The present book collects research papers by Bhikkhu An?layo with translations of Sa?yukta-?gama discourses and comparative studies of their P?li parallels, together with two appendices on the relationship between commentary and discourse as well as on the Ud?na collection. Topics taken up in the course of the studies are the four noble truths as a diagnostic scheme, concern for the welfare of others, the transfer of merit, humour, A?gulim?la, teachings to laity, attitudes towards nuns, arahants and suicide, teaching and awakening, the gender-inclusiveness of the address monk, the acrobat simile, mindfulness of breathing, the Buddhas first discourse, self-cremation, and the Buddhas visit to his mother in the Heaven of the Thirty-three.
