Majjhima Nikaya

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The Majjhima Nikaya ("collection of medium-length treatises", abbreviation MN , also medium collection ) is the second of the five Nikayas ("collections") that make up the Suttapitaka . The name refers to the relative length of the suttas (discourses) contained, which are mostly of medium length compared to those of the "longer collection" Digha-Nikaya and the "shorter collection" Khuddaka-Nikaya .

The only complete translation of the Pali original into German is still by Karl Eugen Neumann and was created between 1896 and 1902. Today, this translation is sometimes viewed as incorrect and antiquated. At the suggestion of Ayya ​​Khema , a complete new translation by Kay Zumwinkel (now Mettiko Bhikkhu) has recently been carried out. This translation strives for a more contemporary language and a more precise translation of the terms, but is mainly based on the translation of the Pali text into English by Bhikkhu Nanamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi using the Pali version.

The middle collection contains a total of 152 suttas, which are divided into three "fifties" ( Pannasa ) of 50 or 52 suttas each, which in turn are thematically subdivided into chapters with ten or once - in the penultimate chapter - with twelve suttas.

The suttas do not build on each other, but stand independently next to each other. The core of the middle collection already contains the complete teaching of the Buddha.

content

Part 1: Book of the Urart ( root exposition )

1. Root Discussion - Mūlapariyāya Sutta
Place of action: Subhaga grove near Ukkattha
Characters: Buddha, bhikkhus
Content: The Buddha explains to his listeners that only an untrained person who does not know the teachings of the Buddha perceives the world around him, thinks about it, regards it as his property and takes pleasure in it. However, a bhikkhu who seeks salvation should not think so much about the things around him or believe that they belong to him and take pleasure in them. An enlightened one has cast off all attachments and is redeemed through his knowledge. His thoughts no longer dwell on the things he perceives around him; he no longer attaches any importance to them.
2. All Attacks - Sabbāsava Sutta
Place of action: Anathapindika's Bhikkhuhain in Jetahain near Savatthi.
Characters: Buddha, bhikkhus
Content: The Buddha explains to his listeners how to deal with unwholesome attacks in order to get rid of them: either with insight, self-control, correct handling, patience, through avoidance, expulsion, solitude, dispassion and renunciation.
3. Heirs in the Dhamma - Dhammadāyāda Sutta
Place of action: Anathapindika's Bhikkhuhain in Jetahain near Savatthi.
Characters in action: Buddha, bhikkhus, sariputta (monk)
Content: The sutta is in two parts. In the first part of the Buddha it is said that it is not wrong to use the advantages and support of the monastic community, but that he prefers those who are really only in the monastic community in order to achieve salvation and to be independent. In the second part, Savatthi speaks to the monks and explains what behavior is appropriate for a monk and enumerates the eightfold path .
4. Fear and Dread - Bhayabherava Sutta
Place of action: Anathapindika's Bhikkhuhain in Jetahain near Savatthi.
Plot characters: Buddha, Janussoni (Brahmin)
Content: The Buddha explains how to stay in lonely places in the forest without fear and horror. The prerequisites for a pleasant stay there are, among other things, ethical behavior and overcoming spiritual obstacles. The Buddha reports how he dealt with fear and horror before his enlightenment and explains the four Rupa- Jhanas and the three types of knowledge.
5. Impeccable - Anangana Sutta
Place of action: Anathapindika's Bhikkhuhain in Jetahain near Savatthi.
Characters: Buddha, sariputta (monk), bhikkhus
Content: guilt and innocence.
Section 1: In any case, it is better to be aware of your guilt or innocence, because this will save you from greed, hatred and delusion (misbelief).
Section 2: what is guilt? "Evil Perishable Senses". On the one hand there is “bitterness and displeasure” that someone feels when their offense is made public, and on the other hand the envy that arises when someone else receives something that one would have liked to have himself.
6. Desire for Desires - Akankheyya Sutta
Place of action: Anathapindika's Bhikkhuhain in Jetahain near Savatthi.
Characters: Buddha, bhikkhus
Content: Buddha lists a number of wishes that are typical of his students. He always advises them: "Then you should only practice perfect virtue, fight for intimate peace of mind, not resist vision, gain a penetrating look, be a friend of empty clauses", that is, to practice morality and meditation.
7. Parable of the Dress - Vatthupama Sutta
Place of action: Anathapindika's Bhikkhuhain in Jetahain near Savatthi.
Characters : Buddha, bhikkhus, brahmin Sundariko Bharadvajo
Content: The Blessed One interprets the parable of clothing. Only a dress that is clean and free of stains can be successfully dyed, because here the color can bind to the fabric undisturbed. So the monks should first free themselves from the "defilements of the heart" such as selfishness, hatred, anger, malice etc., in order to be open to the truth afterwards.
8. Detachment - Sallekha Sutta
Place of action: Anathapindika's Bhikkhuhain in Jetahain near Savatthi.
Plot characters: Buddha, Mahacunda (monk)
Content: In meditation the monk can achieve “visible well-being” or “blissful calm”, but this is not yet synonymous with detachment (“unification”) from the circle of growth and decay! Rather, he has to give his whole life a new direction in thinking, willing and acting through “heart decision”.
9. Right Insight - Sammaditthi Sutta
Place of action: Anathapindika's Bhikkhuhain in Jetahain near Savatthi.
Characters in the act: Sariputta (monk), bhikkhus
Content: Sariputta explains to the monks how one arrives at right knowledge. One possibility is the knowledge of good and bad. In response to inquiries from the monks, he mentions 15 more factors (food, suffering, aging and dying, birth, becoming, clinging, thirst, feeling, touch, the sixfold realm, image and concept, awareness, differentiation, ignorance and delusion). Right knowledge recognizes the factor, e.g. B. the suffering, the origin and development of the factor, its dissolution and the (eightfold) path leading to its dissolution.
10. Mindfulness Practice - Satipatthana Sutta
Place of action: Near the village of Kammasadhamma in the land of the Kurus
Characters: Buddha, bhikkhus
Content: Extinction can be achieved by paying close attention to body, feeling, mind and appearances. To this end, the Blessed One gives a wealth of hints, whereby everything must always be perceived carefully and without distraction:
- the body: breathing, position of the limbs, movements, eating, excretions, organs, physiology, transience through the illustration of a corpse.
- the emotions.
- the mind (consciousness): wanting, hating, desire.
- the apparitions.

Part 2: Book of the Lion's Call ( Lion's Roar )

(contains the suttas MN 11 to MN 20)
11. The lion's call
Content: The Buddha explains how one can distinguish his teaching from the teaching of other ascetics. They too explain clinging, but never with recourse to the tendency to self-assertion. Clinging to the world is ultimately caused by ignorance about thirst, feeling, perception, concepts and distinctive thinking.
12. The speech of hair-raising
Synopsis: Sunakkhato accuses the sublime one of thinking that his brooding, nailed-up teaching is nothing but lies and deception. The sublime legitimizes himself through a large number of skills and experiences. The 10 virtues, 4 types of confidence and 8 assemblies of gods and men legitimize him to let his lion call (the doctrine) ring out among the people. He has the ability to clearly recognize a person's path in life and to predict his future (5 tracks).
Practiced in four-fold asceticism, he tried all these ways and realized that they do not lead to extinction.

Part 3: Book of Parables

(contains the suttas MN 21 to MN 30)

4th part: First book of the (great) couples

(contains the suttas MN 31 to MN 40)

5th part: Second book of the (little) couples

(contains the suttas MN 41 to MN 50)

Part 6: Book of the fathers of the house ( householders ) - What are meant by "housefathers" or "householders" (primarily) are men who have decided not to give up their families for monastic life. The doctrinal discussions in this book are intended to show that one can still gain deeper insight.

51. Kandaraka
Place of the action: Gaggara lotus pond near Campa
Plot characters: Buddha, large number of bhikkhus, pessa (elephant rider), kandarak (monk)
Content: The Buddha calls pessa the four types of people. Some torture themselves, the second torture others, the third torture themselves and others, the fourth torture neither themselves nor others. When asked by the Buddha, Pessa says that he likes the fourth group best and explains why. After Pessa has left, the Buddha discusses the four groups in detail with the bhikkhus using examples.
52. The citizen of Atthakam
Place of the action: Beluvagama near Vesali
Plot characters: Ananda, Dasama (landlord)
Content: Ananda is asked by Dasama whether the Buddha does not teach a single exercise that alone leads to non-return or to enlightenment. Ananda agrees and lists eleven practices: The four Rupa- Jhanas , the four Brahmaviharas , the first three Arupa-Jhanas, as well as the contemplation of their respective impermanence.
53. The aspirant
Place of the action: fig grove near Kapilavatthu in the land of the Sakyans.
Plot characters: Buddha, Sakyer, Bhikkhus, Ananda , Mahanama (head of the Sakyer)
Content: On the occasion of the opening of a town hall, the Buddha gives a long, edifying, instructive speech. Then he asks Ananda to continue. This explains what makes a good monk and what he can achieve (in these lives).
54. Potaliya
Place of the action: In the land of the Anguttarapa near the town of Apana.
Characters : Buddha, Potaliya
Content: Using very vivid examples, Buddha explains to Potaliya why his life is not turned away from the world and what true detachment from being busy is. After initial annoyance, Potaliya agrees with the Buddha and professes his teaching by taking refuge in three ways (to the Buddha, to the teaching and to the community).
55. Jivaka
Place of the action: Mango grove of the Jivaka near Rajagaha.
Plot characters: Buddha, Jivaka (pediatrician)
Synopsis: Buddha explains to Jivaka that it is a slander to claim that living beings are being killed in order to prepare food for him or his disciples. He explains why it is fivefold grave injustice for the Buddha and his monks to kill animals: 1.) because he orders the animal to be brought in, 2.) because the animal, while it is being brought about, endures pain and agony, 3 .) because he orders the animal to be killed, 4.) because the animal endures pain and torment while it is being killed, 5.) because it treats the Buddha and his monks inappropriately.
56. Upali
Place of action: Pavarika mango grove near Nalanda.
Acting characters : Buddha, Dighatapassi (Jiji monk), Nataputta (Jiji monk), Upali and other lay people
Content: At the beginning there is a conversation between Buddha and Dighatapassi, whether bad thoughts, bad speech and bad behavior are equally bad or whether there are differences and if so, which ones. He repeats this conversation to Nataputta, Upali and other lay people. In a self-satisfied overestimation - and against the advice of Dighatapassi - he lets Upali go to the Buddha to engage him in a dispute. In conversation with Upali, the Buddha convinced him of his views, and Upali spoke the formula of the threefold refuge . This is followed by a lesson from the Upali about his (future) behavior towards the Jiji monks, donations, morality ( Silas ), heaven, the disadvantage, etc. When Nataputta hears of the Upali conversion, he goes to him and poses to talk to him. Upali is full of praise for the Buddha, which Nataputta cannot stand and hemorrhages.
57. The dog apprentice
58. Abhayo the king's son
59. Plenty of feelings
60. Unquestioning

Part 7: Book of the Monks ( Bhikkhus )

(contains the suttas MN 61 to MN 70)

Part 8: Book of Pilgrims ( Wandering Monks )

(contains the suttas MN 71 to MN 80)

Part 9: Book of Kings

(contains the suttas MN 81 to MN 90)

Part 10: Book of the Priests ( Brahmins )

(contains the suttas MN 91 to MN 100)

Part 11: Book of the Pool of the Gods ( The Later Fifty )

(contains the suttas MN 101 to MN 110)

Part 12: Book in a Row ( One by One )

(contains the suttas MN 111 to MN 120)

Part 13: Book of Poverty ( Emptiness )

(contains the suttas MN 121 to MN 130)

Part 14: Book of Badges ( Distinctions )

(contains the suttas MN 131 to MN 142)

15th part: book of the sixfold areas ( the six senses )

(contains the suttas MN 143 to MN 152)

German-language editions

  • Karl Eugen Neumann ( transl. ): The speeches of Gotamo Buddha. from the middle Majjhimanikayo collection of the Pali Canon. 3 volumes, R. Piper, Munich 1922. (Vol. 1 , Vol . 2 , Vol. 3)
  • Karl Eugen Neumann (transl.): The speeches of the Buddha. Medium collection. Stammbach: Beyerlein-Steinschulte 1995. ISBN 978-3-931095-00-0 (= ISBN 3-931095-00-2 )
  • Kurt Schmidt (translator): Buddha's speeches. Reinbek near Hamburg: Rowohlt 1961. ISBN 3-921508-33-9 . Now: Leimen: Kristkeitz, Werner 2003. ISBN 978-3-932337-33-8 (partial translation, contains only 101 suttas)
  • Mettiko Bhikkhu alias Kay Zumwinkel (translator): Majjhima Nikaya. The Buddha's speeches from the Middle Collection. Uttenbühl: Jhana 2nd edition 2012. ISBN 978-3-931274-13-9 (= ISBN 3-931274-13-6 )

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