Sutta Topics Index – Sutta Friends

aggregates (2)
alms giving (6)
Buddhist monks and nuns eat food offered to them by the lay disciples. The Buddha created a system where lay people help the sangha by providing food and other requisites and the sangha helps the lay people by providing Dhamma teachings.
- Itv 107 Laypeople and monastics are helpful to each other
- Dhp verse 49 Monastics harm no one when they collect alms-food
anger (15)
animals (1)
arahant (4)
arrogance (2)
asking questions (1)
attachment (4)

bad friends (4)
bad karma (2)
beauty (1)Beauty can be the result of previous good actions.
beneficial thoughts (1)
betrayal (1)
Bodhisatta (2)Before he became enlightened and after he made the determination to become enlightened, we call the Buddha the Bodhisatta. This can be used to refer to him in his last life or previous lives.
bodily misconduct (2)
Brahma world (4)
Buddha's knowledge (3)
The Supreme Buddha’s knowledge is vast and deep. It’s hard for an ordinary person to even imagine.

This is explained in the simile of the handful of leaves in SN 56:31.
Buddhas (1)
butcher (5)

calm (1)
caste (1)
cause and effect (1)
cause of suffering (1)
celibate life (1)
cemetary contemplation (2)
compassion (8)
Compassion (Pāli: karuna) is one of the four Brahma Vihāras.
- Itv 100 The Buddha shows his compassion by teaching Dhamma
- SN 11.6 Sakka risks his own life out of compassion for some birds
- Pv 1.8 We can show compassion by helping people overcome grief
conceit (4)
concentration (3)
confidence (14)
console (1)
contempt (2)
contentment (1)
conversation (1)
craving (5)

dana (2)
death (11)The Supreme Buddha taught that as long as there is birth, there will be death. He also reminded us that we need to frequently remember that death may come at any time so that we work hard to purify our minds.
defilements (5)Defilements are mental impurities that cause us to do unwholesome actions and keep us bound to the cycle of rebirth.
delusion (7)
dependent origination (2)
desire (13)The Supreme Buddha taught in the Second Noble Truth that desire is the cause of suffering.
detachment (1)
deva (5)Devas are a type of heavenly being that exist as part of the sensual world. Rebirth in the deava worlds is due to previously done good actions. Like all forms of birth, devas have a limited life span, although it is much, much longer than humans’.
developed mind (1)
Dhamma (23)
The Dhamma is the Supreme Buddha’s teaching and the second one of the Triple Gems.
- SN6.2 Even the Supreme Buddha honoured the Dhamma
- Snp 2.1 The Ratana Sutta teaches us the qualities of the Dhamma
- Itv 98 The Dhamma is the greatest gift
- SN 56.11 The first time the Buddha preached the Dhamma
different worlds (1)
diligence (2)
disputes (1)
divine eye (2)
divine sound (1)
divisive speech (1)

effort (4)
eight precepts (3)
elements (3)
embryo (1)
energy (3)Energy is one of the enlightenment factors and a factor of the Noble Eight-fold Path.
enlightenment factors (1)
eon (4)
equanimity (2)
evil (1)

factors for stream-entry (2)
factors of stream-entry (4)
faith (2)
fame (1)
fear (3)
feeling (2)
fetter (4)
five aggregates (2)
five groups of clinging (1)
five precepts (1)
flowers (5)
fool (1)
form (2)
formation of the world (2)
formless element (1)
Four Noble Truths (15)
The Supreme Buddha discovered the Four Noble Truths on the night of his enlightenment.
- MN 141 is a detailed explanation of the Four Noble Truths
- SN 56:11 is the first sutta where the Four Noble Truths are taught.
fundamentals of the holy life (1)
funeral (1)

gambling (1)
generosity (6)
ghost (1)
giving (17)
Dāna is the Pāli word for giving. The Supreme Buddha taught that giving is one of the three main ways to collect good karma.
- Itv 26 The Buddha’s knowledge about giving
- Itv 98 Ordinary giving and giving Dhamma
- Itv 75 People give in different ways
- Vv 5.8 A gift can be small and still be beneficial
- DN 30 Giving was one of the ways the Supreme Buddha achieved his power.
giving reluctantly (1)
gluttony (1)
going for refuge (4)
good friend (1)
good friends (7)
Good friends, or kalyānamitta in Pāli, are a fundamental part of the Buddha’s path for us to enlightenment.

Once the Buddha explained that having good friends is 100% of the spiritual life. SN 45:2
good karma (6)
good talk (2)The Supreme Buddha encouraged his disciples to engage in good conversation about useful topics.
gossip (1)
greed (13)Greed is one of the three big problems of the mind that the Supreme Buddha taught us how to overcome. The other two are hatred and delusion.
grief (8)

happiness (8)
happiness from merit (1)
harmony (1)
harsh speech (8)
hatred (13)Hatred is one of the main problems in the mind that block wisdom. There are several very famous verses about hatred in the second chapter of the Dhammapada.
heaven (9)The Supreme Buddha saw that there are heavenly realms where beings experience great happiness. He also saw that beings are reborn there because of the good actions they had done in previous lives.
hell (9)
helping others (2)
helping sangha (6)Although we collect good karma when we help anyone, the Supreme Buddha understood that we collect very special and powerful good karma when we help monks and nuns.
higher virtue (3)
hindrance (5)
how the Buddha teaches (1)
hunter (1)

meditation (17)
meditation subjects (2)
mental misconduct (1)
merit (35)
The Buddha sometimes talked about good actions as merit. In brief, this merit can be through giving, being ethical, and developing the mind.
- Itv 60 Three ways to collect merit
- Itv 27 Loving-kindness as a source of merit
- Pv 1.1 Arahants as a fertile field for merit
mind (9)
mindfulness (4)
mindfulness of body (6)
mindfulness of breathing (4)
mindfulness of death (1)
mindfulness of feelings (2)
mindfulness of mind (2)
mindfulness of phenomena (2)
mirror of the Dhamma (3)
monks (27)
muditā (1)

pacceka Buddha (3)
parents (11)
patience (5)
perception of impermanence (1)
perception of ugliness (3)
plane of misery (2)
poverty (1)
power of worship (4)
precepts (19)
Precepts are rules that the Supreme Buddha gave to his disciples to help them protect their lives and develop their minds. For his lay desciples to always follow, he gave five precepts. For an extra practice, he gave them eight. For his monks and nuns he gave many hundreds to help them realize the Dhamma quickly.
- AN 8.39 The five precepts as a gift we give to others
- Itv 25 Someone who lies can do any wrong thing
- Vv 1.12 Keeping precepts can result in an heavenly rebirth
prince (1)
psychic powers (4)
pure conduct (1)
purity (1)

rapture (1)
rebirth (11)
refuges (1)
regret (2)
rejoicing in merit (1)
relics (1)
remorse (2)
renunciation (5)
resentment (1)
respect (5)
restraint (1)
result of sharing merit (1)
results of bad actions (15)
Sometimes the results of bad deeds comes quickly, sometimes slowly. But we have to experience it sometime unless we attain Nibbāna first. See also results of good actions.
- SN 6.10 Results of hating arahants
- Pv 1.6 Lying can result in rebirth as a ghost
- Pv 3.9 Dangers of lying, gossip and divisive speech
results of good actions (12)The Supreme Buddha taught that good actions always have good results, either in this life, our next life, or some future life.
right action (1)
right concentration (1)
right effort (1)
right intention (1)
right livelihood (1)
right mindfulness (1)
right speech (3)
right view (4)

verbal misconduct (1)
Vinaya (1)
virtue (17)The Supreme Buddha understood that virtue, or sīla in Pali language, is an essential part of the path. By keeping the five precepts as a foundation, we are able to develop all the wholesome qualities necessary on the path.

ways of practice (1)
wealth (1)
welfare (2)
wheel-turning monarch (1)
wholesome deeds (3)
wholesome thoughts (1)
wisdom (15)The Buddha taught that wisdom is most important for attaining enlightenment. In the Meghiya Sutta (AN 9.2) he taught us what we need to do to prepare our minds for wisdom.
wise consideration (1)
worldly pleasures (1)
worship (4)
wrongdoing (4)
wrong intention (1)
wrong view (7)