Buddhist Canonical
Texts

Theravāda Canon (Tipiṭaka)

• Majjhimanikāya:
  • Aṅgulimāla Sutta. MN 86
    —A bloodthirsty robber's conversion shows the universal human potential for spiritual progress.
• Saṃyuttanikāya:
  • Parinibbana Sutta. SN 6:15 (Sagathavagga. Brahmasamyutta. Parinibbāna Sutta)
    —Four eyewitness accounts of the passing away of the Buddha.
  • The Fire Sermon. SN 35.28 (Ādittapariyāya Sutta)
        — In this discourse, the Buddha preaches about achieving liberation from suffering through detachment from the five senses and mind.
  • Magga-vibhanga Sutta. SN 45.8 (Magga-vibhanga Sutta)
    — The Buddha explains and defines the Noble Eightfold Path.
  • Turning the Wheel of Dhamma Sutta. SN 56:11 (Dhammacakkapavattana Sutta)
    — The Buddha's first discourse in which he discusses the Middle Way, the Noble Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths.
• Anguttaranikāya:
  • Kalama Sutta. AN 3:65 (Tikanipata. Kalamasutta)
    — The Buddha's instructions on how one should decide which religious teaching to accept as true.
• Khuddakanikāya:
  • Suttanipāta:
    • The Karaniya Metta Sutta. SN 1.8 (Mettasutta)
      — This sutta extols the practice of the Buddhist virtue of metta, or unconditional love and kindness.
  • Jātaka:
    • The Great Monkey King. Jat 407 (Mahākapijātaka)

Mahāyāna Tradition Canon (Tripiṭaka)

• The Diamond Sutra (Prajñāpāramitā.Vajracchedikā)
  — This sutra teaches the practice avoiding extremes of mental attachment.
• Heart Sutra (Prajñāpāramitā. Hṛdaya)
  — This short sutra describes the experience of liberation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara (Guan Yin, Kannon).
• Kannon Sutra [Lotus Sutra, Chap. 25] (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra. Avalokiteśvarasamantamukhaparivarta)
  — The Buddha explains Avalokiteśhvara's role as a bodhisattva.
• The Larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra (Sukhāvatīvyūha (Larger))
  — The Buddha relates the story of Dharmakara who became Amitābha Buddha.
• The Smaller Sukhavativyuha Sutra (Sukhāvatīvyūha (Smaller))
  — The Buddha describes the Western Pure Land and what one should do to be reborn there.

Other Canonical Texts

• Dhammapada. (Khuddakanikāya. Dhammapada)
  — Translated by Thomas Byrom. An anthology of 423 verses, long considered the most succinct expression of the Buddha's teaching.

• Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra)
  — Translated by the Buddhist Text Translation Society, Dharma Realm Buddhist Association. Among the important concepts explained is skillful means (upāya), usually in the form of parables.
• The Tathagatagarbha Sutra (Tathāgatagarbhasūtra)
  — The Buddha describes the existence of the tathagatagarbha (buddha-matrix, buddha-embryo, buddha-essence) within all sentient creatures.
• Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa)
  —Translated by Robert A. F. Thurman, c1976, The Pennsylvania State University.