Audiobooks, sutra readings & chanting 誦經

Hear the sutras the way they have always been passed on, by voice. Every video plays here on the page, and each creator is credited.

LibriVox recordings are public-domain readings by volunteers. Chants and readings by monasteries and teachers (Plum Village, the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, Bodhi Monastery and others) are shared with gratitude and full credit. Figures In Space is not affiliated with any of these channels. Creators can ask for removal at any time.

Introductions · Zen · Pure Land · Tibetan Buddhism · Shaolin · Dhammapada · The first sermon · Satipatthana Sutta · Anapanasati Sutta · Metta Sutta · Sutta Nipata · Jataka tales · Heart Sutra · Diamond Sutra · Lotus Sutra · Vimalakirti Sutra · Lankavatara Sutra · Surangama Sutra · Sutra in 42 Sections · Amitabha Sutra · Platform Sutra · Faith in Mind · Song of Enlightenment · Gateless Gate · Religion of the Samurai · D. T. Suzuki · Tibetan Book of the Dead · Way of the Bodhisattva · Milarepa · Questions of King Milinda · Gospel of Buddha · Shinran's Psalms · The Book of Tea

Introductions

What is Buddhism?

A clear, scholarly first look at the Buddha's teaching and its spread.

Channel

ReligionForBreakfast (all credit to the creator)

Length

18:24

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Buddhist Denominations Explained

A map of Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana and their schools.

Channel

UsefulCharts (all credit to the creator)

Length

25:20

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Zen

What is Zen Buddhism?

Chan in China, Zen in Japan, and what zazen and koans are.

Channel

ReligionForBreakfast (all credit to the creator)

Length

26:28

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Pure Land

Pure Land Buddhism

Amitabha and East Asia's most practised form of Buddhism.

Channel

ReligionForBreakfast (all credit to the creator)

Length

21:11

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Tibetan Buddhism

What is Tibetan Buddhism?

Vajrayana, the four schools and the lamas.

Channel

ReligionForBreakfast (all credit to the creator)

Length

24:53

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Shaolin

Shaolin: Zen Temple of Kung Fu (1998 documentary)

Monks, Chan practice and kung fu at Songshan.

Channel

SHAOLIN TEMPLE LITHUANIA (all credit to the creator)

Length

51:07

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Dhammapada

The Dhammapada, read by various readers

Max Müller's 1881 translation (hosted on this site), a public-domain LibriVox recording.

Channel

LibriVox Audiobooks (all credit to the creator)

Length

1:42:40

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The Dhammapada (Version 3), tr. F. Max Müller

A second complete public-domain reading.

Channel

LibriVox Audiobooks (all credit to the creator)

Length

1:58:58

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The first sermon

Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta

The Buddha's first discourse, with explanation.

Channel

Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu (all credit to the creator)

Length

35:33

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Satipatthana Sutta

Satipatthana Sutta (MN 10), read aloud

The four foundations of mindfulness.

Channel

Sean Oakes (all credit to the creator)

Length

31:37

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Anapanasati Sutta

Anapanasati Sutta (MN 118)

Mindfulness of in-and-out breathing, read by a monk.

Channel

Candana Bhikkhu (all credit to the creator)

Length

38:52

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Metta Sutta

The Chant of Metta (English narration)

Loving-kindness in song.

Channel

Imee Ooi (all credit to the creator)

Length

26:49

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Sutta Nipata

The Way to the Beyond (Parayana Vagga, Sutta Nipata)

Some of the oldest Buddhist verses.

Channel

Samaneri Jayasāra – Wisdom of the Masters (all credit to the creator)

Length

1:10:01

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Jataka tales

Jataka Tales (Ellen C. Babbitt)

Gentle retellings, good for families. Public-domain LibriVox.

Channel

LibriVox Audiobooks (all credit to the creator)

Length

1:21:42

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Heart Sutra

Heart Sutra (chanted in English)

Thich Nhat Hanh's community chanting "The Insight That Brings Us to the Other Shore".

Channel

Plum Village App (all credit to the creator)

Length

8:09

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The Heart Sutra (Chinese chant)

Chanted in Chinese at Bodhi Monastery, as at Shaolin and Chinese temples.

Channel

bodhimonastery (all credit to the creator)

Length

8:08

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Diamond Sutra

Diamond Sutra and Heart Sutra, read by Geoffrey Edwards

William Gemmell's 1912 Diamond Sutra and Samuel Beal's Heart Sutra, a public-domain LibriVox recording.

Channel

LibriVox Audiobooks (all credit to the creator)

Length

1:09:50

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Lotus Sutra

Lotus Sutra: all 28 chapters (English)

A complete English reading of the Lotus Sutra.

Channel

Dharmachakra Wheel of the Dharma (all credit to the creator)

Length

11:10:03

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Lotus Sutra recitation in English

Lay Lotus practice as done in Rissho Kosei-kai.

Channel

RKUK (Rissho Kosei-kai of the UK) (all credit to the creator)

Length

28:36

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Vimalakirti Sutra

Vimalakirti Sutra: all 14 chapters

The layman's sutra of non-duality, in English.

Channel

Dharmachakra Wheel of the Dharma (all credit to the creator)

Length

4:22:57

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Lankavatara Sutra

Lankavatara Sutra

Mind-only teachings, the sutra Bodhidharma passed to Huike.

Channel

Samaneri Jayasāra – Wisdom of the Masters (all credit to the creator)

Length

40:24

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Surangama Sutra

Shurangama Sutra, chapter 1

Spoken English reading.

Channel

Dharma Water (all credit to the creator)

Length

42:10

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Sutra in 42 Sections

Sutra in Forty-two Sections

With on-screen text (BTTS / CTTB translation, shared freely).

Channel

Buddhist Audiobooks with text (Angus Cargill) (all credit to the creator)

Length

31:07

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Amitabha Sutra

Recitation of the Amitabha Sutra (English)

From the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, Ukiah, California.

Channel

City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (all credit to the creator)

Length

14:37

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Platform Sutra

Platform Sutra: all 10 chapters

The Sixth Patriarch Huineng's sutra in English.

Channel

Dharmachakra Wheel of the Dharma (all credit to the creator)

Length

4:52:56

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The Platform Sutra (on the Perfection of Wisdom)

Selected passages for contemplation.

Channel

Samaneri Jayasāra – Wisdom of the Masters (all credit to the creator)

Length

32:58

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Faith in Mind

Faith in Mind (Hsin Hsin Ming)

Sengcan's poem, read slowly.

Channel

Samaneri Jayasāra – Wisdom of the Masters (all credit to the creator)

Length

23:56

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Song of Enlightenment

Shodoka: Song of Enlightenment

Yongjia's song in full.

Channel

Samaneri Jayasāra – Wisdom of the Masters (all credit to the creator)

Length

49:31

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Gateless Gate

The Gateless Gate: compilation of Zen koans

The 48 cases of the Wumenguan.

Channel

AudioBuddha (all credit to the creator)

Length

1:02:13

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Religion of the Samurai

The Religion of the Samurai (1913)

Kaiten Nukariya's study of Zen (hosted on this site).

Channel

New Library of Alexandria (all credit to the creator)

Length

8:02:52

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D. T. Suzuki

Essays in Zen Buddhism, First Series (Part 1)

D. T. Suzuki's 1927 classic (hosted on this site).

Channel

3ords.com – public domain audiobooks (all credit to the creator)

Length

6:49:54

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Tibetan Book of the Dead

Tibetan Book of the Dead (Evans-Wentz), Book I part 1

The 1927 Evans-Wentz edition.

Channel

Audiobooks by Mystique Jay (all credit to the creator)

Length

47:06

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Way of the Bodhisattva

Way of the Bodhisattva, ch. 1: The Excellence of Bodhicitta

Shantideva's opening chapter.

Channel

Samaneri Jayasāra – Wisdom of the Masters (all credit to the creator)

Length

22:31

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Milarepa

Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa (Evans-Wentz), introduction

Reading of the 1928 biography.

Channel

Mystic Scribe (all credit to the creator)

Length

8:46

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Questions of King Milinda

The Questions of King Milinda, Book One

Nagasena and the chariot.

Channel

Nerdjacker's Vault (all credit to the creator)

Length

55:57

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Gospel of Buddha

The Gospel of Buddha (Paul Carus, 1894), part 1

Hosted on this site in full.

Channel

Meditator's Library (all credit to the creator)

Length

2:53:30

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Shinran's Psalms

Buddhist Psalms by Shinran

A public-domain LibriVox recording (hosted on this site).

Channel

LibriVox Audiobooks (all credit to the creator)

Length

2:55:55

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The Book of Tea

The Book of Tea (Okakura)

Tea, Daoism and Zen. Public-domain LibriVox.

Channel

LibriVox Audiobooks (all credit to the creator)

Length

2:05:05

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