The Book of Threes

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

3. Book of the Threes [go up]

• AN 3.2: Lakkhana Sutta — Characterized (by Action) {A i 102} [Thanissaro]. How to recognize a wise person and a fool.
• AN 3.15: Rathakara (Pacetana) Sutta — The Chariot Maker {A i 110} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha recalls a previous lifetime during which he was a chariot-maker "skilled in dealing with the crookedness of wood." Now, as the Buddha, he is skilled in dealing with the crookedness of thought, word, and deed.
• AN 3.22: Gilana Sutta — Sick People {A i 120} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha compares the Dhamma to good medicine.
• AN 3.33: Nidana Sutta — Causes {A i 120; Thai III.34; BJT III.34} [Thanissaro]. An action (kamma) performed by an arahant bears no kammic fruit. This sutta explains why.
• AN 3.34: Hatthaka Sutta — To Hatthaka (on Sleeping Well in the Cold Forest) {A i 120; Thai III.35; BJT III.35} [Thanissaro]. Is a comfortable home the best guarantee for a good night's sleep?
• AN 3.38: Sukhamala Sutta — Refinement {A i 145; Thai III.39; BJT III.39} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha describes the insights that led him as a young man to go forth, and how those insights apply to the conduct of our own lives.
• AN 3.40: Adhipateyya Sutta — Governing Principles {A i 147} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha describes three governing principles that keep one's Dhamma practice on-track. Beware: there's nowhere to hide from your unskillful actions!
• AN 3.47: Sankhata Sutta — Fabricated {A i 152} [Thanissaro]. The marks by which fabricated and unfabricated experiences can be recognized.
• AN 3.48: Pabbata Sutta — A Mountain {A i 152} [Thanissaro]. A parent's responsibility to his or her family. If you want your family to prosper, then be like a mountain of virtue, conviction, and discernment.
• AN 3.51: Dvejana Sutta — Two People (1). {A i 155; Thai III.52; BJT III.52}
• AN 3.52: Dvejana Sutta — Two People (2) {A i 156; Thai III.53; BJT III.53} [Thanissaro].

The Buddha offers advice to two aging brahmans who are facing the end of life.

• AN 3.57: Vaccha Sutta — To Vaccha (on Giving) {A i 160; Thai III.58} [Thanissaro]. Every act of generosity is meritorious, but some are more so than others.
• AN 3.60: Sangarava Sutta — To Sangarava {A i 168; Thai III.61} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha answers the accusation that the spiritual path he teaches is a selfish one.
• AN 3.61: Tittha Sutta — Sectarians {A i 173; Thai III.62} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha explains how three common views about pain and pleasure can, if followed to their logical conclusion, lead to a life of inaction. He then shows how pain and pleasure actually do come about and how they can be transcended.
• AN 3.62: Bhaya Sutta — Danger {A i 173} [Thanissaro]. Although fire, flood, and war may threaten to divide families, the world is fraught with even greater dangers. Here is a surefire way to overcome them all.
• AN 3.65: Kalama Sutta — To the Kalamas/The Buddha's Charter of Free Inquiry {A i 188; Thai III.66} [Thanissaro | Soma]. The Buddha explains to a group of skeptics the proper criteria for accepting a spiritual teaching.
• AN 3.66: Salha Sutta — To Salha {A i 193; Thai III.67} [Ñanamoli]. The arahant Ven. Nandaka engages the layman Salha in a dialogue that ranges from elementary principles all the way to the nature of arahantship.
• AN 3.67: Kathavatthu Sutta — Topics for Discussion {A i 196} [Thanissaro]. This short discourse contains detailed practical instructions on how to answer questions skillfully. A valuable teaching for politicians, debaters, and the rest of us.
• AN 3.68: Titthiya Sutta — Sectarians {A i 198} [Thanissaro]. How appropriate attention (yoniso manasikara) lies at the heart of any effort to abandon the roots of greed, hatred, and delusion.
• AN 3.69: Mula Sutta — Roots {A i 201} [Thanissaro]. What motivates a person to wrongly imprison people and subject them to beatings? The answer lies right here, in your own heart.
• AN 3.70: Muluposatha Sutta — The Roots of the Uposatha {A i 205; Thai III.71} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha describes to Visakha, the laywoman, right and wrong ways of observing the Uposatha days. Those who observe the Uposatha correctly are destined to reap heavenly rewards.
• AN 3.71: Channa Sutta — To Channa the Wanderer {A i 215; Thai III.72} [Thanissaro]. Ven. Ananda instructs Channa on abandoning the mental defilements of passion, aversion, and delusion.
• AN 3.72: Ajivaka Sutta — To the Fatalists' Student {A i 217; Thai III.73} [Thanissaro]. Ven. Ananda gives a skillful answer to the questions, "Whose teaching is right? Whose practice is right?"
• AN 3.73: Sakka Sutta — To the Sakyan {A i 217; Thai III.74} [Thanissaro]. Mahanama asks the Buddha, "Which comes first: concentration or wisdom?" Ven. Ananda answers on behalf of the Buddha, who is recovering from an illness.
• AN 3.78: Silabbata Sutta — Precept & Practice {A i 225; Thai III.79} [Thanissaro]. Are all religious paths fruitful? Ven. Ananda answers.
• Gadrabha Sutta (AN 3.81 (ii)) — The Donkey {A i 229; Thai III.83} [Thanissaro]. Practicing the Dhamma means more than simply acting the part.
• AN 3.88: Sikkha Sutta — Trainings (1) {A i 235; Thai III.90}
• AN 3.89: Sikkha Sutta — Trainings (2) {A i 235; Thai III.91} [Thanissaro].

The Buddha summarizes the three aspects of Dhamma practice that should be developed.

• AN 3.93: Accayika Sutta — Urgent {A i 239; Thai III.93} [Thanissaro]. Just as a farmer can't predict when the fruit will ripen, so we can't predict when Awakening will occur. So just keep your practice strong; the rest will take care of itself.
• AN 3.94: Ajaniya Sutta — The Thoroughbred {A i 244; Thai III.97} [Thanissaro]. What qualities make a monk worthy of respect?
• AN 3.99: Lonaphala Sutta — The Salt Crystal {A i 249; Thai III.101} [Thanissaro]. A Buddhist response to the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"
• AN 3.100 (i-x): Pansadhovaka Sutta — The Dirt-washer {A i 253; Thai III.102}
• AN 3.100 (xi-xv): Nimitta Sutta — Themes {A i 255; Thai III.103} [Thanissaro].

The Buddha compares the skillful training of one's mind to the way a goldsmith purifies gold ore.

• AN 3.105: Kuta Sutta — The Peak of the Roof {A i 261; Thai III.110} [Thanissaro]. Protect your mind, and you guard yourself from harm.
• AN 3.120: Moneyya Sutta — Sagacity {A i 273; Thai III.123} [Thanissaro]. The Buddha describes three kinds of wisdom: bodily, verbal, and mental. (This is one of the suttas selected by King Asoka (r. 270-232 BCE) to be studied and reflected upon frequently by all practicing Buddhists. See That the True Dhamma Might Last a Long Time: Readings Selected by King Asoka, by Thanissaro.)
• AN 3.123: Gotamaka-cetiya Sutta — At Gotamaka Shrine {A i 276; Thai III.126} [Thanissaro]. What more do you want from the Buddha's teachings?
• AN 3.126: Katuviya Sutta — Putrid {A i 279; Thai III.129} [Thanissaro]. When you let your concentration slip and your mindfulness falter, there's no telling what nasty sorts of flies will start swarming around you.
• AN 3.130: Lekha Sutta — Inscriptions {A i 283; Thai III.133} [Thanissaro]. Why hold on to your anger? Beware you don't let it get carved deep into your psyche, like an inscription in solid rock.
• AN 3.134: Dhamma-niyama Sutta — The Orderliness of the Dhamma {A i 286; Thai III.137} [Thanissaro]. Whether or not a Buddha arises in the world, the three characteristics of existence always remain: impermanence, stress, and not-self.