A Thematic Guide to the Majjhima Nikāya

Nicked from @mikenz66 post at
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?t=19951

I. The Buddha’s Enlightenment

MN 26 Ariyapariyesana Sutta
MN 4 Bhayabherava Sutta
MN 36 Mahasaccaka Sutta
MN 36 Ariyapariyesana Sutta


II. Approaching the Dhamma

1. Making wise choices

AN 3.65 Kalama Sutta
MN 60 The Incontrovertible Teachings

2. Test the Buddha himself

MN 47 The Inquirer

3. Faith, practice, and attainment

MN 95 With Canki


III. The Ethical Life

1. Four ways of life

MN 46 Mahādhammasamādāna Sutta

2. Karma and its results

MN 57 Kukkuravatika Sutta
MN 135 Cūḷakammavibhanga Sutta

3. The path to a higher rebirth

MN 41 Sāleyyaka Sutta

4. Right speech and patience

MN 61 Ambalaṭṭhikārāhulovāda Sutta
MN 21 Kakacūpama Sutta


IV. Deepening One’s Perspectives on the World

1. The faults of the worldly life

MN 13 Mahādukkhakkhanda Sutta

2. The shortcomings in sensual pleasures

MN 54 Potaliya Sutta
MN 75 Māgandiya Sutta

3. The misery of saṃsāra

MN 15 Anamataggasaṃyutta Sutta

4. Raṭṭhapāla and the call to renunciation

MN 82 Raṭṭhapāla Sutta


V. The Path to Liberation

1. The purpose of the spiritual life

MN 63 Cūḷamālunkya sutta
MN 29 Mahāsāropama Sutta

2. The gradual training

MN 27 Cūḷahatthipadopama Sutta
MN 39 Mahā-Assapura Sutta

3. What makes one a monk?

MN 40 Cūḷa-Assapura Sutta

4. The benefits of virtue

MN 6 Ākankheyya Sutta

5. Purifying the mind

MN 19 Dvedhāvitakka
MN 20 Vitakkasaṇṭhāna
MN 7 Vatthūpama Sutta
MN 8 Sallekha Sutta

6. Eliminating the taints

MN 2 Sabbāsava Sutta


VI. The Practice in Detail

1. The Noble Eightfold Path

MN 117 Mahācattārīsaka Sutta

2. The way of mindfulness

MN 10 Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta

3. Mindfulness of breathing

MN 118 Ānāpānasati Sutta

4. The aids to enlightenment, etc.

MN 77 Mahāsakuludāyi Sutta


VII. The Cultivation of Wisdom

1. Right view

MN 9 Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta
MN 11 Cūḷasīhanāda Sutta
MN 22 Alaggūpama Sutta
MN 38 Mahātaṇhāsankhaya Sutta

2. Penetrative insight

MN 148 Chachakka Sutta
MN 146 Nandakovāda Sutta
MN 149 Mahāsaḷāyatanika Sutta
MN 28 Mahāhatthipadopama Sutta
MN 64 Mahāmalunkya Sutta

3. Final realization

MN 52 Aṭṭhakanāgara Sutta
MN 140 Dhātuvibhanga Sutta

4. A typology of persons

MN 1 Mūlapariyāya Sutta

5. A typology of noble disciples

MN 70 Kīṭāgiri Sutta


VIII. The Tathagata

MN 12 Mahāsīhanāda Sutta


IX. Life in the Sangha

1. Monks living in harmony

MN 31 Cūḷagosinga Sutta

2. The ideal monk

MN 32 Mahagosinga Sutta

3. A recalcitrant monk

MN 65 Bhaddāli Sutta

4. Guidelines for future harmony

MN 104 Sāmagāma Sutta

5. After the Buddha’s parinibbāna

MN 108 Gopakamoggallāna Sutta


Bhikkhu Bodhi’s audio
http://bodhimonastery.org/a-systematic-study-of-the-majjhima-nikaya.html

5 Likes

Thanks for the list. I was reading through when I came across sec IV. Deepening One’s Perspectives on the World, item 3, The misery of saṃsāra, which lists MN 15 Anamataggasaṃyutta Sutta.

This confused me, since MN 15 is a different sutta. The Anamataggasaṃyutta Sutta itself is from the Samyutta Nikāya, a collection of 20 suttas, here, here and here.

Reading through SN 15, it provides quite a thorough description of the flavours of saṃsāra, so I am guessing that the item in the list should actually be listed as SN 15 instead of MN 15.

The thematic guide to Majjhima Nikaya is connected with Bikkhu Bodhi’s book, “In the Buddha’s Words,” and chapter VI 'Deepening One’s Perspective on the World" indeed contains references to Samyutta Nikaya 15.

https://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?t=14640

Bhikkhu Bodhi’s thematic MN talks https://bodhimonastery.org/a-systematic-study-of-the-majjhima-nikaya.html preceded In the Buddh’s Words, which built on the organisational structure and used suttas from all Nikayas. From the Introduction to ITBW:

In an ongoing series of lectures I began giving at Bodhi Monastery in New Jersey in January 2003, I devised a scheme of my own to organize the contents of the Majjhima Nikāya. This scheme unfolds the Buddha’s message progressively, from the simple to the difficult, from the elementary to the profound. Upon reflection, I saw that this scheme could be applied not only to the Majjhima Nikāya, but to the four Nikāyas as a whole. The present book organizes suttas selected from all four Nikāyas within this thematic and progressive framework.

3 Likes

Bookmarked. This will come in handy. Thank you.