Mula Pariyaya Sutta – Nissaranavanaya

Click the candle for donations.

Novice Young Monks in Myanmar.

Most Ven. U. Dhammajiva Maha Thero commenced on a new Dhamma Talk series based on Mūla Pariyāya Sutta to the Mitirigala Monastery Monks after completing the series on Aggi Vachchagoththa Sutta.

Mūla Pariyāya Sutta is an important Sutta from Majjima Nikaya. It is also the first Sutta of Majjima Nikaya and a spiritual prologue to Majjima teachings. The Sutta analyses the perceptual process of different types of individuals.

The Majjhima Commentary says that the Buddha delivered this discourse to dispel the pride and conceit that had arisen in 500 monks because their Vedic learning and intellectual mastery of the Buddha’s teachings. These monks were formerly Brahmins learned in Vedic literature. The subtle nuances of this discourse are intended to loosen the grip of Brahmanical views to which they may be clinging to. As eternal teachings, the suttas today address our own narrow “Brahmanical” views of Buddhism whether about the Dharma or the Abhidharma or Buddhism in general. Their purpose is reminding us of the ultimate purpose of the spiritual life—that of wisdom, liberation and joyful peace.

This sutta is unique in that it is the only sutta that ends with the monks “not approving” of it.

The monks were not happy with this discourse because they were faced with an open challenge by the Buddha that they should deal with their own pride and arrogance. The Majjhima Commentary also contains the Mūla Pariyāya Jataka which the Buddha expounds to these 500 monks a short while later. After listening to this Jataka, the monks thought, “In the past as well we were knocked down because of conceit” and were humbled (MA 1:59).8

The Majjhima Commentary remarks that the monks did not understand the sutta despite the excellent and melodious voice of the Buddha and his well-taught discourse, for it was for them “like delicious food placed before a man with his mouth bound by a thick broad cloth”. The Buddha nevertheless taught it “for shattering their conceit” (MA 1:56). What is truly interesting is that the sutta is, on the contrary, not difficult at all (although the subject is profound) but the 500 monks were blinded by their conceit. After all, it was after listening to the Mūla Pariyāya Jataka, that their conceit is removed, which then led them to understand the sutta in retrospect.

Please click the following link to read the text of the Sutta directly from Thripitakaya.org;
Mūla Pariyāya Sutta

The latest update is No. 52 conducted on 25 April 2019. The sound of the questions asked by the monks without a microphone has been increased through audio editing.

How to Download or Directly Listen to the audio files.

To download: You could download the file by right clicking on the file link and then selecting “save as” from the drop down menu. Save the file into a pre designated folder to listen on multiple occasions. This is the best way to save your internet allocation.

To listen directly: Please left click on the link to listen directly. Once the link is clicked, you will be directed to a separate page containing the talk. Usually the file starts to play in that window. If it doesn’t you could highlight the browser window and click ‘reload this page’. It will start to play.

  1. 01 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_20-04-2017
  2. 02 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_27-04-2017
  3. 03 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_18-05-2017
  4. 04 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_06-07-2017
  5. 05 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_20-07-2017
  6. 06 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_27-07-2017
  7. 07 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_03-08-2017
  8. 08 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_10-08-2017
  9. 09 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_17-08-2017
  10. 10 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_24-08-2017
  11. 11 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_31-08-2017
  12. 12 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_14-09-2017
  13. 13 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_21-09-2017
  14. 14 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_12-10-2017
  15. 15 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_16-11-2017
  16. 16 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_23-11-2017
  17. 17 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_30-11-2017
  18. 18 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_07-12-2017
  19. 19 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_08-02-2018
  20. 20 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_15-02-2018
  21. 21 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_08-03-2018
  22. 22 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_15-03-2018
  23. 23 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_22-03-2018
  24. 24 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_05-04-2018
  25. 25 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_12-04-2018
  26. 26 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_19-04-2018
  27. 27 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_26-04-2018
  28. 28 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_03-05-2018
  29. 29 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_17-05-2018
  30. 30 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_31-05-2018
  31. 31 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_02-08-2018
  32. 32 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_09-08-2018
  33. 33 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_16-08-2018
  34. 34 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_30-08-2018
  35. 35 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_06-09-2018
  36. 36 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_13-09-2018
  37. 37 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_20-09-2018
  38. 38 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_27-09-2018
  39. 39 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_04-10-2018
  40. 40 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_11-10-2018
  41. 41 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_18-10-2018
  42. 42 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_15-11-2018
  43. 43 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_07-02-2019
  44. 44 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_14-02-2019
  45. 45 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_21-02-2019
  46. 46 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_28-02-2019
  47. 47 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_07-03-2019
  48. 48 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_14-03-2019
  49. 49 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_21-03-2019
  50. 50 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_28-03-2019
  51. 51 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_11-04-2019
  52. 52 Mūla Pariyāya Sutta_25-04-2019

To be Continued….

Please click here to reach the other Dhamma series conducted in Sinhala by the Maha Thero.

 

8 thoughts on “Mula Pariyaya Sutta – Nissaranavanaya

    • Dear Vasantha,

      There are no more after the 42nd Desana simply because the series was not conducted during the absence of the Maha Thero. Most probably the same series will conducted after Most Ven. U. Dhammajiva Maha Thero’s return.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.