Thread, discourse
From Pali/Sanskrit 'sutta/sutra' — a thread — a discourse traditionally attributed to the Buddha or his direct disciples, 'threading together' teachings for memorization and recitation.
Suttas like the Metta Sutta and Mangala Sutta are chanted as protective Parittas across Theravada Buddhist countries, believed to generate blessings and safety through the power of the Buddha's own words.
The Heart Sutra: Avalokiteshvara tells Shariputra that form is emptiness and emptiness is form, and the sutra ends with the mantra gate gate paragate.
10 versesThe Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn 1.8): the Buddha's discourse on boundless loving-kindness toward all beings, chanted for protection.
10 versesThe Gilana Suttas (Samyutta Nikaya 46.14-16): the seven factors of awakening recited to heal the gravely ill, including the Buddha himself.
58 versesThe Mangala Sutta (Khuddakapatha 5): the Buddha answers a deva's question on the highest blessings with thirty-eight ethical and spiritual qualities.
13 versesThe Ratana Sutta (Khp 6, Sn 2.1): the Buddha's protective discourse on the Three Jewels, taught at Vesali in a time of plague and fear.
17 versesThe Buddha’s Essential Practice of Mindful Breathing
A forest disciple paralyzed by nocturnal animal cries learns from the Bodhisatta that fear begins in one's own unsettled mind, and that mindfulness dissolves it.
Suffering and Its End
The Discourse on Loving-Kindness
The Buddha’s Middle Way to Awakening
Why the 547 Jataka tales exist, how they are arranged in the Pali canon, and the frame that links a present dilemma to a past life.