Miscellaneous Essays
All of the essays on this page are by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, unless otherwise indicated.
Essays that have disappeared from this page are now available in one of the book length essay collections on the main ebook page.
2026 Essays
- Only Suffering & the Cessation of Suffering. How focused are the Buddha’s teachings? (download pdf by using the printer icon on the bottom panel)
- Beyond Here & Now : In Quest of Awakened Consciousness. What consciousness qualifies as awakened? (download pdf by using the printer icon on the bottom panel)
- The Path to No Location : The Buddha’s Instructions to Bāhiya. Bāhiya of the Bark Cloth gained awakening immediately after receiving brief instructions from the Buddha. These instructions are often portrayed as teaching the practice of bare attention or choiceless awareness, but when they are viewed in context, they clearly teach something else. (download pdf by using the printer icon on the bottom panel)
- A Path Through Complex Territory. How training in virtue, concentration, and discernment negotiates the complex terrain of dependent co-arising to bring about the end of suffering. (download pdf by using the printer icon on the bottom panel)
- All You Need?. On the question of whether the brahma-vihāras are a complete practice. (download pdf by using the printer icon on the bottom panel)
- The Karma of Not-self. How to respond to the question, “If there’s no self, who does the karma, and who receives the results of the karma?” (download pdf by using the printer icon on the bottom panel)
2021 Essays
- Antidotes to Anger. The Buddha’s tools for dealing with anger. (Also available as pdf format, though without hyperlinked cross-references)
- Mindfulness of Breathing. Three talks on putting the Buddha’s sixteen-step instructions on breath meditation into practice. (Also available as pdf format, though without hyperlinked cross-references)
- The Three Perceptions. A talk on how the three perceptions of inconstancy, stress, and not-self function on the path. (Also available as pdf format, though without hyperlinked cross-references)
- Karma Is Individual. On the question of collective karma. (Also available as pdf format, though without hyperlinked cross-references)
2019 Essays
- Talking about Nirvana. Although the Buddha refused to describe the arahant after death, he did provide descriptions of nibbāña (nirvāṇa) to show how it differed from the ordinary dimensions of the six senses. This essay explores the reasons for why he treated these two related issues in very different ways—and the implications that this differing treatment has for anyone who seriously practices. (Also available as pdf format, though without hyperlinked cross-references)
- The Buddha Teaches His Son : An Essay on Majjhima Nikāya 61. This essay draws out some of the implications of the Buddha’s seemingly simple instructions to his young son. (Also available as pdf format)
2016 Essays
- The Seeds of Karma : 21 Questions on Karma & Rebirth. This essay originally appeared in Tricycle under the title, “The Buddha’s Baggage.”
2015 Essays
2012 and Earlier Essays
- Going for Refuge
- Hunting & Gathering the Dhamma
- The Customs of the Noble Ones
- The Economy of Gifts
- The Karma of Happiness
- The Traditions of the Noble Ones
The following essay was collected into the essay book “Head & Heart Together,” however in abridged form. The unabridged version is still available here as a .pdf file.
