with how they are fulfilled.

Last updated on May 21, 2026

Ignorance is the forerunner in the arising of unwholesome qualities, and true knowledge is the forerunner in the arising of wholesome qualities.

Last updated on May 21, 2026

Anthologies

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Cover for In the Buddha’s Words

An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon

In In the Buddha’s Words, Bhikkhu Bodhi curates a rich anthology of discourses drawn from the Pali Canon that capture the full breadth of the Buddha’s teachings. Through these selected suttas, readers explore key themes such as impermanence, not-self, and the path to awakening, revealing how suffering arises and can ultimately be transcended. Each section is introduced with Bhikkhu Bodhi’s insightful commentary, which clarifies the practical application of the Dhamma in daily life. The book’s thematic structure provides a coherent roadmap to the Buddha’s profound insights, emphasizing their timeless relevance in overcoming the human predicament. In essence, In the Buddha’s Words serves as an invaluable guide for anyone seeking a clear and transformative overview of Early Buddhism.

By Bhikkhu Bodhi

Audiobook23/130
Cover for Noble Truths, Noble Path

The heart essence of the Buddha’s original teachings

In Noble Truths, Noble Path, Bhikkhu Bodhi brings together key suttas from the Saṁyutta Nikāya that illuminate the essence of the Buddha’s teaching - the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. Through these discourses, readers see how suffering arises, why it persists, and how it can be ended, culminating in Nibbāna. Each chapter, introduced by Ven. Bodhi, follows the structure of the Four Noble Truths, offering a clear roadmap to understand and overcome the human predicament. The book emphasizes the universal relevance of the Buddha’s radical insights and guides us toward liberation from the cycle of rebirth, making it an invaluable resource for anyone seeking a concise yet profound overview of Early Buddhism.

By Bhikkhu Bodhi

Audiobook3/96
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