The Long Discourses of the Buddha

A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya

By: Bhikkhu Sujato

Narrated by: Taradasa

Length: 24 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

The Long Discourses of the Buddha (Dīgha Nikāya) is the first of the five Nikāyas (Collections) in the Sutta Pitaka and has its own particular character. Unlike the others which contain thousands of shorter discourses (suttas), it comprises just 34 but of much longer length - as the name indicates! This makes it in some ways a more focused collection of teachings of the Buddha and especially accessible in audio. Among them are some important texts distinctive in character and crucial to the early Buddhist tradition. The Long Discourses is divided into three chapters or Vaggas: Chapter on Ethics (Sīlakkhanda Vagga), The Great Chapter (Mahā Vagga) and finally Chapter on Pātikaputta (Pātikaputta Vagga).

Throughout The Long Discourses many different expositions of and approaches to the Dhamma are presented. The Chapter on Ethics (teachings on morality, meditation and wisdom) opens with The Prime Net. It is an absorbing discussion of the many (62!) philosophical speculations which the Buddha declares are not conducive to the main purpose of his teaching to attain ‘extinguishment’ or nibbana - and are thus just distractions. The Great Chapter has The Great Discourse on the Buddha’s Extinguishment (the Mahāparanibbāna Sutta), which tells of the events surrounding the Buddha’s death. It is the longest of all the 34 Discourses and in many ways is the centrepiece of the Collection. Also here can be found The Longer Discourse on Mindfulness Meditation, the most extensive elucidation of mindfulness in the Pāli Canon. The whole Collection draws to a close with two discourses featuring Sāriputta - who gives clear and unequivocal listings of Buddhist doctrines arranged in numerical sequence.

This new and modern English version of The Long Discourses is by the Australian-born Theravadin monk Bhikkhu Sujato, who has undertaken a translation of the four main Nikāyas expressly to present the works in an accessible manner for the 21st century. He has dealt flexibly with the numerous repetitions embedded in the original texts - eliding sentences where necessary to keep the content and the message fresh and alive. He has further given his translations a new character by boldly taking the primary Pāli words central to our reception of the Dhamma to date and given them a new expression in English: ‘extinguishment’ for nibbana’, ‘absorption’ for jhana, immersion’ for samādhi and ‘the Realised One’ for Tathāgata. In this manner, Bhikkhu Sujato has made a particularly welcome contribution to the 21st dissemination of the Dhamma, and it is nowhere more evident than in The Long Discourses. He has also offered brief but meaningful introductions to each of the 34 Discourses which helpfully set the topic or the scene. The Long Discourses is read in an engaged and clear manner by Taradasa.

©2018 Bhikkhu Sujato (P)2021 Ukemi Productions Ltd

Ideal Presentation for Practice

Stood out as highly accessible. This is a great investment for the expense. Stood out in it's significance in influencing so much content much later in the cannon.

Must Repeat

Should have search, found and listened to this long time ago. Thanks for making this in Audio.

Good in the beginning, good in the middle...

and good in the end.

It is great thing to have the next volume of Buddha’s discourses available as audio. Thank you all who have worked on that.
During listening to the previously published The Middle Length Discourses or The Connected Discourses of the Buddha translated by Bhikkhu Bodi one could have got used to the words like jhana, bhikkhu… and in the present translation of The Long Discourses by Bhikkhu Sujato there is absorption, mendicant, immersion…
It can have however its advantages and be a kind of a reminder that one has to be flexible and should not stay tied to one scheme.
Further it can be an inspiration for some cross checking of the sources for certain details of the meaning.
And above all the essence of the writings is one and it shines.
The reading by Taradasa is engaging.

Inspiration from the source

I have loved this so deeply. I am filled with inspiration and energy. I regret that I have waited this long to dive into the old Canon. May this spiritual path last for many eons and not fade away. May the truth be known by all beings and may we all know ease and joy

Good in the beginning, good in the middle, ...

Good in the beginning
Good in the middle,
Good in the end

good good good good good

Imperfect translation (and narrated pronunciation)

The reader doesn't pronounce the Sanskrit with accurate pronunciation. That is a problem, it is true.

The far bigger iissue here is that the text translation itself is geared toward a less accurate, "nontechnical" reading, which is ultimately less helpful for the type of reader who will likely be reading the Nikayas. The reader is enjoyable enough, and for non-British listeners could well be preferred and "more dignified" than say an American reader but the translation itself is a bit flawed with some jarring phrasing at times... such as "what's up with that?!" and other such more recent colloquialisms which most readers will not likely consider pleasant or appropriate. These sound all the more ridiculous when read aloud by a "dignified" British accent...

Not as dignified nor traditional as most educated Buddhists are probably looking for, therefore, but every translation and reading is going to sacrifice somewhere to please someone. In the case of the Nikayas, I really think it is the reader who should bend to a more accurate and dignified translation and not the other way around, as we have here. The nature of most sutra aside, that sort of issue can be overcome without throwing out the baby with the bath water. So we are largely in need of a good nontechnical rendering the sutra, but the terms become elusive and deceptive, often with one term standing in for many things and sometimes are representing completely different or opposite things entirely from the term used.

There are many translation approaches to have taken here and it's clearly a different type of translation than we would get from Bikku Bodhi. I simply preferred BB's more pragmatic and traditional, somewhat more academic approach over Sujato's more "commonized" style. I also suspect many like me out there will want to search for BB's elusive forthcoming full translation on the Digha once they hone in on these differences.

Maybe the sample should have tried to encapsulate such translation differences from the beginning, and perhaps the Audible book liatingnsummary should explain these better so that the reader understand what a stretch we're talking about here in translation approach. Many times, a single common version of a technical term is used and the reader may be confused as to what is really meant and which traditionally translated term is being indicated.

My own recommendation is therefor to wait for the Bikku Bodhi or a comparable such (traditional/academic) translation to come out for the Digha Nikaya. Otherwise you may find at times you're doing the work of retranslating the translation back to what you imagine the translator was trying NOT to use for this or that (very important) term.

Poor translation

This translation different in many ways from the recent translations of early Buddhist discourses published by Bhikkhu Bodhi and Bhikkhu Analayo. Although the narrator was ok, I found this translation by Bhikkhu Sugato to be inaccurate and I won’t listen to it again.