Originally the Buddha’s teachings were preserved orally by monks trained in memorization. Listening to recordings of the suttas can put us back in touch with this tradition. Repetitions that are seem unnecessary in print come to life when read aloud. These are resources for free audio book recordings of the suttas. If you know of more, post them in the comments below.
Download from this site:
- The Itivuttaka, Translated by John D. Ireland
- Sutta Reading Audio Book MP3—Dhammapada: The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom, Translated by Acharya Buddharakkhita
Mahamegha
The publishing house for Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monasteries, Mahamegha, has several audio books from the Khuddakanikaya, including The Dhammapada, Therigatha, Vimanavatthu, and Petavattuh. Links to free editions can be found on the main monastery website.
PaliAudio.com
Paliaudio.com has professionally recorded readings of English sutta translations (despite the word Pali in the name) for free download. Translations are by a variety of authors including Bhikkhu Bodhi, Bhikkhu Sujato, and Rupert Gethin.
SuttaReadings.net
SuttaReadings.net has dozens of suttas read by monastics and lay teachers. Although there is no new content being added to the site, the recording quality is very high.
Ancient Buddhist Texts
Ancient-Buddhist-Texts.net audio section contains hours of suttas translated by Bhante Ānandajoti. Especially notable is the complete audio recording of the Udāna.
Dhammapada by Gil Fronsdal
Readings from the Dhammapada by Gil Fronsdal has recordings of Gil Fronsdal reading his entire translation of the Dhammapada.
My Buddhist name is thien tho I feel blessed to find this site I want to be a Monk again and I need a site like this because I’m dyslexic and have trouble reading, I send my loving kindness to you and the all living beings. Sadhu.
Great Work. Shadhu Shadhu Shadhu
Thank you so much for this wonderful and comprehensive site! This site is the best for Audio Dhamma. @Voice Reader for EPUBS (or other formats) works great for me.
Yours in the Dhamma,
Michael
So glad it is helpful! Do you know about https://voice.suttacentral.net ?
No, thanks for letting me know about it : )
My name is Albertus and I would express my thank to all who have contributed in
this Sutta-reading section.
I am wishing to have the whole set all sutta nikaya in audio version.
I am 67 years of age and gratitude to be able to listen to sutta since my eyes are getting weak and can not read for long time anymore.
Thank you
Yes, many people have done a lot of work, haven’t they!
Do check out https://voice.suttacentral.net. Many of them are computer generated, but the quality is still good. They have the first four nikayas complete.
You might want to add to your audio offerings, unless it is already there, the beautiful readings from the Santi Forest Monastery, among which the Parayana Vagga from the Sutta Nipāta translated by Dr Saddathissa.
With gratitude.
https://santifm.org/santi/the-way-to-the-beyond/