The Present Volume, which continues Wisdom's esteemed Teachings of the Buddha series, contains an anthology of suttas from the Samyutta Nikaya brilliantly translated and introduced by Bhikku Bodhi. The Samyutta Nikaya, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, consists of fifty-six chapters, each governed by a unifying theme that binds together the discourses on such topics as dependent origination, the five aggregates, the six sense bases, the seven factors of enlightenment, the noble eightfold path, and the four noble truths. Bhikkhu Bodhi's selection of suttas takes us straight to the heart of the Buddha's teaching on liberation through the four noble truths and the noble eightfold path-the two mainstays of Buddhist doctrine that illuminate the nature of things by generating direct insight into the teachings. These suttas all pertain to the ultimate good, the attainment of Nibbana or liberation. they illuminate the Buddha's radical diagnosis of the human condition-and more broadly, the condition of all sentient existence-in light of the four noble truths. They underscore the pervasive flaws inherent in the round of rebirths, trace our existential predicament to its deepest roots, and lay out the path to unraveling our bondage and winning irreversible release. For those interested in the Pali language, Bhikkhu Bodhi provides linguistic and grammatical explanations of the suttas included in this book in his Reading the Buddha's Discourses in Pali.