Notice the treatment of the brahmin Pingalakoccha’s question by the Buddha. When this question of “Are there other teachers also enlightened?” was put to him on other occasions, he has answered it in the same way: “Let that be, I shall teach you the Dhamma.” This question often comes up today with the multitude of teachings and teachers but an affirmative answer (if given on the basis of ratiocination) is not reliable, while an enlightened Teacher is simply not interested in such abstract questions. The only Dhamma which is really valuable is that which changes one’s life for the better, making for fewer defilements, more happiness, and better relations with other people. So the Buddha told the brahmin to listen to the Dhamma that he would speak. And he spoke about those who go forth from home to homelessness and then become pleased about: great gain, honour and renown, perfect virtue, perfect concentration, knowledge and vision; thus giving that brahmin a standard whereby he could judge whether all those other (non-Buddhist) teachers were enlightened or not, for pride in these things cannot be hidden. The Sutta ends with the dramas which are superior to knowledge and vision - and the reasons why the four jhānas and the five kinds of mundane direct knowledge are superior.

Following the incident with Devadatta, the Buddha cautions the mendicants against becoming complacent with superficial benefits of spiritual life and points to liberation as the true heart of the teaching.

Sāriputta gives an elaborate demonstration of how, just as any footprint can fit inside an elephant’s, all the Buddha’s teaching can fit inside the four noble truths. This offers an overall template for organizing the Buddha’s teachings.

The Buddha cautions against swift conclusions about a teacher’s spiritual accomplishments, comparing it to the care a tracker would use when tracking elephants. He presents the full training of a monastic.

This is one of the most important biographical discourses, telling the Buddha’s experiences from leaving home to realizing awakening. Throughout, he was driven by the imperative to fully escape from rebirth and suffering.

The Buddha compares getting trapped by Māra with a deer getting caught in a snare, illustrating the ever more complex strategies employed by hunter and hunted.

Venerable Sāriputta seeks a dialog with an esteemed monk, Venerable Puṇṇa Mantāniputta, and they discuss the stages of purification.

In a curious discourse laden with evocative imagery, a deity presents a riddle to a mendicant, who seeks an answer from the Buddha.

The sutta falls into two parts. The first part concerns the monk Arittha who has wrong views concerning the teaching. The Buddha reprimands Arittha and gives two similes (of the snake and raft) which illustrate different ways in which someone might miss the point of his teachings. The second part of the sutta details issues connected with views of the self.

A discourse full of vibrant and memorable similes, on the importance of patience and love even when faced with abuse and criticism. The Buddha finishes with the simile of the saw, one of the most memorable similes found in the discourses.