Buddha Vacana

— The words of the Buddha —

Siyā kho pan·ānanda, tumhākaṃ evam·assa: 'atīta·satthukaṃ pāvacanaṃ, natthi no satthā' ti. Na kho pan·etaṃ, Ānanda, evaṃ daṭṭhabbaṃ. Yo vo, Ānanda, mayā Dhammo ca Vinayo ca desito paññatto, so vo mam·accayena satthā.

To some of you, Ānanda, it may occur thus: 'The words of the Teacher have ended, there is no longer a Teacher'. But this, Ānanda, should not be so considered. That, Ānanda, which I have taught and made known to you as the Dhamma and the Vinaya, will be your Teacher after my passing away.

— Mahāparinibbāna Sutta —

Learn Pali online for free and the easy way.

This website is dedicated to those who wish to understand better the words of the Buddha by learning the basics of Pali language, but who don't have much time available for it. The idea is that if their purpose is merely to get enabled to read the Pali texts and have a fair feeling of understanding them, even if that understanding does not cover all the minute details of grammatical rules, they don't really need to spend much time struggling with a discouraging learning of tedious grammatical theory involving such things as numerous declensions and conjugations.

In that case, it is enough to limit themselves to simply learn the meaning of the most important Pali words, because the repeated experience of reading provides an empirical and intuitive understanding of the most common sentence structures. They are thus enabled to become autodidacts, choosing the time, duration, frequency, contents and depth of their own study.

Their understanding of the Buddha Vacana will become much more precise as they effortlessly learn and memorize the words and the important formulae that are fundamental in the Buddha's teaching, by ways of regular reading. Their learning and the inspiration they get from it will grow deeper as their receptivity to the messages of the Teacher will improve.

Note: This website is created by an autodidact and is meant for autodidacts. The webmaster has not followed any official Pali course and there is no claim that all the information presented here is totally free from errors. Those who want academic precision may consider joining a formal Pali course. In case the readers notice any mistake, the webmaster will be grateful if they report it via the mailbox mentioned under 'Contact'.

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Upādānīyesu bhikkhave, dhammesu assādānupassino viharato taṇhā pavaḍḍhati (...) Upādānīyesu bhikkhave, dhammesu ādīnavānupassino viharato taṇhā nirujjhati.

In one who keeps focusing on the allure of clingable phenomena, craving develops (...) In one who keeps focusing on the drawbacks of clingable phenomena, craving ceases.

SN 12.52

Bhavissanti bhikkhū anāgatam·addhānaṃ, ye te suttantā tathāgata·bhāsitā gambhīrā gambhīr·atthā lok·uttarā suññata·p·paṭisaṃyuttā, tesu bhaññamānesu na sussūsissanti na sotaṃ odahissanti na aññā cittaṃ upaṭṭhāpessanti na ca te dhamme uggahetabbaṃ pariyāpuṇitabbaṃ maññissanti.	In future time, there will be bhikkhus who will not listen to the utterance of such discourses which are words of the Tathāgata, profound, profound in meaning, leading beyond the world, (consistently) connected with emptiness, they will not lend ear, they will not apply their mind on knowledge, they will not consider those teachings as to be taken up and mastered.
Ye pana te suttantā kavi·katā kāveyyā citta·kkharā citta·byañjanā bāhirakā sāvaka·bhāsitā, tesu bhaññamānesu sussūsissanti, sotaṃ odahissanti, aññā cittaṃ upaṭṭhāpessanti, te ca dhamme uggahetabbaṃ pariyāpuṇitabbaṃ maññissanti.	On the contrary, they will listen to the utterance of such discourses which are literary compositions made by poets, witty words, witty letters, by people from outside, or the words of disciples, they will lend ear, they will apply their mind on knowledge, they will consider those teachings as to be taken up and mastered.
Evam·etesaṃ, bhikkhave, suttantānaṃ tathāgata·bhāsitānaṃ gambhīrānaṃ gambhīr·atthānaṃ lok·uttarānaṃ suññata·p·paṭisaṃyuttānaṃ antaradhānaṃ bhavissati.	Thus, bhikkhus, the discourses which are words of the Tathāgata, profound, profound in meaning, leading beyond the world, (consistently) connected with emptiness, will disappear.
Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, evaṃ sikkhitabbaṃ: ‘ye te suttantā tathāgata·bhāsitā gambhīrā gambhīr·atthā lok·uttarā suññata·p·paṭisaṃyuttā, tesu bhaññamānesu sussūsissāma, sotaṃ odahissāma, aññā cittaṃ upaṭṭhāpessāma, te ca dhamme uggahetabbaṃ pariyāpuṇitabbaṃ maññissāmā’ti. Evañhi vo, bhikkhave, sikkhitabbanti.	Therefore, bhikkhus, you should train thus: 'We will listen to the utterance of such discourses which are words of the Tathāgata, profound, profound in meaning, leading beyond the world, (consistently) connected with emptiness, we will lend ear, we will apply our mind on knowledge, we will consider those teachings as to be taken up and mastered.' This is how, bhikkhus, you should train yourselves.

— Āṇi Sutta —

Updates log:

27/01/2556 Offline version: Updated.
27/01/2556 Pubbesambodha Sutta (SN 35.13) - word by word: The Buddha defines what he means by allure, drawback and emancipation in the case of the internal sense spheres, and then declares that his awakening was nothing more nor less than understanding them.
27/01/2556 Aniccanibbānasappāya Sutta (SN 35.147) - word by word: Here are hardcore vipassanā instructions dealing with the perception of impermanence for advanced meditators who are looking forward to attaining Nibbāna.
27/01/2556 Dukkhanibbānasappāya Sutta (SN 35.148) - without translation: Here are hardcore vipassanā instructions dealing with the perception of suffering for advanced meditators who are looking forward to attaining Nibbāna.
27/01/2556 Anattanibbānasappāya Sutta (SN 35.149) - without translation: Here are hardcore vipassanā instructions dealing with the perception of nonself for advanced meditators who are looking forward to attaining Nibbāna.
27/01/2556 Rūpārāma Sutta (SN 35.137) - word by word: The Buddha explains for us once more, in yet another way, the cause and the cessation of suffering. It takes place right in the middle of what we keep doing all day and all night.
27/01/2556 Pamādavihārī Sutta (SN 35.97) - word by word: What makes the difference between one who lives with negligence and one who lives with vigilance.
25/01/2556 Abhijāna Sutta (SN 22.24) - word by word: Two conditions (doubled as four with synonyms) for the destruction of suffering: full understanding and abandoning. One should remain aware not to focus on only one of these two.
25/01/2556 Nandikkhaya Sutta (SN 22.51) - word by word: How to operate the destruction of delight.
25/01/2556 Nīvaraṇa Sutta (AN 9.64) - word by word: How to remove the five hindrances.
25/01/2556 Sikkhādubbalya Sutta (AN 9.63) - word by word: What to do if one is not yet perfect in the five precepts.
25/01/2556 Sakkapañhā Sutta Sutta (SN 35.118) - word by word: The Buddha gives a rather simple answer to Sakka's question: what is the reason why some people attain the final goal while others don't?
25/01/2556 Migajāla Sutta Sutta (SN 35.64) {excerpt} - word by word: Some neophytes (and we may often count ourselves among them) sometimes want to believe that it is possible to delight in sensual pleasures without giving rise to attachment nor suffering. The Buddha teaches Migajāla that this is downright impossible.
25/01/2556 Adantāgutta Sutta (SN 35.94) - word by word: Here is one of those advises which are so easy to understand with the intellect, yet so difficult to understand at deeper levels because our wrong views constantly interfere in the process. Therefore we need to get it repeated often, even though that may seem boring to some.
25/01/2556 Kusala Sutta (SN 46.32) - word by word: All that is advantageous unite in one thing.
25/01/2556 Ajjhattānattahetu Sutta (SN 35.142) - word by word: How investigating the causes for the arising of the sense organs, in which the characteristic of nonself may be easier to understand, allows a transfer of this understanding to their case.
25/01/2556 Samādhi Sutta (SN 22.5) - word by word: The Buddha exhorts his followers to develop concentration so that they can practice insight into the arising and passing away of the five aggregates, after which he defines what he means by arising and passing away of the aggregates, in terms of dependent origination.
25/01/2556 Paṭisallāṇa Sutta (SN 22.6) - without translation: The Buddha exhorts his followers to practice seclusion so that they can practice insight into the arising and passing away of the five aggregates, after which he defines what he means by arising and passing away of the aggregates, in terms of dependent origination.
25/01/2556 Siṃsapāvana Sutta (SN 56.31) - word by word: The famous sutta where the Buddha states that he has no interest in baroque teachings which are not immediately connected with attaining the goal.
25/01/2556 Phassamūlaka Sutta (SN 36.10) - word by word: The three types of feelings are rooted in three types of contacts.
25/01/2556 Samādhibhāvanā Sutta (AN 4.41) - word by word: The four types of concentration that the Buddha commends. It is quite obvious here that no clear distinction is made between samādhi and paññā.
25/01/2556 Indriyabhāvanā Sutta (MN 152) - word by word: This sutta offers three approaches to the practice of sense restraint, that contain additional instructions complementing the Indriyesu Guttadvāratā formulae.