The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha

image description
Look inside

“As close as we’ll get to the original teachings and account of the life of the Buddha.”—Tricycle

THE MIDDLE LENGTH DISCOURSES OF THE BUDDHA

A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya

Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli Bhikkhu Bodhi

This book offers a complete translation of the Majjhima Nikāya, or Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, one of the major collections of texts in the Pali Canon, the authorized scriptures of Theravāda Buddhism. This collection—among the oldest records of the historical Buddha’s original teachings—consists of 152 suttas or discourses of middle length, distinguished as such from the longer and shorter suttas of the other collections. The Majjhima Nikāya might be concisely described as the Buddhist scripture that combines the richest variety of contextual settings with the deepest and most comprehensive assortment of teachings. These teachings, which range from basic ethics to instructions in meditation and liberating insight, unfold in a fascinating procession of scenarios that show the Buddha in living dialogue with people from many different strata of ancient Indian society: with kings and princes, priests and ascetics, simple villagers and erudite philosophers. Replete with drama, reasoned argument, and illuminating parable and simile, these discourses exhibit the Buddha in the full glory of his resplendent wisdom, majestic sublimity, and compassionate humanity.

The translation is based on an original draft translation left by the English scholar-monk Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, which has been edited and revised by the American monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, who provides a long introduction and helpful explanatory notes. Combining lucidity of expression with accuracy, this translation enables the Buddha to speak across twenty-five centuries in language that addresses the most pressing concerns of the contemporary reader seeking clarification of the timeless issues of truth, value, and the proper conduct of life.

Winner of the 1995 Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Book Award, and the Tricycle Prize for Excellence in Buddhist Publishing for Dharma Discourse.

 

book information
  • Hardcover
  • 1424 pages, 5.75 x 9.00 inches
  • $75
  • ISBN 9780861710720
  • ebook
  • 1424 pages
  • $39.99
  • ISBN 9780861719822
about the author
The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha

Venerable Ñāṇamoli (1905–60) was born in England and became a monk in Sri Lanka in 1949. During the eleven years he spent as a monk, he translated from Pali into lucid English some of the most difficult texts of Theravada Buddhism, including Buddhaghosa’s Path of Purification.

The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha

Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi is an American Buddhist monk from New York City, born in 1944. He obtained a BA in philosophy from Brooklyn College and a PhD in philosophy from Claremont Graduate School. After completing his university studies he traveled to Sri Lanka, where he received novice ordination in 1972 and full ordination in 1973, both under the leading Sri Lankan scholar-monk, Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maitreya (1896-1998). From 1984 to 2002 he was the editor for the Buddhist Publication Society in Kandy, where he lived for ten years with the senior German monk, Ven. Nyanaponika Thera (1901-1994), at the Forest Hermitage. He returned to the U.S. in 2002. He currently lives and teaches at Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, New York. Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi has many important publications to his credit, either as author, translator, or editor. These include The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (Majjhima Nikāya, 1995), The Connected Discourses of the Buddha (Saṃyutta Nikaya, 2000), and The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha (Aṅguttara Nikāya, 2012). In 2008, together with several of his students, Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi founded Buddhist Global Relief, a nonprofit supporting hunger relief, sustainable agriculture, and education in countries suffering from chronic poverty and malnutrition.

Other books by Bhikkhu Bodhi:
Noble Truths, Noble Path
Reading the Buddha’s Discourses in Pāli
Buddhist Suttas for Recitation
Abhidhamma Studies
The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha
The Connected Discourses of the Buddha
In the Buddha’s Words
The Buddha’s Teachings on Social and Communal Harmony
Great Disciples of the Buddha
The Suttanipāta

There are no products in your cart.