You can also read them in reverse chronological order.
Majjhima Nikāya
- MN 54 From… Potaliyasutta: With Potaliya the Householder “Householder, suppose a dog weak with hunger was hanging around a butcher’s shop.”
- MN 66 From… Laḍukikopama Sutta: The Quail Simile “Suppose a quail were snared by a rotting creeper…”
- MN 75 From… Māgaṇḍiyasutta: With Māgaṇḍiya “In the same way, sensual pleasures of the past, future, and present are painful to touch, fiercely burning and scorching.”
- MN 106 From… Āneñjasappāyasutta: Conducive to the Imperturbable “Mendicants, sensual pleasures are impermanent, hollow, false, and deceptive, made by illusion, cooed over by fools.”
- MN 125 From… Dantabhūmisutta: The Level of the Tamed “It’s simply impossible for him to know or see or realize what can only be known, seen, and realized by renunciation.”
- MN 145 From… Puṇṇovādasutta: Advice to Puṇṇa “Puṇṇa, there are sights known by the eye that are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing.”
- MN 146 From… Nandakovādasutta: Advice from Nandaka “And it is that noble wisdom which cuts, carves, severs, and slices the connecting corruption, fetter, and bond.”
Saṁyutta Nikāya
- SN 46.39 Rukkhasutta: Trees “These five, bhikkhus, are obstructions, hindrances, encirclers of the mind, weakeners of wisdom.”
- SN 46.51 From… Āhārasutta: Nourishing “And what fuels the arising of sensual desire, or, when it has arisen, makes it increase and grow?”
- SN 46.55 From… Saṅgāravasutta: With Saṅgārava—Sensual Desire “Suppose there was a bowl of water that was mixed with dye such as red lac, turmeric, indigo, or rose madder.”
- SN 47.7 Makkaṭasutta: A Monkey “But a foolish and reckless monkey goes up to the tar and grabs it with a hand. He gets stuck there.”
Aṅguttara Nikāya
- AN 3.113 Āpāyikasutta: Bound for Loss “…someone who has the view, ‘There is nothing wrong with sensual pleasures,’ so they throw themselves into sensual pleasures.”
- AN 5.76 From… Dutiyayodhājīvasutta: Warriors (2nd) “Reverends, I am overcome with lust, mired in lust. I am unable to keep up the spiritual life.”
- AN 5.176 Pīti Sutta: Rapture “‘Let’s periodically enter & remain in seclusion & rapture.’ That’s how you should train yourself.”
- AN 5.200 From… Nissāraṇīyasutta: Elements of Escape “Take a case where a mendicant focuses on sensual pleasures, but their mind isn’t eager, confident, settled, and decided about them.”
- AN 6.50 Indriyasaṁvarasutta: Sense Restraint “Suppose there was a tree that lacked branches and foliage. Its shoots, bark, softwood, and heartwood would not grow to fullness.”
- AN 8.56 Bhayasutta: Danger “Someone who is besotted by sensual greed and shackled by lustful desire is not freed from dangers in the present life or in lives to come.”
- AN 9.23 Taṇhāmūlakasutta: Rooted in Craving “I will teach you about nine things rooted in craving.”
Dhammapada
- Dhp 186–187 From… Buddhavagga: The Buddha “Even if it were raining money, you’d not be sated in sensual pleasures.”
- Dhp 334-336 From… Taṇhā Vagga: Craving “The craving of a person who lives negligently spreads like a creeping vine.”
Udāna
- Ud 7.4 Kāmesu Satta Sutta: Attached to Sensual Pleasures (2) “…like fish in the mouth of a trap, they go to aging & death…”
Itivuttaka
- Iti 58 Taṇhāsutta: Craving “Mendicants, there are these three cravings.”
- Iti 96 Kāmayogasutta: The Bonds “Bhikkhus, one bound by the bond of sensual desire and by the bond of being is a returner, one who comes back to this state.”
- Iti 109 Nadīsotasutta: The River Current “Suppose, bhikkhus, a man was being borne along by the current of a river that seemed pleasant and agreeable.”
Sutta Nipāta
- Snp 1.9 From… Hemavatasutta: With Hemavata “By grasping what is the world troubled in what?”
- Snp 4.1 Kāmasutta: Sensual Pleasures “If a mortal desires sensual pleasure and their desire succeeds, they definitely become elated, having got what they want.”
- Snp 4.2 Guhaṭṭhakasutta: Eight on the Cave “A person like this is far from seclusion, for sensual pleasures in the world are not easy to give up.”
Theragāthā
- Thag 1.93 Erakattheragāthā: Eraka “Sensual pleasures are suffering, Eraka!”
- Thag 16.4 Raṭṭhapāla “A king who, by force, has conquered the world and rules over the earth to the edge of the sea, dissatisfied with the ocean’s near shore, longs for the ocean’s far shore as well.”
Therīgāthā
- Thig 3.7 Selātherīgāthā: Selā “What you call sensual delight is now no delight for me.”
- Thig 13.5 Subhākammāradhītutherīgāthā: Subhā, the Smith’s Daughter “Money or gold doesn’t lead to peace and awakening.”