Saṁyutta Nikāya

  The Tathagata is approached by a radiant deity in Jeta's Grove at Sāvatthī. The deity asks the Tathagata how he crossed over the "flood," a metaphor for the cycle of suffering and attachment in the world. The Tathagata responds cryptically, stating that he crossed the flood "without standing and without struggling." When the deity seeks clarification, the Tathagata explains that standing (resisting) caused him to sink, and struggling led to being swept away. Instead, by letting go of attachment and effort, he transcended the flood. The deity, recognizing the Tathagata's wisdom, praises him as a fully extinguished brahmin who has overcome worldly attachment without resistance. The Tathagata approves of the deity's understanding, and the deity pays homage before departing. The passage highlights the Tathagata's teaching of non-attachment and the Middle Way—neither clinging nor resisting—as the path to liberation.

  Five kings including King Pasenadi of Kosala were debating the highest form of sensual pleasures among form, sound, smell, taste, and tangible objects. Unable to reach a consensus, they decided to consult the Blessed One. Upon visiting him, the Blessed One explained that the highest of the five strands of sensual pleasures is subjective and varies per individual; what is most pleasing to one may not be to another. Thus, the highest pleasure for each person is what they find most satisfying in any given category. During this discussion, a lay follower named Candanaṅgalika expressed his agreement with the Blessed One's explanation.

  At Sāvatthī, King Pasenadi of Kosala visited the Blessed One and discussed the recent death of a wealthy householder named Anāthapiṇḍika. The king described how the deceased, despite his vast wealth, lived frugally and did not use his resources to provide for the well-being of his family, servants, or community, nor did he make offerings to ascetics and brahmins that could lead to happiness and spiritual merit. The king compared improperly used wealth to a clear, refreshing lotus pond that remains untouched and ultimately unused, emphasizing that wealth should be used wisely to ensure personal and communal well-being, rather than hoarded or squandered.

  At Sāvatthī, the nun Vajirā, after her morning alms round, settled in the Blind Man's Grove for meditation. Māra the Evil One tried to disturb her concentration by questioning the creation and cessation of beings. Vajirā recognized Māra and countered his questions by explaining that "being" is merely a conventional term used when the aggregates (formations) are present, similar to how "chariot" refers to an assembly of parts. She emphasized that only suffering arises and ceases. Realizing his failure, Māra vanished. This discourse is part of the first chapter of the Connected Discourses on Nuns.

  The Blessed One spent his final moments at Kusinara, delivering his last teachings to the disciples, emphasizing the impermanence of all conditioned things and the importance of diligence. He then progressed through various advanced meditative states, ultimately attaining final Nibbana. Key figures like Brahma Sahampati, Sakka, and Ananda expressed profound reflections on the nature of existence and the significance of the Tathagata's teachings at the moment of his passing. The Tathagata's journey through these states and his final attainment underscore the core Buddhist teachings on impermanence, suffering, and liberation.

  In Sāvatthī, a brahmin named Paccanīkasāta decided to challenge the teachings of the ascetic Gotama by opposing whatever he said. When they met, Gotama explained that a mind filled with opposition and hostility cannot comprehend well-spoken words. Only a calm and unresentful mind can truly understand. Impressed by Gotama's response, Paccanīkasāta praised him and declared himself a lifelong follower.

  A disciple residing in a forest in Kosala was plagued by harmful thoughts of sensuality, ill-will, and violence. The forest's guardian deity, concerned for the disciple's well-being, advised him to focus properly, abandon negative thoughts, and rely on the Teacher, the Dhamma, the Sangha, and his virtues. This guidance promised joy and the cessation of suffering. Inspired by the deity, the disciple felt a renewed sense of urgency in his spiritual practice.

  The Blessed One, while at Sāvatthī in Jeta's Grove, taught the monks about dependent origination. He explained that suffering arises in a sequence starting with ignorance and leading to aging, death, and despair. This chain also reverses, where the cessation of ignorance leads to the cessation of all subsequent states, culminating in the cessation of suffering. The monks were satisfied and delighted by his teachings.

  The Tathagata teaches monks about dependent origination, explaining it as a sequence starting with ignorance and leading to suffering through various stages including formations, consciousness, name-and-form, the six sense bases, contact, feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, and finally aging and death. Each stage is defined in detail, such as different types of becoming, clinging, and craving. The Tathagata emphasizes that understanding and ceasing ignorance can lead to the cessation of this entire process and thus end suffering.

  The venerable Kaccānagotta asked the Blessed One about the nature of right view. The Tathagata explained that the world largely operates on the duality of existence and nonexistence. He taught that true wisdom sees beyond these concepts, recognizing neither nonexistence nor existence of the world. The world is often trapped in attachment and identity, but right view involves understanding the impermanence of suffering without clinging to notions of self. The Tathagata emphasized avoiding the extremes of "everything exists" and "nothing exists," instead teaching the Middle Way, which links ignorance to the arising and cessation of suffering through dependent origination.

  The Tathagata explained the difference between a fool and a wise person. Both experience life through the body and senses, influenced by ignorance and craving. However, the fool remains trapped in this cycle of rebirth and suffering due to unaddressed ignorance and craving, failing to live a holy life aimed at ending suffering. In contrast, the wise person overcomes ignorance and craving, lives the holy life, and upon death, is not reborn, thus escaping the cycle of suffering. This distinction highlights the importance of living a holy life to achieve liberation.

  The Tathagata teaches that the destruction of taints is achieved by those who know and see the true nature of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, including their arising and cessation. He emphasizes that the knowledge leading to the destruction of taints is conditioned by liberation, which in turn is supported by a sequence of conditions: dispassion, disenchantment, knowledge and vision of things as they are, concentration, happiness, tranquility, joy, rapture, faith, suffering, birth, becoming, clinging, craving, feeling, contact, the six sense bases, name-and-form, consciousness, and ultimately ignorance. Each step is necessary for the subsequent one, illustrating a cascading effect similar to rainwater flowing from mountains to the ocean.

   Sāriputta is asked by Venerable Bhūmija as to the origin of pleasure and pain. He replies that the Tathagata teaches that pleasure and pain originate by conditions. Moreover, all those who offer opinions on this question are themselves part of the web of conditions, as they cannot state their views without contact.

  The Blessed One taught that ignorance leads to volitional formations, which in turn lead to consciousness, culminating in the entire mass of suffering. Aging and death, described as the deterioration and eventual demise of beings, arise from birth. The cessation of aging and death, as well as volitional formations, is achieved through the Noble Eightfold Path, which includes right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. Understanding these processes and their cessation makes one a noble disciple, accomplished in view and wisdom, and on the path to the deathless.

  Intentions, plans, and latent tendencies sustain consciousness, leading to future existence and suffering, including birth, aging, and death. However, if one eliminates intentions, plans, and latent tendencies, consciousness does not continue, preventing future existence and the associated suffering. This cessation of consciousness halts the cycle of suffering.

  The householder Anāthapiṇḍika visited the Blessed One. The Tathagata explained that a noble disciple who has calmed five dangers and hostilities—arising from killing, theft, sexual misconduct, false speech, and intoxication—can consider themselves free from lower realms and destined for enlightenment. This disciple also possesses four factors of stream-entry: unwavering confidence in the Tathagata, Dhamma, and Sangha, and virtues leading to concentration. Additionally, they understand the noble method of dependent origination, recognizing the causal relationships that lead to suffering and its cessation.

  The Blessed One explained the arising and cessation of suffering to the disciples. He taught that suffering arises from the process beginning with sensory contact (eye and forms, ear and sounds, etc.), leading to consciousness, contact, feeling, and ultimately craving. Conversely, the cessation of suffering involves the same sensory processes but ends with the complete fading and cessation of craving, leading to the cessation of clinging, becoming, birth, and consequently all forms of suffering and despair. This cycle applies to all senses, including the mind.

  The Blessed One taught disciples about the arising and cessation of the world. He explained that the world arises dependent on sensory experiences (eye and forms, ear and sounds, etc.) leading to consciousness, contact, feeling, craving, clinging, becoming, birth, and subsequently suffering (aging, death, sorrow, etc.). Conversely, the cessation of the world occurs through the fading and cessation of craving, leading to the end of clinging, becoming, and the entire mass of suffering. This process applies to all senses and their respective consciousnesses.

  A desciple should thoroughly investigate the causes of suffering in accordance with dependent origination. If someone who still has ignorance makes a choice, their consciousness fares on to a suitable state of existence. But one who has eradicated ignorance is detached and is not reborn anywhere.

  The discourse explains the cycle of suffering linked to clinging. Seeing gratification in clingable things increases craving, leading to clinging, existence, birth, and consequently to aging, death, and various forms of suffering. This cycle is likened to a fire sustained by fuel. Conversely, perceiving the danger in clingable things leads to the cessation of craving and clinging, halting the cycle and extinguishing suffering, similar to a fire that goes out when not fed. Thus, understanding the dangers in clingable things can end suffering.

  The Blessed One, while in Sāvatthī, taught that an uninstructed ordinary person might disengage from their physical body, recognizing its impermanence. However, they struggle to detach from the mind or consciousness due to long-held beliefs of self-identity. Unlike the body, which may last many years, the mind constantly changes, similar to a discipleey swinging between branches. A well-instructed noble disciple understands dependent origination and the transient nature of all mental formations, leading to disenchantment and liberation from suffering, ultimately realizing the cessation of the cycle of rebirth.

   An ignorant person might become free of attachment to their body, but not their mind. Still, it would be better to attach to the body, as it is less changeable than the mind. But a noble disciple reflects on dependent origination.

  At Sāvatthi, the Tathagata taught that there are four nutriments essential for beings: physical food, contact, mental volition, and consciousness. He illustrated each with vivid analogies to emphasize their importance and how they should be perceived: 1. **Physical Food**: Like a desperate couple in a forest who, to survive, eat their only child, physical food should be seen as a means of survival, not for pleasure or beauty. Understanding this curbs lust for sensual pleasures and breaks worldly fetters. 2. **Contact**: Compared to a diseased cow bitten wherever it leans, contact should be understood as a source of inevitable suffering. Fully understanding contact leads to understanding the three feelings (pleasant, unpleasant, neutral), completing a disciple's task. 3. **Mental Volition**: Likened to a man dragged towards a fiery pit, mental volition should be seen as a force that can lead to suffering if not understood. Understanding it fully reveals the nature of the three cravings (sensual pleasures, existence, non-existence), completing a disciple's spiritual work. 4. **Consciousness**: Illustrated by a bandit repeatedly speared, consciousness should be viewed as a form of nourishment that, when fully understood along with name and form, leaves nothing more for a noble disciple to accomplish. These teachings emphasize the importance of understanding these four nutriments to transcend suffering and achieve spiritual liberation.

  At Sāvatthi, the Tathagata teaches that there are four nutriments essential for beings: physical food, contact, mental volition, and consciousness. He explains that craving for these nutriments leads to consciousness becoming established, which in turn leads to the descent of name-and-form, growth of formations, and ultimately future rebirth, birth, aging, and death, all of which are sources of suffering. Conversely, absence of craving prevents this chain of events, leading to the absence of rebirth and subsequent suffering. This teaching highlights the importance of non-attachment to overcome suffering.

  Venerable Sāriputta and Venerable Mahākoṭṭhika discussed the nature of aging, death, and other existential elements at Deer Park in Bārāṇasī. Sāriputta explained that aging, death, birth, existence, clinging, craving, feeling, contact, the six sense bases, name-and-form, and consciousness are neither self-made nor other-made but arise due to specific conditions. He used the analogy of two bundles of reeds leaning against each other to illustrate the interdependent origination and cessation of these phenomena, emphasizing that the cessation of one leads to the cessation of the others, ultimately leading to the cessation of suffering. This understanding is crucial for a disciple to be considered a true teacher, practitioner, and one who has attained Nibbāna.

  The Tathagata used a speck of dust on his fingernail to illustrate a point to the disciples. He compared the tiny amount of dust to the vastness of the earth, highlighting that the earth was immensely greater. Similarly, he explained that for a noble disciple who has attained right view and made a breakthrough in understanding the Dhamma, the suffering that remains is negligible compared to the vast amount of suffering that has been overcome. This demonstrates the profound benefit of realizing the Dhamma.

  The Tathagata taught about seven elements: radiance, beauty, infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, neither perception nor non-perception, and cessation of perception and feeling. Each element is dependent on another, such as radiance on darkness, and beauty on ugliness. The elements of infinite space, infinite consciousness, and nothingness are sequentially dependent on each other. These elements can be attained through various stages of perception and cessation, with the final element, cessation of perception and feeling, dependent on the complete cessation.

  The Tathagata recounted his time as a Bodhisattva, reflecting on the nature of the four elements—earth, water, fire, and air. He contemplated their pleasures, which arise from dependence on them, and their dangers, rooted in their impermanence and susceptibility to suffering. The escape from each element, he realized, lies in abandoning desire and lust for it. Understanding these truths about the elements led him to supreme enlightenment and the realization of his unshakable liberation, marking his final rebirth.

  The Tathagata, speaking at Sāvatthī, taught that the cycle of rebirths is beginningless, perpetuated by ignorance and craving. He posed a question to the disciples about whether the tears shed due to suffering in countless rebirths were greater than the water in the four great oceans. The disciples agreed that their tears were indeed greater. Tathagata confirmed this, listing the repeated personal losses experienced over many lifetimes, emphasizing the immense sorrow endured. He concluded that understanding the endless nature of rebirth should lead to disenchantment, dispassion, and ultimately liberation.

  A disciple asked the Blessed One about the length of an eon. The Tathagata explained that an eon is immensely long, difficult to quantify in years. He used an analogy of a massive, solid mountain being worn away by a fine cloth stroked once every hundred years, stating that the mountain would erode faster than an eon would pass. He emphasized the vastness of time by mentioning the countless eons that have already passed, underscoring the endless cycle of rebirths. This led to the conclusion that one should aim to become disenchanted and liberated from all worldly formations.

  The Blessed One, while in Sāvatthī, taught disciples about the endless cycle of existence (saṁsāra), highlighting that its beginning is unknown due to ignorance and craving. He emphasized the long-standing suffering endured and advocated for disenchantment with all formations, promoting dispassion and liberation as the path to overcome this perpetual cycle.

  The Tathagata compared the future of his teachings to a drum called 'Summoner' used by the Dasārahas, which over time was repaired with pegs until its original form was lost. He predicted that disciples in the future would ignore his profound teachings connected with emptiness, favoring instead attractive, poetically composed discourses by disciples. He warned that this would lead to the disappearance of his deep teachings. Therefore, he urged disciples to focus on understanding and mastering his original, profound discourses.

  The Kolita Sutta recounts an experience of Venerable Mahāmoggallāna at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove. Mahāmoggallāna, in seclusion, pondered the meaning of "noble silence," realizing it referred to the state of the second jhāna—characterized by internal confidence, unification of mind, absence of thought, and joy from concentration. Despite initial distractions, he achieved this state following the Tathagata's advice to focus and stabilize his mind in noble silence. This attainment exemplified profound spiritual knowledge assisted by the Tathagata.

   The householder Nakulapitā asks the Tathagata for help in coping with old age. The Tathagata says to reflect: “Even though I am afflicted in body, my mind will be unafflicted.” Later Sāriputta explains this in terms of the five aggregates.

  The Samādhisutta emphasizes the importance of concentration for disciples to perceive reality clearly. It explains that understanding the nature of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness involves recognizing their arising and passing away. Arising occurs when one delights in and clings to these elements, leading to a cycle of becoming, birth, and suffering. Conversely, passing away happens when one does not delight in or cling to these elements, leading to the cessation of suffering. This understanding helps disciples grasp the transient nature of existence and the root of suffering.

  From Sāvatthi, the Khandhasutta teaches about the five aggregates and the five clinging aggregates. The five aggregates include form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, encompassing all states whether past, present, or future, and varying in nature (internal/external, gross/subtle). The five clinging aggregates are similar but are characterized by being tainted and subject to clinging. This teaching highlights the nature of existence and attachment in philosophy.

  Originating in Sāvatthī, the discourse emphasizes that attachment prevents liberation, while detachment leads to freedom. Consciousness, when attached to form, feeling, perception, or mental formations, remains dependent and continues to grow. Liberation is unattainable if consciousness is described independently of these elements. A disciple liberates consciousness by abandoning desire for these elements, cutting off their support. An unestablished consciousness is stable, content, and unagitated, ultimately achieving final Nibbāna, signifying the end of rebirth and fulfillment of the holy life.

  At Sāvatthi, the Tathagata discusses five types of seeds (root, stem, joint, fruit, and seeds themselves) to illustrate the conditions necessary for growth. He explains that these seeds, if unbroken and well-kept, require earth and water to grow. Similarly, consciousness needs a foundation (form, feeling, perception, formations) and delight as moisture to expand. The Tathagata emphasizes that describing consciousness's changes independent of these elements is impossible. Liberation from lust for these elements leads to the cessation of consciousness's establishment and growth, resulting in stability, contentment, and ultimately Nibbāna, signifying the end of rebirth and suffering.

  The Upādānaparipavatta Sutta discusses the five aggregates of clinging: form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. The Tathagata explains that he did not claim enlightenment until he fully understood these aggregates in their four aspects: understanding each aggregate, its arising, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation. This path is the Noble Eightfold Path, which includes right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. The sutta emphasizes that true understanding and practice of these principles lead to disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation of clinging, resulting in complete liberation and the end of the cycle of rebirth.

   To be fully accomplished, a desciple should investigate the five aggregates in light of the four noble truths, as well as their gratification, drawback, and escape. In addition, they should investigate the elements, sense fields, and dependent origination.

  The Blessed One, while in Benares at the Deer Park in Isipatana, taught the group of five disciples about the concept of non-self. He explained that form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are all non-self because they lead to affliction and cannot be controlled as one wishes (e.g., "Let my form be thus; let my form not be thus"). He emphasized that all these elements are impermanent and lead to suffering, thus they should not be regarded as 'This is mine, this I am, this is my self'. Recognizing their true nature leads to disenchantment, dispassion, and ultimately liberation. The disciples, understanding this, were liberated from mental taints.

  In the Discourse to Mahāli, the Tathagata, while in Vesālī, refutes Pūraṇa Kassapa's claim that beings are defiled and purified without cause or condition. He explains to Mahāli that both defilement and purification of beings have specific causes and conditions. Defilement occurs because beings become enamored with the pleasurable aspects of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, leading to attachment and subsequent defilement. Conversely, purification happens when beings recognize these elements as suffering, leading to disenchantment, dispassion, and ultimately purification. Thus, both processes are conditional and not arbitrary.

   One of the most extensive discourses in this collection begins with the Tathagata saying that when anyone recollects a past life, all they are recollecting is the five aggregates. He then gives a distinctive set of definitions of the aggregates in terms of their functions, and discusses them from various aspects.

  During a full moon night in Sāvatthī, the Blessed One, surrounded by disciples, engaged in a deep discussion on the nature of the five aggregates subject to clinging: form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. He explained that these aggregates are rooted in desire and lust, which constitute clinging. The disciple inquired about the nature, variation, and manifestation of these aggregates, to which the Blessed One responded by detailing their conditions and causes, such as the four great elements and contact. The discussion also covered identity view, highlighting how it arises from misconceptions about the self in relation to the aggregates and is prevented by correct understanding and discipline in Dhamma. The dialogue further explored the impermanence and suffering associated with these aggregates and the path to liberation through the removal of desire and lust. The Blessed One emphasized the importance of seeing all forms of existence as not-self to prevent conceit and the illusion of self.

   Venerable Yamaka had the wrong view that one whose defilements have ended is annihilated at death. The disciples ask Sāriputta to help, and he asks Yamaka whether the Realized One in this very life may be identified as one of the aggregates, or apart from them. Convinced, Yamaka lets go of his view and sees the Dhamma.

  The Blessed One was staying in Rajagaha when he received a message that the venerable Assaji was gravely ill. Assaji's attendants conveyed his homage and requested the Blessed One's visit. The Tathagata visited Assaji, who expressed that his condition was worsening and he felt remorse and regret despite having no moral misconduct. The Tathagata taught Assaji about the impermanence of form and feelings, emphasizing that understanding this leads to dispassion and liberation of the mind. He explained that all sensations should be experienced detachedly, as they are impermanent and not to be clung to, leading to peace upon the body's demise, similar to an extinguishing lamp when its fuel is spent.

  Originating in Sāvatthi, the discourse emphasizes that a proponent of the Dhamma does not argue with the world but aligns with the wisdom of the wise. The wise do not see form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness as permanent or stable; they are recognized as impermanent and subject to change. The Tathāgata fully understands these worldly conditions and clarifies them for others. Those who fail to understand these teachings are described as blind and ignorant. The Tathagata, likened to a lotus unsoiled by water, lives in the world but remains unaffected by it.

  The Blessed One, while at Ayujjhā on the Ganges riverbank, taught disciples about the nature of existence using various similes. He compared form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness to transient and insubstantial phenomena like foam, water bubbles, mirages, banana trees, and illusions. By observing and investigating these wisely, they appear empty and void of substance. This understanding leads a learned noble disciple to become disenchanted and dispassionate, ultimately achieving liberation. The Tathagata emphasized the importance of diligent investigation and mindfulness to see beyond the superficial and recognize the essenceless nature of all aggregates, urging disciples to seek liberation with the urgency of a head on fire.

  In Sāvatthi, a disciple asked the Blessed One if any form, feeling, perception, formation, or consciousness is permanent and unchanging. The Tathagata responded that none of these are permanent; all are subject to change and impermanence. He illustrated this by showing a bit of dust on his fingernail, emphasizing that even such a small amount is not eternal. This impermanence underlines the essence of the holy life, which is aimed at the complete ending of suffering, as permanence would negate the need for such spiritual pursuits. The disciple acknowledged this impermanence, leading to a deeper understanding of the transient nature of existence.

  Originating in Sāvatthi, the Gaddulabaddhasutta teaches that samsara, the cycle of existence, has no discernible beginning and is perpetuated by ignorance and craving. It illustrates the persistence of suffering through metaphors of the great ocean drying up, the mountain Sineru burning, and the earth perishing, yet suffering for beings continues. This Sutta compares uninstructed individuals to a dog tied to a post, endlessly circling yet bound by attachments to physical and mental forms, which leads to continuous suffering. In contrast, the instructed noble disciple does not identify with these forms and thus breaks free from the cycle of suffering, achieving liberation.

   Contemplating the arising and falling away of the Five Aggregates leads to knowing and liberation, but this may not be immediately apparent. The Tathagata illustrates this with similes of a hen brooding on her eggs, the wearing away of an axe handle, and the rotting of a ship’s rigging.

  The Aniccasaññā Sutta emphasizes that the perception of impermanence, when fully developed and cultivated, eradicates all forms of desire and ignorance, including the attachment to self-identity ('I' or 'mine'). The sutta uses various metaphors, such as a farmer cutting roots with a sickle and a fisherman shaking a fish, to illustrate how this perception, like a powerful tool, effectively eliminates sensual desires and the notion of self. It also explains that understanding the impermanence of all phenomena, including form and consciousness, is key to overcoming these attachments.

  In Sāvatthī, the Tathagata teaches about phenomena that require full understanding, which include form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. Full understanding is defined as the destruction of lust, hatred, and delusion. The person who achieves this state is known as an Arahant, a venerable individual identified by name and clan. This teaching is presented as the fourth in a series.

   Mahākoṭṭhita asks what an ethical desciple should focus on, and Sāriputta replies that if they focus on aggregates as impermanent, etc. they may become a stream-enterer. A stream-enterer contemplating in the same way may become a non-returner, a once-returner, and a perfected one.

   Mahākoṭṭhita asks what an educated deciple should focus on, and Sāriputta replies that if they focus on aggregates as impermanent, etc. they may become a stream-enterer. A stream-enterer contemplating in the same way may become a non-returner, a once-returner, and a perfected one.

  In Sāvatthī, a disciple asked the Blessed One about ignorance and knowing. Ignorance, the Tathagata explained, is when an ordinary person lacks understanding of the true nature of arising and vanishing in form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. This lack of understanding binds one in ignorance. Conversely, knowing is when a learned noble disciple comprehends these phenomena as they truly are, which endows them with knowledge. This understanding liberates them from ignorance.

  Venerable Sāriputta and Venerable Mahākoṭṭhika were at Isipatana near Benares. Mahākoṭṭhika, after his retreat, asked Sāriputta to define ignorance. Sāriputta explained that ignorance is the lack of understanding by an ordinary person that form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness are phenomena that arise and pass away. This lack of understanding is how one is mired in ignorance.

   One with faith in the teachings on the six interior sense fields is called a “follower by faith”, while someone with conceptual understanding is called a “follower of the teachings”. But someone who sees them directly is called a stream-enterer.

  In Sāvatthī, it is taught that all sensory experiences—forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and mental phenomena—are impermanent and constantly changing. Those who have faith in these teachings are deemed 'followers of faith,' set on a righteous path, aligned with noble ones, and protected from rebirth in lower realms. They are assured of achieving at least the initial stage of enlightenment, known as stream-entry. Similarly, those who intellectually reflect on these teachings are also safeguarded from lower rebirths and destined for enlightenment. The deepest understanding and realization of these teachings define a 'stream-enterer,' who is securely on the path to enlightenment, immune to spiritual decline.

  Originating in Sāvatthi, the discourse emphasizes the impermanence of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, all subject to change. Those who have faith in these teachings are deemed faith-followers, entering a superior spiritual plane and avoiding rebirth in lower realms. Accepting these teachings, even minimally, prevents one from actions leading to negative rebirths and ensures realization of stream-entry. Understanding these teachings qualifies one as a 'stream-enterer,' destined for full awakening and protected from spiritual decline.

  The discourse explains that attachment to sensory experiences (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind) arises because of the enjoyment they provide. However, there is also inherent danger in these attachments, leading to disenchantment. Liberation from these attachments is possible through recognizing the true nature of enjoyment, danger, and the means of escape. Understanding these aspects as they truly are enables beings to transcend worldly attachments and achieve a state of freedom and detachment.

  The Dutiyanoceassādasutta teaches that beings are attached to forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and mental phenomena because they find gratification in them. However, they also become disenchanted due to the inherent dangers in these phenomena. Liberation is possible because there is an escape from each. True freedom comes from understanding the nature of gratification, danger, and escape in these phenomena, leading to detachment and release from worldly attachments.

  The First Discourse on the Arising of Suffering explains that the existence and functions of the senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind) lead to suffering, disease, aging, and death. Conversely, the cessation or ending of these sensory functions results in the cessation of suffering, diseases, and the disappearance of aging and death.

  The Second Discourse on the Arising of Suffering explains that the existence and continuation of forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and mental phenomena lead to suffering, disease, aging, and death. Conversely, their cessation, appeasement, and disappearance result in the end of suffering, diseases, and the cessation of aging and death.

  The Sabbasutta teaches that "all" encompasses the eye and forms, ear and sounds, nose and smells, tongue and tastes, body and tangible objects, and mind with mental phenomena. If a disciple claims to know all through direct experience, he would be unable to explain it when questioned, leading to confusion due to the inherent nature of that experience.

  The Dhamma teaches the abandonment of all sensory and mental attachments. This includes the senses (eye, tongue, body, mind), their objects (forms, tastes, phenomena), consciousness, and contact related to these senses. Additionally, any feelings arising from these contacts, whether pleasant, painful, or neutral, should also be abandoned. This comprehensive detachment from sensory and mental processes is the path to liberation.

  At Gayā, the Blessed One taught a thousand disciples that all sensory experiences are "burning" with the fires of lust, hatred, and delusion, leading to suffering and despair. This includes the senses like the eye and mind, and their respective objects and consciousness. Recognizing this, a wise disciple becomes disenchanted and dispassionate, leading to liberation from suffering and the cycle of rebirth. The disciples were enlightened by this teaching, achieving liberation during the discourse.

   Venerable Migajāla asks how one lives alone, and how with a partner. The Tathagata says that so long as one is bound by desire to the senses, one lives with a partner. A desciple free of such desire dwells alone, even if they live in close association with worldly people.

  Samiddhi asks about the concept of the "world." The response clarifies that the world exists where sensory and mental faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind) and their corresponding objects and consciousnesses are present. Conversely, where these faculties and their interactions are absent, there is no world. This dialogue highlights the understanding of the world as sensory and mental processes.

  In Sāvatthi, a disciple requested the Tathagata to visit a gravely ill, new disciple at a monastery. Upon arrival, the Tathagata conversed with the sick disciple, who expressed his inability to endure his suffering and his lack of understanding of the Dhamma for conduct purification. The Tathagata clarified that the Dhamma primarily aims to eliminate lust and taught the impermanence of sensory faculties and the resultant suffering. Recognizing their impermanence leads to dispassion and liberation. The sick disciple, enlightened by this teaching, realized that all that arises will also cease.

  A disciple inquires about abandoning one thing to eradicate ignorance and gain true knowledge. The answer is to abandon ignorance itself. True knowledge arises when a disciple realizes that all things are not worth adhering to. This understanding leads to a direct and full comprehension of all things, altering perception of the sensory and mental experiences. By seeing everything differently, including the processes of consciousness and contact, the disciple transcends ordinary perceptions, leading to the abandonment of ignorance and the emergence of true knowledge.

  Venerable Ānanda asked the Blessed One to teach him the Dhamma briefly to aid his solitary spiritual practice. The Tathagata questioned Ānanda on the impermanence of the eye, form, and consciousness, establishing that what is impermanent also brings suffering and is not fit to be regarded as self. This pattern continued with other senses and their consciousnesses. Recognizing their impermanence and suffering leads a noble disciple to disenchantment and dispassion, culminating in liberation and the understanding that one has completed what needs to be done, with no further rebirths.

   Venerable Māluṅkyaputta asks for a teaching to take on retreat. The Tathagata wonders how to teach an old disciple like him, then questions him on his desire for sense experience that has been or might be, and encourages him to simply let sense experience be. Māluṅkyaputta says he understands, and expands the Tathagata’s teaching in a series of verses.

  The Pamādavihārīsutta teaches about the consequences of dwelling negligently versus diligently. Negligent dwelling involves unrestrained sensory faculties (eye, tongue, mind), leading to distraction and a cascade of negative states: lack of joy, absence of rapture, no tranquility, suffering, and an unconcentrated mind. This results in phenomena not manifesting, defining negligent dwelling. Conversely, diligent dwelling involves restrained faculties, leading to an undistracted mind, joy, rapture, tranquility, happiness, and a concentrated mind, allowing phenomena to manifest, defining diligent dwelling.

  The Discourse on Restraint teaches about the importance of restraint for disciples. Lack of restraint occurs when a disciple delights in and clings to desirable sensory and mental phenomena, leading to a decline in wholesome states. Conversely, restraint is demonstrated when a disciple does not engage with these enticing phenomena, maintaining their wholesome states. This practice of restraint versus lack of restraint is crucial for spiritual progress, as defined by the Blessed One.

   While practicing for awakening, the Tathagata reflected that he should be diligent when his mind strayed to sense pleasures of the past, future, or present. He urges the desciples to realize that place where the senses completely cease, and they ask Ānanda to explain this to them.

  The Discourse on the Cessation of Action teaches about old actions (sensory experiences like sight and sound), new actions (current actions by body, speech, or mind), the cessation of actions (liberation through stopping bodily, verbal, and mental actions), and the path to this cessation, which is the Noble Eightfold Path (right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration). The discourse emphasizes practice and diligence for disciples, guiding them towards liberation and spiritual welfare.

  The holy life under ascetic Gotama is lived for the full understanding of suffering. This includes the suffering associated with the senses such as the eye, forms, eye-consciousness, and eye-contact, as well as the feelings that arise from these contacts, whether pleasant, painful, or neutral. The same applies to other senses like the tongue and the mind. The purpose of the holy life is to fully understand all these aspects of suffering.

  The Sutta instructs disciples to focus attentively on the impermanence of sensory faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind). By recognizing their transient nature, disciples become disenchanted, leading to the destruction of delight and lust. This process ultimately liberates the mind.

  A disciple asked the Blessed One how to abandon wrong view. The Blessed One explained that recognizing the impermanence of the eye, forms, eye-consciousness, eye-contact, and all feelings arising from mind-contact as impermanent leads to the abandonment of wrong view. This understanding helps one see the transient nature of these elements, thus relinquishing incorrect perceptions.

  A disciple asks how to abandon identity view. The response is that identity view is abandoned by recognizing all elements of perception—such as the eye, forms, eye-consciousness, and eye-contact—as sources of suffering. This extends to all feelings arising from mind-contact, whether pleasant, painful, or neutral. By perceiving these as suffering, one can abandon identity view.

  The Fire Sermon, taught by the Tathagata to disciples, emphasizes the dangers of sensory attachments. It asserts that it is preferable to endure physical pain, such as being pierced by a red-hot iron, than to indulge in the sensory pleasures of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Attachment to these can lead to rebirth in lower realms like hell or as an animal. The sermon encourages reflection on the impermanence of sensory faculties and their objects, leading to disenchantment and dispassion. Through this process, one can achieve liberation, understanding that the cycle of rebirth has been broken and the spiritual journey completed. This teaching is a core part of philosophy, highlighting the transient nature of worldly experiences and the path to spiritual freedom.

  In the Kummopamasutta, a tortoise and a jackal both forage on a riverbank. The tortoise, seeing the jackal, retracts into its shell for protection, while the jackal waits to attack if the tortoise exposes itself. The tortoise remains protected by staying withdrawn, causing the jackal to eventually leave. This story is used to teach disciples about guarding their senses against Māra the Evil One, who seeks vulnerabilities in their faculties of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind. Disciples are advised to practice restraint and protect their senses to prevent unwholesome states and keep Māra at bay, similar to the tortoise's defense strategy.

   The Tathagata is invited to teach in a new hall in Kapilavatthu. Late at night, after teaching the Sakyans, the Tathagata invites Moggallāna to teach. He speaks on the mental corruption that flows from attachment to the senses.

  One should restrain the senses like a farmer watching over a field. The Tathagata gives the parable of a man bewitched when he first hears a lute. He takes apart the instrument in search of the sound, but is disillusioned when no sound is found.

  If we are to transcend the animal and human realms, we must stop acting like animals and stop being mindlessly controlled by our desires. Our six senses ought to be viewed as animals within ourselves, seeking pleasure and avoiding displeasure in the world. The senses are like a snake, a crocodile, a bird, a dog, a jackal, and a monkey all tied up together in our body, pulling in all different directions towards their natural habitat, which are pleasant sights, thoughts, tastes, tactile sensations and smell. Mindfulness of the body is like a post that keeps these animals tied to a leash, restraining the senses from mindlessly following their desires.

  Both unlearned ordinary people and learned noble disciples experience pleasant, painful, and neutral feelings. The key difference lies in their reactions to these feelings. An ordinary person reacts to painful feelings with emotional distress and seeks relief in sensual pleasures, thus remaining attached to suffering due to ignorance of true escape. In contrast, a learned noble disciple does not react emotionally to pain, does not seek sensual pleasure, and understands the true nature of feelings, including their origin, danger, and escape, remaining detached from suffering. This understanding and detachment mark the profound difference between ordinary individuals and noble disciples in handling life experiences.

  The Blessed One, while staying in Vesālī, taught disciples about mindfulness and clear comprehension. He emphasized the importance of being aware and understanding the impermanence of the body and feelings, whether pleasant, painful, or neutral. Disciples are instructed to observe their actions and feelings with clear comprehension, recognizing their dependence on the impermanent body. This awareness leads to the abandonment of lust, aversion, and ignorance, fostering detachment from transient feelings and understanding their limitation to the body and life.

  The Tathagata explains that three types of feelings—pleasant, painful, and neutral—arise from and are rooted in sensory contact. Each feeling emerges when there is contact of a corresponding nature and ceases when that contact ends, similar to how fire from rubbing sticks subsides when the action stops. This teaching highlights the transient nature of feelings, emphasizing their dependence on contact.

  A disciple asked the Blessed One about his statement that all feelings, including pleasant, painful, and neutral, are forms of suffering. The Tathagata confirmed this, explaining that suffering arises from the impermanence and cessation of these feelings. He also discussed the progressive cessation of mental and physical formations through the attainment of higher states of jhānas and the ultimate cessation of perception and feeling. This leads to the calming of formations and the cessation of lust, hatred, and delusion for one whose taints are destroyed.

  The Venerable Sāriputta, while in Nālaka, Magadha, was approached by the wanderer Jambukhādaka. After greetings, Jambukhādaka inquired about Nibbāna, which Sāriputta described as the destruction of lust, hatred, and delusion. Jambukhādaka then asked about the path to achieve Nibbāna, to which Sāriputta explained it as the Noble Eightfold Path, consisting of right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. Jambukhādaka acknowledged the path's value and the importance of being heedful.

  Venerable Mahāmoggallāna, while in seclusion at Sāvatthī's Jeta's Grove, reflected on the nature of the first jhana. He described it as a state entered by being secluded from sensual pleasures and unwholesome states, characterized by thought, examination, rapture, and happiness born of seclusion. Despite challenges from sensual perceptions, he was urged by the Tathagata to maintain focus and stabilize his mind in this state. Mahāmoggallāna eventually mastered the first jhana, acknowledging the significant support and guidance from the Tathagata in achieving deep spiritual insight.

  Venerable Kāmabhū, staying in the Ambātaka Forest, was approached by householder Citta who inquired about formations. Kāmabhū explained there are three: bodily (in-breathing and out-breathing), verbal (initial and sustained thought), and mental (perception and feeling) formations. Citta further questioned the cessation of perception and feeling, learning it occurs without conscious intent but as a result of prior mental development. The sequence of cessation starts with verbal, then bodily, then mental formations. In contrast to death, a disciple in this state maintains life and clarity. Emerging from this state, mental formation arises first, followed by bodily and verbal. The disciple's mind post-cessation inclines towards seclusion, and the key factors aiding this attainment are calm and insight.

   Venerable Godatta asks Citta whether the liberations of measurelessness, nothingness, emptiness, and signlessness are different states, or just different words for the same thing. Citta explains that they are both: they are terms for different experiences, but may also be used of perfection or arahantship.

   Talapuṭa the head of a troupe of performers asks the Tathagata whether the belief that performers have a good rebirth is correct. The Tathagata tries to dissuade him, but ultimately reveals that by inciting lust they head to a bad rebirth. Talapuṭa is distressed and asks to ordain.

  The Asaṅkhatasutta teaches about the Unconditioned, defined as the destruction of lust, hatred, and delusion. The path to the Unconditioned includes various forms of concentration and mindfulness, focusing on the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena, as well as developing spiritual powers and faculties like faith, energy, and wisdom. The Tathagata emphasizes the importance of practice and diligence in this pursuit, instructing disciples to use solitude and dispassion to achieve cessation and relinquishment, ultimately leading to the Unconditioned.

   The wanderer Vacchagotta reports to the Tathagata a conversation among ascetics on the views of the six heretical teachers as to where a perfected one is reborn. Unsure of what the Tathagata’s position was, he asks how it is to be understood. The Tathagata says it is like a flame that burns dependent on fuel, and goes out when that fuel is extinguished.

   Ānanda sees the brahmin Jāṇussoṇi resplendent on his all-white chariot. He asks the Tathagata whether there is a similarly divine vehicle in the training. The Tathagata responds by drawing a detailed set of analogies between the eightfold path and a chariot.

  A disciple approached the Blessed One at Sāvatthī, inquiring about the meaning of "the removal of lust, hatred, and delusion." The Blessed One explained that these terms refer to Nibbāna, characterized by the destruction of these taints. Further, the disciple asked about "the deathless," to which the Blessed One replied that the deathless is the destruction of lust, hatred, and delusion, achievable through the Noble Eightfold Path, which includes right view through right concentration.

  At Sāvatthi, the Blessed One taught the disciples the noble eightfold path, which includes right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. Right view involves understanding the nature of suffering and its cessation. Right intention encompasses renunciation, non-ill will, and harmlessness. Right speech means avoiding falsehood, divisiveness, harshness, and idle chatter. Right action involves abstaining from harming life, theft, and sexual misconduct. Right livelihood requires rejecting wrong ways of earning and choosing ethical means. Right effort is about preventing and abandoning negative states while cultivating and maintaining positive ones. Right mindfulness involves focused contemplation of body, feelings, mind, and phenomena, free from desire and grief. Right concentration progresses through four stages of deep Jhana, leading to equanimity and purified mindfulness.

  The sutta discusses seven underlying tendencies identified in the teachings: sensual desire, aversion, views, doubt, conceit, desire for existence, and ignorance. It emphasizes that to fully understand, destroy, and abandon these tendencies, one should develop the Noble Eightfold Path.

  The Sutta explains how both the body and mental states depend on nourishment. It likens the sustenance of the body by food to the sustenance of mental hindrances and enlightenment factors by their respective nourishments. Sensual desire is nourished by focusing on beauty, ill-will by focusing on repulsiveness, sloth and torpor by boredom and lethargy, restlessness and remorse by an unsettled mind, and doubt by ambiguous situations. Conversely, enlightenment factors like mindfulness, investigation of dhamma, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity are nourished by appropriate attention to conducive states and qualities. This analogy emphasizes the importance of proper mental nourishment for spiritual growth.

  The Silasutta emphasizes the profound benefits of associating with noble disciples skilled in virtue, concentration, and liberation. Engaging with such individuals—through seeing, listening, and following them—leads disciples to experience both bodily and mental satisfaction. This satisfaction fosters mindfulness, which in turn triggers a series of awakening factors: investigation of Dhamma, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity. As these factors are developed, they culminate in significant spiritual achievements. Depending on the extent of their cultivation, disciples can expect one of seven outcomes, ranging from enlightenment in this life to various states of liberation after death, highlighting the transformative power of diligently practicing the Dhamma.

  Venerable Sāriputta, while in Sāvatthī at Jeta's Grove, taught the disciples about the seven factors of enlightenment: mindfulness, investigation of the Dhamma, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity. He explained his ability to dwell in any chosen enlightenment factor at different times of the day, describing each as 'boundless' and 'well cultivated'. He compared this mastery to a king choosing garments to wear, emphasizing his deep understanding and control over these spiritual states.

  The Blessed One, while in Sāketa's Añjanavana Deer Park, was approached by the wanderer Kuṇḍaliya. Kuṇḍaliya inquired about the benefits of the Tathagata's teachings. The Tathagata explained that he lives for the benefit of knowledge and liberation, achievable through the development of the seven factors of enlightenment. These factors are cultivated by practicing the four foundations of mindfulness, which in turn are fulfilled by the three kinds of good conduct, underpinned by sense restraint. Sense restraint involves guarding the senses to prevent unwholesome states and maintain mental stability. This practice leads to good conduct, which supports mindfulness, fostering the factors of enlightenment essential for ultimate knowledge and liberation. Impressed, Kuṇḍaliya expressed his admiration and declared his commitment to the Tathagata, the Dhamma, and the Sangha as a lay follower.

  Venerable Upavāna and Sāriputta were in Kosambi at Ghositārāma. Post-seclusion, Sāriputta discussed with Upavāna how a disciple can recognize the development of the seven factors of enlightenment through personal attention and proper consideration, leading to a well-liberated mind, dispelled sloth and torpor, calmed restlessness and remorse, aroused energy, and resolute mindset. Upavāna confirmed that such awareness is achievable by a disciple.

  The Tathagata emphasizes the importance of wise attention in managing mental states. Without it, negative states like sensual desire, ill will, sloth, restlessness, and doubt can arise and intensify, while positive qualities like mindfulness and equanimity fail to develop or diminish. Conversely, wise attention prevents the emergence of these negative states and helps in the development and fulfillment of positive enlightenment factors.

  The Udāyivagga Taṇhakkhayasutta teaches that the path to the cessation of craving is through developing the seven factors of enlightenment, as explained by the Blessed One to the venerable Udāyi. These factors, including mindfulness and equanimity, are cultivated based on seclusion, dispassion, cessation, and relinquishing attachment. This development leads to the abandonment of craving, action, and consequently, suffering, illustrating a direct path to the cessation of suffering through the cessation of craving and action.

  The Ayonisomanasikārasutta discusses the effects of improper and proper attention. Improper attention leads to the emergence and growth of negative states like sensual desire, ill will, sloth, torpor, restlessness, remorse, and doubt. Conversely, proper attention fosters the development and fulfillment of positive qualities such as the mindfulness and equanimity enlightenment factors, enhancing spiritual growth.

  When a noble disciple attentively listens to the Dhamma, fully engaged and focused, the five hindrances—sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and doubt—are absent. Concurrently, the seven factors of enlightenment, including mindfulness and equanimity, are fully developed. This state of focused engagement and absence of hindrances allows for the deepening of spiritual understanding and progress.

  Originating in Sāvatthi, the discourse emphasizes that ascetics and brahmins across all times—past, present, and future—successfully abandon the threefold due to their development and cultivation of the seven factors of enlightenment. These factors range from mindfulness to equanimity, underscoring their essential role in spiritual abandonment and enlightenment.

  The Tathagata emphasizes the importance of wise attention in cultivating the seven factors of enlightenment. He states that no other single factor is as crucial for the development of these enlightenment factors as wise attention. A disciple with wise attention is expected to develop and cultivate these factors, particularly mindfulness and equanimity, both of which are rooted in seclusion, dispassion, cessation, and mature through relinquishment.

  The Sākacchavagga Āhārasutta teaches about the nourishment and non-nourishment for the five hindrances and the seven factors of enlightenment. Sensual desire is nourished by frequent improper attention to the sign of beauty, while ill-will is fueled by the sign of repulsiveness. Sloth and torpor grow from discontent and lethargy, restlessness and remorse from non-quietude of the mind, and doubt from uncertain things. Conversely, the enlightenment factors such as mindfulness, investigation of states, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity are nourished by frequent proper attention to conducive states and signs. Non-nourishment involves applying wise attention to counteract the arising and development of hindrances, such as perceiving unattractiveness to combat sensual desire, and cultivating loving-kindness against ill-will.

  Some wanderers tell some desciples that they, too, teach the five hindrances and the seven awakening factors, so what is the difference? The Tathagata explains by giving a detailed analytical treatment that he says is beyond the scope of the wanderers.

  Disciples, when engaging with wanderers of other sects, ask them about the appropriate factors of enlightenment to cultivate depending on whether the mind is sluggish or restless. They will struggle to answer, as such knowledge is typically beyond their understanding and is known primarily to the Tathagata, his disciples, or those who have learned from them. When the mind is sluggish, avoid cultivating tranquility, concentration, and equanimity, as these can be hard to arouse in such a state. Instead, focus on investigation, energy, and joy, which can invigorate a sluggish mind. Conversely, when the mind is restless, it is not the right time for investigation, energy, and joy, as these can exacerbate restlessness. Instead, cultivate tranquility, concentration, and equanimity to calm the mind. Mindfulness is beneficial in all states.

  Some wanderers tell some desciples that they, too, teach the five hindrances and the four Brahmā dwellings, so what is the difference? The Tathagata explains the detailed connection between the Brahmā dwellings and the awakening factors, which taken together lead to liberation.

   The brahmin Saṅgārava asks why sometimes verses stay in memory while other times they don’t. The Tathagata replies that it is due to the presence of either the hindrances of awakening factors. He gives a set of similes illustrating each of the hindrances with different bowls of water.

  The Discourse on the Perception of a Skeleton, originating in Sāvatthī, teaches that developing and cultivating the perception of a skeleton, accompanied by mindfulness and equanimity enlightenment factors based on seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, leads to significant spiritual benefits. These include great fruit, benefit, security, urgency, and comfortable abiding. Additionally, such cultivation can result in either final knowledge here and now or, if there is residual clinging, non-returning. This practice matures in release, emphasizing its profound impact on spiritual development.

  The Blessed One, while in Sālā, instructed disciples on the importance of developing the four foundations of mindfulness: body, feelings, mind, and phenomena. He emphasized that both new disciples and those more advanced should practice these contemplations ardently and with clear comprehension to truly understand and eventually detach from these aspects. This practice is crucial for all disciples, whether they are novices, trainees aspiring for liberation, or arahants who have achieved enlightenment and liberation.

  In the Sakuṇagghisutta, a bird captured by a hawk laments its misfortune due to roaming in foreign territories, suggesting it would have been safer in its ancestral domain, symbolized by plowing and harrowing fields. The bird escapes the hawk by using its knowledge of the terrain, illustrating the dangers of unfamiliar environments. The Tathagata uses this story to teach disciples about the perils of indulging in sensual pleasures, described as foreign territories. He advises them to stay within their own territory, the four foundations of mindfulness—body, feelings, mind, and phenomena—to avoid the traps set by Mara, the embodiment of temptation and distraction.

  The Sūdasutta compares two types of individuals using the metaphor of cooks serving a king. A foolish cook, unable to discern the king's preferences among various soups, fails to receive rewards. Similarly, an unskilled disciple, despite practicing mindfulness and contemplation (of the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena), fails to achieve concentration or overcome defilements because he does not understand the signs of his own mind. Conversely, a skilled cook who understands and caters to the king's tastes earns rewards. Likewise, a skilled disciple, mindful and aware, achieves concentration and mindfulness by recognizing and responding to the signs of his mind, leading to happiness and awareness in life.

  The Gilānasutta recounts a time when the Tathagata was residing in Veḷuvagāma, Vesālī, and instructed disciples to spend the rains retreat as they preferred. During this period, the Tathagata fell severely ill but overcame his illness through willpower, deciding it was not appropriate to pass away without addressing his followers. After recovery, he spoke with Venerable Ānanda, emphasizing that he had taught the Dhamma openly and that the disciples should not rely on any leader but be self-reliant, using the Dhamma as their sole refuge. He illustrated how disciples should live mindfully, focusing on their own bodies, feelings, and minds, free from external dependencies. This self-reliance, he asserted, would be key to their spiritual success.

  At Nālandā, in Pāvārika's mango grove, Venerable Sāriputta expressed his unwavering belief to the Blessed One that no other ascetic or brahmin has been, is, or will be more enlightened. The Tathagata challenged Sāriputta, questioning his knowledge of past, future, and present Tathagatas to make such a claim. Sāriputta admitted his lack of direct knowledge but explained his confidence based on understanding the Dhamma's principles. He likened his understanding to a gatekeeper who knows all who pass through the city's gate, asserting that all Tathagatas past, present, and future achieve enlightenment by following the same path. The Tathagata praised Sāriputta's explanation and encouraged him to share this understanding to help dispel doubts about the Tathāgata.

  The Blessed One was residing at Savatthi in the Jetavana monastery when Venerable Sariputta, staying in Magadha, passed away from a severe illness. His attendant, Cunda, took Sariputta's alms bowl and robe to Savatthi and informed Venerable Ananda of Sariputta's Parinibbana. Together, they relayed the news to the Blessed One. The Blessed One then discussed the impermanence of life and urged Ananda to be self-reliant, to find refuge in oneself and the Dhamma, rather than seeking it externally. He emphasized the importance of mindfulness and awareness in one's practice.

  In Sāvatthī, Venerable Uttiya asked the Blessed One to teach him a brief Dhamma for solitary practice. The Tathagata instructed him to start with well-purified virtue and a straight view, forming the basis for developing the four establishments of mindfulness: contemplating the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena, each with ardency, clarity, and mindfulness, free from worldly desires and displeasure. By practicing these foundations upon a base of virtue, Uttiya could transcend death. Following this guidance, Uttiya achieved arahantship, realizing the ultimate goal of the holy life.

  The Simile of the Beauty Queen illustrates the proper mind state and the full, real-time body awareness required to practice Right Mindfulness while walking. When confronted with extreme danger from all sides, the mind cannot afford to cling to the self or its formations, as such attachment would obscure clear seeing. Instead, all attention is focused solely on awareness itself and the observation of the Five Aggregates.

  In the Discourse on Virtue, Venerable Ānanda and Venerable Bhadda discuss the purpose of wholesome virtues as taught by the Blessed One. They were at Pāṭaliputta in Kukkuṭārāma when Bhadda, after emerging from seclusion, approached Ānanda to inquire about the reason behind the declaration of these virtues. Ānanda explains that the virtues are declared to develop the four establishments of mindfulness: contemplating the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena with ardency, clear comprehension, and mindfulness, while removing covetousness and grief concerning the world.

  The Blessed One, while at Sāvatthī in Jeta's Grove, was approached by a brahmin who inquired why the true Dhamma does not endure long after the Tathāgata's passing and what causes it to last. The Blessed One explained that the longevity of the true Dhamma depends on the development and emphasis of the four establishments of mindfulness: contemplating the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena with ardency, clarity, and mindfulness, free from covetousness and displeasure. The brahmin, satisfied with the answer, declared himself a lifelong follower of the Blessed One.

  Originating in Sāvatthī, the discourse instructs disciples on mindfulness and clear comprehension. Disciples are taught to dwell mindfully by ardently contemplating the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena, each within themselves, while removing covetousness and displeasure towards the world. Clear comprehension involves recognizing feelings, thoughts, and perceptions as they arise, persist, and cease. The core instruction emphasizes the importance of mindfulness and clear comprehension in a disciple's practice.

  The Pariññātasutta discusses four foundations of mindfulness practiced by disciples: contemplating the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena, each within themselves. By being ardent, aware, and mindful, and by setting aside worldly desires and sorrows, disciples achieve a deep understanding of these aspects. This profound understanding leads to the realization of the deathless, a state beyond mortality. Each foundation, when fully understood, contributes to this ultimate realization.

  The Vibhaṅgasutta teaches the foundations of mindfulness, their development, and the path leading to their development. Mindfulness involves a disciple being fully aware and focused on the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena, free from worldly desires and sorrow. The development of mindfulness involves observing the arising and vanishing of these elements. The path to developing mindfulness is the noble eightfold path, which includes right view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration.

  The Samudayasutta discusses the origin and cessation of the four foundations of mindfulness. It explains that the body originates from food and ceases with the lack of it. Feelings arise from contact and end when contact ceases. The mind stems from name-and-form, disappearing with its cessation. Mental phenomena originate from attention and cease when attention ends.

  The Dutiyavibhaṅgasutta discusses five key faculties essential for spiritual development: faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. Faith involves belief in the enlightenment of the Tathāgata. Energy is about vigorous effort to abandon unwholesome states and cultivate wholesome ones. Mindfulness requires supreme alertness and the ability to recall past actions and words, focusing on the body, feelings, and mental states without covetousness or grief. Concentration is achieved through seclusion from sensual pleasures and unwholesome states, progressing through four stages of jhāna, each marked by deeper focus and equanimity. Wisdom entails understanding the nature of suffering and the path to its cessation. These faculties guide a disciple towards enlightenment.

  The Dutiyavibhaṅgasutta discusses five faculties: pleasure, pain, joy, displeasure, and equanimity. Pleasure and pain are linked to bodily sensations, while joy and displeasure are associated with mental states. Equanimity refers to sensations that are neither pleasant nor unpleasant, encompassing both physical and mental aspects. The sutta instructs disciples to perceive the faculties of pleasure and joy as pleasant, those of pain and displeasure as painful, and equanimity as neutral.

  The Uppaṭipāṭikasutta discusses five faculties experienced by diligent disciples: pain, displeasure, pleasure, happiness, and equanimity. Each faculty is conditioned, arising from a cause, and subject to cessation. The sutta describes how each faculty ceases through progressive stages of Jhana: pain ceases in the first jhāna, displeasure in the second, pleasure in the third, happiness in the fourth, and equanimity in the cessation of perception and feeling. The sutta emphasizes understanding the origin, cessation, and path leading to the cessation of each faculty.

   How does someone recognize that they are a trainee? By understanding the four noble truths and the five faculties. But only a perfected one fully embodies these qualities.

  This Sutta discusses four types of concentrations in the training: concentration of desire, energy, mind, and investigation. Each type involves a disciple attaining one-pointedness of mind through reliance on a specific quality (desire, energy, mind, or investigation). The process includes generating desire, making an effort, arousing energy, applying the mind, and striving to prevent unwholesome states from arising, eliminate those that have arisen, and cultivate and maintain wholesome states. These efforts are termed 'the factors of striving' and are essential for developing spiritual power in each concentration type.

  The Pāsādakampanavagga Vibhaṅgasutta discusses the development of four spiritual powers (iddhipādā): desire, energy, investigation, and concentration. Disciples are instructed to cultivate these powers without excess, poor grasp, confinement, or scattering. A balanced mind, aware of the present and unconfined, is emphasized. Excessive desire, slack energy, and scattered investigation are linked to laziness, restlessness, and sensual distractions. Proper cultivation leads to miraculous abilities and liberation, allowing disciples to experience various states, including manifestations in higher realms.

  In the Maggasutta, the Tathagata recounts his pre-enlightenment quest for the path to develop psychic powers. He identifies four bases of psychic power: concentration due to desire, energy, mind, and investigation, emphasizing the need for balance—neither too lax nor too tense. By maintaining a consistent perception of unity in all things and cultivating an open, bright mind, a disciple can achieve manifold supranormal abilities and ultimately realize the destruction of mental taints, achieving liberation in this life.

  In Sāvatthi, the Blessed One emphasized the significant benefits of developing mindfulness of breathing. He instructed disciples to practice this by finding a quiet place, sitting with an erect posture, and focusing mindfully on their breath. The practice involves being aware of the length of breaths, experiencing the whole body, calming bodily and mental formations, and cultivating positive mental states like rapture, pleasure, and concentration. Advanced stages include contemplating impermanence, cessation, and relinquishment. When cultivated, this mindfulness leads to profound benefits.

  The Bojjhaṅgasutta teaches that mindfulness of breathing, when developed and cultivated, offers significant benefits. It involves developing seven enlightenment factors—mindfulness, investigation-of-states, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity—each accompanied by mindfulness of breathing. These practices are rooted in seclusion, dispassion, cessation, and lead to letting go, culminating in substantial spiritual rewards.

  Mindfulness of breathing, when properly developed and cultivated, offers significant benefits, according to the Suddhikasutta. Disciples are advised to practice this by finding a quiet place, maintaining a proper posture, and focusing their mindfulness. The practice involves being fully aware during both inhalation and exhalation, specifically contemplating relinquishment. This method ensures that mindfulness of breathing yields great results.

  Mindfulness of breathing, when properly developed and cultivated, offers significant benefits, according to a discourse to disciples. The practice involves finding a quiet place, adopting a seated posture with erect body and established mindfulness, and focusing intently on the act of breathing. The process includes contemplating relinquishment with each breath. This practice can lead to profound outcomes, such as achieving final knowledge immediately or reaching a state of non-returning if some attachment remains.

  Mindfulness of breathing, when properly developed by disciples in a secluded place, involves sitting with a straight posture and focusing mindfully on the act of breathing. This practice, particularly contemplating relinquishment during inhalation and exhalation, yields significant benefits. These include potentially achieving final knowledge in this life, at death, or various states of Nibbāna, ranging from immediate to gradual attainment, or progressing towards the highest spiritual realm. This method promises seven specific fruits and benefits when cultivated as described.

  In Sāvatthi, the Blessed One instructed disciples to develop mindfulness of breathing. Venerable Ariṭṭha claimed he practiced this by subduing sensual desires and aversions, breathing mindfully. The Blessed One clarified that full development involves more: going to a secluded place, sitting with an upright posture, and being acutely aware of the breath's nature, such as its length. True mindfulness of breathing also includes contemplating relinquishment with each breath.

  In Sāvatthi, the Tathagata observed Venerable Mahākappina sitting in deep concentration, without any physical or mental movement or trembling. Addressing the disciples, the Tathagata highlighted Mahākappina's mastery of concentration, achieved through the practice of mindfulness of breathing. This technique involves sitting in a quiet place, maintaining a proper posture, and focusing on the breath with full awareness, including contemplating relinquishment. This practice, when developed, leads to profound stability in both body and mind, allowing a disciple to achieve concentration effortlessly.

   Before his awakening the Tathagata generally practiced mindfulness of the breath, which kept him alert and peaceful and led to the ending of defilements. One who wishes for any of the higher fruits of the renunciate life should practice the same way.

   The Tathagata taught the contemplation on the ugliness of the body, then left to go on retreat. However, many disciples, misconstruing the teachings, ending up killing themselves. The Tathagata taught mindfulness of breath breath as a peaceful and pleasant abiding.

  The Blessed One, while staying at Icchānaṅgala, declared a three-month period of seclusion, only to be approached for alms food. Post-seclusion, he taught the disciples about the importance of mindfulness of breathing, describing it as his primary practice during the rains residence. He detailed the method of mindful inhalation and exhalation, emphasizing its benefits for both trainees aspiring for liberation and arahants already liberated. He highlighted this practice as the "noble dwelling," "divine dwelling," and "Tathāgata’s dwelling," essential for achieving a pleasant life and clear comprehension.

   Venerable Lomasavaṅgīsa explains to Mahānāma that the difference between a trainee and the Realized One is that the trainees practice to give up the hindrances, whereas the Realized One has already ended all defilements.

  In Sāvatthī, Venerable Ānanda asked the Blessed One if a single practice could fulfill multiple spiritual developments. The Blessed One confirmed that mindfulness of breathing, when properly cultivated, fulfills the four foundations of mindfulness, which in turn fulfill the seven factors of enlightenment, leading to true knowledge and liberation. This practice involves a disciple being fully aware and mindful while breathing, focusing on the body, feelings, mind, and phenomena, thereby cultivating mindfulness, investigation, energy, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity. These factors, developed through seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, ultimately lead to enlightenment and liberation.

  Mindfulness of breathing, when developed and cultivated, leads to significant spiritual benefits according to a discourse addressed to disciples. By practicing mindful breathing in a secluded place, such as a forest or under a tree, and focusing on the concept of relinquishment with each breath, a disciple can progress towards abandoning mental fetters, uprooting underlying negative tendencies, fully understanding life's course, and ultimately achieving the destruction of the taints. This practice is essential for deep spiritual liberation.

  Even a universal monarch may have a bad rebirth, but someone who has the four factors of stream-entry—experiential faith in the Tathagata, the teaching, and the Saṅgha, and ethical conduct—is freed from such destinies.

   The Tathagata asks Sāriputta about the four factors for stream-entry: association with good people, hearing the teaching, proper attention, and right practice. He also defines the “stream” and the “stream-enterer”. Keep in mind however that the only way to hear the Dharma at that time was through association with a noble one.

  The Brahmin householders of Veḷudvāra express their desire for worldly pleasures and a good rebirth, asking the Tathagata to guide them. In response, the Tathagata delivers a discourse on ethical conduct and self-reflection, emphasizing the importance of treating others as one wishes to be treated. He outlines principles such as abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, divisive speech, harsh speech, and idle chatter. By purifying their bodily, verbal, and mental conduct, individuals can cultivate virtues and unwavering confidence in the Tathagata, Dhamma, and Sangha. The Tathagata explains that those who embody these qualities and attain stream-entry are assured of a positive rebirth and eventual full enlightenment. The householders, deeply moved, take refuge in the Tathagata , Dhamma, and Sangha, committing to follow his teachings as lay followers.

  The lay follower Dhammadinna, along with 500 others, seeks guidance for long-term welfare and happiness. The Tathagata advises them to engage with deep and profound teachings on emptiness. Dhammadinna responds that, as householders engaged in worldly life, this is difficult for them. The Tathagata then instructs them to cultivate unwavering confidence in the Tathagata, Dhamma, and Sangha and to uphold the virtues dear to the noble ones, unbroken... conducive to concentration. Dhammadinna affirms that they already possess these qualities, and the Tathagata acknowledges: "Fortunate are you, Dhammadinna, well-gained are you, Dhammadinna. You have declared the fruit of stream-entry."

   The famous first discourse, taught at Varanasi to the group of five ascetics. It begins by rejecting the extremes of asceticism and indulgence and recommends the middle way of the eightfold path. Then it defines the four noble truths and analyzes them in twelve aspects. It ends with Venerable Kondañña becoming the first person apart from the Tathagata to realize the Dhamma.

   Ignorance is not knowing the four noble truths.

   Understanding is knowing the four noble truths.

  This Sutta discusses the four noble truths: the truth of suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation. Each truth has a specific action associated with it: suffering should be fully understood, the origin of suffering should be abandoned, the cessation of suffering should be realized, and the path to cessation should be developed. These principles guide the tasks and focus in the practice.

  The Blessed One, while in the Sīsapā forest near Kosambi, used sīsapā leaves to illustrate a point to the disciples. He compared the few leaves in his hand to the vast number in the forest, explaining that what he has taught them is only a small fraction of what he knows. However, he chose to teach only what leads to enlightenment and Nibbāna, focusing on the nature of suffering, its origin, cessation, and the path leading to its cessation. This teaching is essential for achieving the holy life and ultimate peace.

  The Blessed One, while at Rajagaha on Vulture Peak, led disciples to Paṭibhānakūṭa. There, a disciple pointed out a frightening chasm, prompting a discussion on a metaphorical chasm more daunting: ignorance of the true nature of suffering and its cessation. The Tathagata explained that misunderstanding the nature of suffering leads to mental formations that perpetuate birth, aging, death, and despair. Conversely, understanding these truths prevents the creation of such formations, freeing one from this cycle of suffering. The Tathagata emphasized the importance of recognizing and understanding the nature of suffering to achieve liberation.

  The Kūṭāgārasutta teaches that claiming to realize and end suffering without understanding the noble truths is invalid, akin to trying to build the upper part of a house without the lower. Conversely, acknowledging and understanding the noble truths before attempting to end suffering is valid, similar to constructing a house from the ground up. Thus, true comprehension of suffering and its cessation path is essential for effectively addressing and overcoming suffering.

  In the Dutiyachiggaḷayuga Sutta, a metaphor is used where a blind turtle surfaces every hundred years, attempting to thread its neck through a yoke floating randomly on an ocean-covered earth. This illustrates the rarity of being born human, the arising of a Tathāgata (a Perfectly Enlightened One), and the presence of his Dhamma in the world. Given these rare opportunities, disciples are urged to diligently pursue understanding and cessation of suffering.

  On the Uposatha day, yakkhas Sātāgira and Hemavata discuss visiting the Tathagata, Gotama. Hemavata inquires about Gotama's virtues, such as his equanimity, honesty, detachment from sensual pleasures, wisdom, and whether he has overcome rebirth. Sātāgira confirms that Gotama embodies all these virtues, leading them to decide to meet him. Upon meeting, they question Gotama about the nature of the world and suffering. Gotama explains that the world arises and is agitated based on the six senses and that escaping suffering involves dispelling desire for sensual pleasures. The yakkhas, impressed by Gotama's teachings, declare their reverence and decide to spread his teachings.