This week we finish reading the Mahamalunkya Sutta. We’re diving into the jhanas. Jhanas are stages of the mind that we go through as we relax body and mind more and more, learn to sharpen our mindfulness bit by bit, and lovingly and effectively deal with distractions which naturally come up during our meditation.

This week we learn about the value of meritorious deeds. We first read two short suttas from the Itivuttaka and the Anguttara Nikaya. In them, the Buddha shares memories of past lives and explains that being generous, practicing meditation, and behaving ethically, lead to positive experiences in the future.

This week we skip the Jhana-section of last week’s sutta and move on to its final curious question about what should come first, serenity or insight. We find the answer in another teaching called Yuganaddhasutta.

This week we continue to read from a sutta in which the Buddha talks about the five lower fetters - tendencies of the mind which keep us from awakening - and how to let go of them: namely by practicing the jhanas, steps of deep meditation.

This week we read from a sutta in which the Buddha talks about the five lower fetters - tendencies of the mind which keep us from enlightenment. It’s called Mahamalunkya Sutta, or ‘The Longer Discourse With Māluṅkya’

This week we read from one of the suttas that explains how karma (kamma in Pali) works in detail. It’s called Cula-kammavibhanga Sutta, or ‘The Shorter Analysis of Deeds’.

This week we read from the two metta suttas, the Buddha’s teaching on the technique and the benefits of love. Love here is unconditional love, aka loving kindness, friendliness, friendship. That’s the scope of the pali word metta.

This week we read from the Buddha’s teaching to the Kalamas of Kesamutta, the Kalama Sutta. The Buddha and the Kalamas are discussing which guru to believe, which teacher to follow, which doctrine to accept.

This week we read from the Buddha’s very first teaching, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. In it, the Buddha teaches two things: the Middle Way and the Four Noble Truths.