Numbered Discourses: Fours

Summarized by AI from the full volume (193 topics) — click to jump to where each topic begins.

1. Page 1–2 AN 4.1 Wandering So Long The Buddha, staying at Wares Village, tells the mendicants that both he and they have wandered through countless rebirths for one simple reason: failing to understand and penetrate four things — noble ethics, immersion, wisdom, and freedom. Now that these four have finally been understood and comprehended, craving for continued existence is cut off and there will be no more future lives. The closing verses restate that ethics, immersion, wisdom, and supreme freedom are what the Buddha realized,
2. Page 2–3 AN 4.2 Fallen or Secure This short teaching contrasts two kinds of practitioners using the same four qualities from the previous sutta: noble ethics, immersion, wisdom, and freedom. Someone who lacks all four is said to have "fallen" from the teaching and training, cut off from the path to awakening, while someone who possesses them is "secure" in it. A closing verse likens the fallen ones to gamblers who collapse and return to greed, while the secure have finished the work and found true happiness. The point is that s
3. Page 3–4 AN 4.3 Broken (1st) — Rash Judgment The Buddha describes a foolish, untrustworthy person as one who, without examining the facts, praises what deserves criticism and criticizes what deserves praise, and who plants faith in dubious things while failing to inspire faith in things worthy of it — such a person keeps themselves "broken and damaged" and earns the blame of the wise. The astute, trustworthy person does the opposite: they scrutinize before judging, so their praise and criticism land where they belong. The verses warn that
4. Page 4–6 AN 4.4 Broken (2nd) — How One Treats Mother, Father, Buddha, and Disciples Here the same framework of "broken" versus "intact" character is applied specifically to how a person treats four figures: their mother, their father, a Realized One (the Buddha), and a disciple of a Realized One. Acting wrongly toward any of these four keeps a person broken, blameworthy, and steeped in wickedness, while acting rightly toward them keeps a person whole and full of merit. The verses spell out the consequence directly: mistreating parents or the Buddha and his disciples brings crit
5. Page 6–8 AN 4.5 With the Stream — Four Kinds of People The Buddha classifies people in the world into four types based on their relationship to sensual pleasure and spiritual striving. The one who "goes with the stream" indulges in sensuality and wrongdoing; the one who "goes against the stream" resists sensual pleasure and lives the spiritual life even amid pain and tears; the "steadfast" one has ended the five lower fetters and will never return to this world; and the one who has "crossed over" is the fully liberated arahant who has realized freed
6. Page 8–9 AN 4.6 A Little Learning The Buddha distinguishes four types of students by cross-referencing quantity of learning with genuine understanding: those who have learned little and missed the point, those who have learned little but grasped the point, those who have learned much but missed the point, and those who have learned much and grasped the point — meaning they understand both the meaning and the teaching and actually practice accordingly. The verses stress that ethical conduct and learning are evaluated together: la
7. Page 9–10 AN 4.7 Grace — The Four Assemblies The Buddha names four types of disciples — a monk, a nun, a layman, and a laywoman — who "grace the Saṅgha" when they are competent, educated, self-assured, learned in the teachings, and practice in line with what they have learned. This affirms that spiritual accomplishment and the capacity to represent the tradition well are not restricted to monastics or to men; any of the four assemblies can embody and adorn the community. The closing verse praises the ethically accomplished monk, the learne
8. Page 10–12 AN 4.8 Self-Assured — The Buddha's Four Kinds of Fearlessness The Buddha declares that a Realized One possesses four kinds of self-assurance (the four vesārajja) that let him claim the "bull's place" and roar his lion's roar in any assembly. He sees no legitimate grounds on which anyone — ascetic, brahmin, god, Māra, or Divinity — could challenge his claim to full awakening, his claim to have ended all defilements, his identification of certain acts as obstructions to the path, or the efficacy of his teaching to end suffering for one who practices it. Beca
9. Page 12 AN 4.9 The Arising of Craving In a brief teaching, the Buddha identifies four occasions on which craving typically arises in a mendicant: the desire for robes, for almsfood, for lodgings, and for rebirth in this or that state of existence. The verse frames craving as a traveling companion that accompanies beings through the long journey of transmigration, moving them from one state to another without ever letting them escape rebirth. Recognizing craving as the root cause of suffering, a mendicant is urged to wander mindfully
10. Page 12–16 AN 4.10 Yokes and Unyoking The Buddha explains four "yokes" that bind beings to repeated existence: the yoke of sensual pleasures, of craving for future lives, of views, and of ignorance — each defined as failing to truly understand that phenomenon's origin, disappearance, gratification, drawback, and escape, which lets greed, craving, and attachment linger within. He then mirrors this with the four kinds of "unyoking": truly understanding each of these same four domains so that craving and clinging no longer linger, ther
11. Page 16–18 AN 4.11 Walking — Tolerating or Dispelling Bad Thoughts The Buddha teaches that a mendicant who lets a sensual, malicious, or cruel thought linger — tolerating it rather than giving it up — while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down awake, is "lazy and lacking energy" in that posture, regardless of outward composure. Conversely, a mendicant who immediately gives up, dispels, and obliterates such a thought in any of the four postures is "keen, prudent, energetic, and resolute." The verses warn that entertaining thoughts tied to the domestic, worl
12. Page 18–19 AN 4.12 Ethics — Diligence in All Postures Building on the previous sutta's four postures, the Buddha instructs mendicants to live by the ethical precepts and monastic code, seeing danger in the slightest fault, and then describes how a mendicant who has given up desire, ill will, dullness, restlessness, and doubt while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down awake is "keen and prudent," with roused energy, established mindfulness, a tranquil body, and a mind unified in samādhi. The verses depict careful, deliberate movement in every p
13. Page 19–20 AN 4.13 The Four Right Efforts The Buddha lays out the classic four right efforts (sammappadhāna): generating enthusiasm and striving so that unskillful qualities that have not arisen do not arise, that unskillful qualities that have arisen are abandoned, that skillful qualities that have not arisen do arise, and that skillful qualities that have arisen are maintained, increased, and fully developed. This fourfold framework of restraint, abandoning, development, and preservation of mental qualities is one of the most fundamen
14. Page 20–22 AN 4.14 Restraint, Giving Up, Developing, and Preserving The Buddha offers a second, more detailed fourfold scheme of effort. The effort to restrain means guarding the six sense doors so that covetousness and displeasure do not overwhelm the mind when encountering sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas. The effort to give up means not tolerating any arisen sensual, malicious, or cruel thought but immediately dispelling it; the effort to develop means cultivating the seven awakening factors (mindfulness, investigation, energy, rapture, tran
15. Page 22 AN 4.15 Regarded as Foremost The Buddha names four beings regarded as foremost in their respective domains: Rāhu, lord of titans, is foremost in sheer size of body; King Mandhātā is foremost among sensual pleasure-seekers; Māra the Wicked is foremost in sovereignty and power; but among all beings in the entire cosmos — with its gods, Māras, divinities, ascetics, brahmins, and humans — the Buddha himself, the perfected and fully awakened one, is declared supreme. The verse reiterates this ranking, closing with the assertion
16. Page 23 AN 4.16 Subtlety The Buddha describes four kinds of "ultimate subtlety" that a mendicant may attain: ultimate subtlety of form, of feeling, of perception, and of choices (mental formations) — states so refined that the mendicant sees nothing finer to aim for beyond them. The verse explains that this refinement comes from correctly knowing the subtlety of form, the cause of feelings, the origin and cessation of perception, and seeing choices as alien, as suffering, and as not-self. Such a mendicant "sees rightly,
17. Page 23–24 AN 4.17–19 Prejudiced and Unprejudiced Decisions This trio of closely linked short suttas addresses bias in judgment: decisions can be prejudiced by favoritism, hostility, stupidity, or cowardice (4.17), or made without such prejudice (4.18), and the third sutta (4.19) simply restates both the prejudiced and unprejudiced modes together as a unified teaching. The verses warn that acting against what is right out of favoritism, hostility, cowardice, or stupidity causes one's reputation to fade like the waning moon, while acting without such bias
18. Page 24–25 AN 4.20 A Meal Assigner Applying the same fourfold framework of bias to a concrete monastic role, the Buddha describes how a "meal assigner" (the monk responsible for allotting invitations to meals) who makes decisions prejudiced by favoritism, hostility, stupidity, or cowardice is, in effect, delivered straight to hell, while one who assigns meals without such bias is delivered to heaven. The closing verses brand the biased, unprincipled assembly as "the dregs" and the fair, principled assembly as "the cream," emphasi
19. Page 25–28 AN 4.21 At Uruvelā (1st) — Honoring the Teaching Itself Newly awakened at Uruvelā, the Buddha recalls reflecting that one without something to honor and respect lives in suffering, yet he could find no other ascetic or brahmin in the entire cosmos more accomplished than himself in ethics, immersion, wisdom, or freedom whom he could rely on. Realizing this, it occurred to him to honor and rely on the very teaching (Dhamma) to which he had awakened. The divinity Sahampati then appears and affirms that this is exactly what all Buddhas of the past, prese
20. Page 28–30 AN 4.22 At Uruvelā (2nd) — What Makes a True Senior Elderly brahmins complain to the Buddha that he fails to show them the deference due to age, prompting him to redefine seniority: someone eighty, ninety, or a hundred years old whose speech is untimely, false, and meaningless is merely a "childish senior," while even a youth whose speech is timely, true, and beneficial counts as an "astute senior." He then names the four qualities that make a real senior: being ethically accomplished, being deeply learned in the teachings and able to recite and
21. Page 30–31 AN 4.23 The World The Buddha explains the meaning of his epithet "Realized One" (Tathāgata) by describing four things he has fully understood: the world itself, the origin of the world, the cessation of the world, and the practice leading to that cessation — having detached from, given up, realized, and developed each in turn. Everything the Buddha experiences through sight, hearing, thought, and knowledge in the entire cosmos has been fully understood by him, and everything he says between his awakening and fina
22. Page 31–33 AN 4.24 At Kāḷaka's Monastery The Buddha declares that he directly knows everything seen, heard, thought, known, sought, and explored by the mind in the entire cosmos, and that a Realized One has insight into all this without being subject to it. He carefully rules out the possibility of claiming ignorance, of claiming both knowledge and ignorance, or of claiming neither, since each would be false or blameworthy; instead, he sees, hears, thinks, and knows without conceiving any of it into "self" or fixed notions of a seer, h
23. Page 33 AN 4.25 The Spiritual Life In a brief but pointed teaching, the Buddha clarifies the true purpose of the monastic spiritual life: it is not lived for flattery, for gaining possessions, honor, or popularity, for winning debates, or for the sake of being known, but purely for restraint, giving up, fading away, and cessation. The verse reinforces that the Buddha taught this path not for legendary status but for genuine renunciation aimed at extinguishment (nibbāna), and that those who practice as taught, following the Teache
24. Page 33–34 AN 4.26 Deceivers The Buddha disowns mendicants who are deceptive, flattering, pompous, fake, insolent, and scattered, declaring that such people are not truly his followers and cannot grow, improve, or mature in the teaching and training no matter how long they remain ordained. In contrast, mendicants who are genuine, unpretentious, attentive, amenable, and serene are recognized as true followers who do achieve growth in the practice. The verses drive home that authenticity of character, not outward status or el
25. Page 34–35 AN 4.27 Contentment with Trifles The Buddha names four "trifles" that are easy to find and entirely blameless for a mendicant: rag-robes, a lump of almsfood, lodging at the root of a tree, and rancid urine as medicine. A mendicant who is content with such minimal, easily obtainable requisites embodies one of the essential factors of the ascetic life, remaining unperturbed about lodging, robes, food, and drink and unobstructed wherever they go. The verses affirm that such radical contentment is integral to the training and is ma
26. Page 35–37 AN 4.28 The Noble Customs (Ariyavaṃsa) The Buddha describes four ancient, uncorrupted "noble customs" that mark a true ascetic: being content with whatever robe, almsfood, and lodging one receives — never soliciting improperly, never worrying if one gets little, and never boasting about one's contentment or looking down on others who lack it — plus a fourth custom of genuinely enjoying meditation and the practice of giving up, again without self-glorification. A mendicant who embodies these four customs with skill, tireless effort, a
27. Page 37–38 AN 4.29 Footprints of the Dhamma The Buddha identifies four "footprints of the Dhamma" that are likewise primordial and beyond corruption: contentment, good will, right mindfulness, and right immersion. Sensible ascetics and brahmins across all traditions do not look down on these four qualities, implying they represent a kind of universal ethical bedrock recognized even outside the Buddhist fold. The closing verse simply instructs living with contentment, a heart of good will, mindfulness, and a unified, serene mind — a compac
28. Page 38–41 AN 4.30 Wanderers — Defending the Four Footprints The Buddha visits a group of well-known wanderers at their monastery near Rājagaha and teaches them the same four footprints of the Dhamma (contentment, good will, right mindfulness, right immersion), then issues a bold challenge: he would welcome any debater who claims to be able to deny one of these footprints and still point to a genuine ascetic or brahmin who covets sensual pleasures, harbors ill will, lacks mindfulness, or has a scattered mind, since it is simply impossible to find such a p
29. Page 41–42 AN 4.31 Situations for Acquiring Wealth The Buddha describes four situations that, when they come together, allow a god or human to soon acquire great and abundant wealth: living in a suitable region, relying on and befriending true (virtuous) persons, being rightly resolved oneself, and having accumulated merit from past good deeds. The verse condenses this into a simple formula — the right place, the right friends, the right resolve, and past merit bring grain, riches, fame, reputation, and happiness. Unlike many suttas in this coll
30. Page 42 AN 4.32 Inclusion (The Bonds of Society) The Buddha names four ways of being inclusive or bringing people together: giving, kindly words, taking care of others, and treating people with equality according to what they deserve. The verse compares these four to the linchpin of a moving chariot — the essential, easily overlooked element that holds the whole vehicle of social relationships together. It notes pointedly that without these bonds, not even parents would receive the respect and honor due to them for what they have done for thei
31. Page 42–44 AN 4.33 The Lion The Buddha compares himself to a lion, king of beasts, whose roar at dusk fills every other animal — down to bound royal elephants — with such terror that they flee or break their bonds; in the same way, when a Realized One arises and teaches the truth of "substantial reality" (identity/selfhood) and its origin, cessation, and path to cessation, even long-lived, blissful gods in their heavenly palaces are struck with fear on realizing they too are impermanent, not eternal as they had assumed. Th
32. Page 44–45 AN 4.34 The Best Kinds of Confidence The Buddha identifies four objects of confidence that are each declared the best of their kind: the Buddha is the best of all sentient beings of every type; the noble eightfold path is the best of all conditioned things; fading away (the ending of craving and attainment of extinguishment) is the best of all things conditioned or unconditioned; and the Saṅgha of the Buddha's disciples is the best of all communities, worthy of offerings and the supreme field of merit. Having confidence in each of
33. Page 45–48 AN 4.35 With Vassakāra — What Makes a "Great Man" The minister Vassakāra proposes to the Buddha that a "great man with great wisdom" is someone who is widely learned, understands the meaning of varied statements, has a sharp memory for past events, and is skilled and tireless at managing household duties. The Buddha neither agrees nor disagrees but offers his own, deeper fourfold criterion: practicing for the welfare and happiness of many people, establishing others in goodness, having achieved full mastery over one's own thoughts (thinking onl
34. Page 48–50 AN 4.36 With Doṇa — "Remember Me as a Buddha" The brahmin Doṇa, awestruck by the wheel-marked footprints of the Buddha, tracks him down and, seeing his serene bearing, asks in turn whether he is a god, a centaur, a spirit, or a human — and the Buddha answers "no" to each. When Doṇa asks what he could possibly be, the Buddha explains that had he not eliminated the defilements that lead to rebirth as any of those categories, he might have become one of them; but having cut off those defilements at the root, he transcends all such classificati
35. Page 50–52 AN 4.37 Non-Decline The Buddha teaches that a mendicant possessing four qualities cannot decline in the practice and has drawn near to extinguishment: being accomplished in ethics (keeping the monastic code and seeing danger in the slightest fault), guarding the six sense doors so that covetousness and displeasure do not overwhelm the mind, eating in moderation by reflecting rationally on food as mere physical sustenance rather than indulgence, and being dedicated to wakefulness by practicing walking and sitting me
36. Page 52–53 AN 4.38 Withdrawn The Buddha defines a mendicant who is truly "withdrawn" through four accomplishments: casting aside all idiosyncratic metaphysical views (such as whether the cosmos is eternal or finite, or whether a realized one exists after death), totally giving up the search for sensual pleasures, continued existence, and a spiritual path (since the goal has been reached), stilling the physical process by attaining the equanimous fourth absorption, and — most fundamentally — uprooting the conceit "I am" so i
37. Page 53–55 AN 4.39 With Ujjaya — On the Value of Sacrifice The brahmin Ujjaya asks the Buddha whether he praises sacrifice, and the Buddha gives a nuanced answer: he does not praise violent sacrifices that involve slaughtering cattle, goats, sheep, chickens, pigs, or other creatures, because no perfected or path-treading being would attend such an event, but he does praise non-violent sacrifices — ordinary generous gifts given as an auspicious offering — because the virtuous do attend and approve of these. The verses explicitly condemn grand, bloody rit
38. Page 55 AN 4.40 With Udāyī — On Sacrifice (Continued, Text Cuts Off) As the text chunk ends, the brahmin Udāyī poses the same question to the Buddha that Ujjaya asked in the previous sutta: does the worthy Gotama praise sacrifice? The Buddha begins his reply exactly as before, distinguishing violent sacrifices involving the slaughter of cattle, goats, sheep, chickens, and pigs — which he does not praise — from non-violent offerings, which he does. The passage is cut off mid-sentence at the end of this chunk, so the full content of this near-duplicate of AN 4.39 i
39. Page 56 Closing Verses on True Sacrifice This is the tail end of a sutta (preceding this excerpt) contrasting violent animal sacrifice with a non-violent kind of giving. The Buddha praises sacrifices that involve no slaughter of cattle, goats, sheep, chickens, pigs, or other creatures, treating a well-prepared, timely gift to disciplined spiritual practitioners as the truly praiseworthy "sacrifice." The verses stress that such an offering should be given with a confident, generous heart rather than through ritual violence. When rightly
40. Page 57–59 Four Ways of Developing Immersion Further (4.41) The Buddha describes four distinct purposes to which deepened meditative immersion can be put. The first leads simply to blissful meditation in this very life through the four absorptions (jhānas). The second, cultivating a radiant perception of light day and night, leads to knowledge and vision. The third is mindfulness that tracks feelings, perceptions, and thoughts as they arise, persist, and pass away. The fourth is insight into the rise and fall of the five grasping aggregates (form, feelin
41. Page 59 Four Ways of Answering Questions (4.42) A short teaching on skillful communication: the Buddha identifies four types of questions and the manner each demands. Some questions should be answered directly and categorically, others require an analytical breakdown, some are best met with a counter-question to clarify what is being asked, and some questions should simply be set aside as unanswerable or unhelpful. A mendicant who can discern which approach fits which question is said to be skilled in this fourfold art of dialogue, being prai
42. Page 59–60 Valuing the Teaching over Anger and Gain (4.43–4.44) Two closely related short suttas contrast people who prioritize anger, put-downs, material gain, or status above the true teaching with those who put the teaching first. Those who chase anger, denigration, possessions, and honor are said not to grow in the Dhamma taught by the Buddha, likened in the second sutta to a rotten seed that cannot flourish even in a good field. By contrast, those who genuinely value and live by the teaching grow like well-watered herbs, showing that inner priorities —
43. Page 61–63 With Rohitassa: The End of the World (4.45–4.46) The glorious godling Rohitassa visits the Buddha at night and asks whether one can reach the end of the world — a place beyond birth, aging, and death — simply by traveling there. The Buddha says it cannot be done, and Rohitassa confirms this from his own past life as a swift, long-lived seer who traveled ceaselessly for a hundred years yet died en route without ever reaching the world's end. The Buddha then reveals his deeper point: the "end of the world" (the cessation of suffering) is not a d
44. Page 64–65 Four Things Very Far Apart (4.47) Using vivid natural imagery, the Buddha lists four pairs of things that are proverbially far apart: sky and earth, the near and far shores of the ocean, and the points where the sun rises and sets. He then declares that even further apart than any of these is the teaching of the virtuous from the teaching of the wicked. The verses explain why: the company of virtuous people is stable and reliable over time, while the company of the wicked is fickle and unreliable, making their respective teachin
45. Page 65–66 Praise for Visākha's Dhamma Talk (4.48) Venerable Visākha, Pañcāli's son, is found giving an eloquent, well-organized Dhamma talk to the assembly, and when the Buddha learns who it was, he publicly commends him for speaking with words that are polished, clear, articulate, and meaningful. The accompanying verses note that even a wise person mixed in among fools goes unrecognized until they speak, at which point their teaching of the deathless state becomes apparent. Skillful, well-chosen speech is honored as "the seers' banner," unders
46. Page 67–68 Perversions of Perception, Thought, and View (4.49) The Buddha names four fundamental distortions that mislead beings: mistaking impermanence for permanence, suffering for happiness, not-self for self, and ugliness for beauty. These perversions of perception, thought, and view are what keep sentient beings "deranged," bound by Māra's yoke, and cycling endlessly through birth and death. The corrective is simply to see each of the four realities as it actually is. When a Buddha arises and reveals this teaching, a wise person who hears it regains cl
47. Page 68–70 What Corrupts Ascetics and Brahmins (4.50) The Buddha opens with a simile: just as storm clouds, fog, smoke, and a solar eclipse can obscure the brilliance of the sun and moon, four things likewise dim the moral radiance of ascetics and brahmins. These are drinking alcohol, engaging in sex, accepting gold and money, and earning a living by wrong means. Practitioners who indulge in these, driven by greed, hatred, and delusion, are said to be ignorant and impure, accumulating the conditions for future rebirth in painful states rather than
48. Page 70–72 Overflowing Merit through Boundless Giving (4.51) The Buddha describes four sources of vast, overflowing merit: giving a mendicant a robe, almsfood, lodging, or medicine while that mendicant dwells in a limitless, loving state of immersion. Because the recipient's mind is boundless, the resulting merit for the donor is also described as boundless and incalculable, impossible to measure the way one cannot measure the gallons of water in the ocean. The closing verses liken the many small streams of individual gifts — food, drink, clothing, beds,
49. Page 72–74 Overflowing Merit through Confidence and Ethics (4.52) This companion sutta gives a second, different set of four sources of overflowing merit for a noble disciple: experiential confidence in the Buddha's awakened qualities, confidence in the well-explained teaching, confidence in the well-practicing Saṅgha, and possessing ethical conduct that is unbroken and praised by the wise. Together these four — faith, understanding of the teaching, trust in the community of practitioners, and personal virtue — mark someone as spiritually prosperous. The closi
50. Page 75–78 Four Kinds of Marriage: Zombies and Gods (4.53–4.54) Meeting householders on the road, the Buddha teaches that couples can be classified into four combinations based on each partner's ethical conduct: an unethical husband and wife are a "male zombie" living with a "female zombie"; if one partner is ethical and the other is not, it is a mismatched pairing of zombie and "god" or "goddess"; and when both are virtuous, generous, and free of stinginess, it is a "god" living with a "goddess." The vivid zombie/deity imagery dramatizes how a couple's shar
51. Page 80–81 Equality in Marriage: Nakula's Parents (4.55–4.56) The elderly householder couple Nakula's father and Nakula's mother tell the Buddha that they have never been unfaithful to each other even in thought since their youth, and that they wish to remain together in future lives as well as this one. The Buddha responds that for a couple to be reunited life after life, both partners need to be equally matched in faith, ethical conduct, generosity, and wisdom. The accompanying verses describe such a well-matched couple living at ease, speaking kindly to
52. Page 82–83 Suppavāsā and the Four Gifts of Food (4.57) Suppavāsā the Koliyan personally serves the Buddha a fine meal, and he teaches her that a donor who gives food thereby gives the recipient four things: long life, beauty, happiness, and strength, each of which returns to the giver in future rebirths as a god or human. Food that is well-prepared and offered with a sincere, generous heart to worthy, disciplined recipients is described as an especially fruitful offering. The verses praise those who make such offerings as living an inspired life, fr
53. Page 83–84 The Four Gifts of Food, Restated (4.58–4.59) The same core teaching from the Suppavāsā sutta — that giving food grants the recipient long life, beauty, happiness, and strength, which return to the giver in future lives — is repeated in brief, first to the householder Anāthapiṇḍika and then as a general statement to the mendicants. These short, formulaic repetitions reinforce the teaching's importance across different audiences without adding new content. The accompanying verse reminds listeners that whoever gives these four things gains lo
54. Page 84–85 Proper Lay Practice: Supporting the Saṅgha (4.60) Speaking again to Anāthapiṇḍika, the Buddha describes four things a lay disciple can do that constitute proper lay practice, bringing both worldly fame and a heavenly rebirth. These are simply the four requisites: providing the mendicant Saṅgha with robes, almsfood, lodgings, and medicines for the sick. The verses affirm that those who consistently support ethical, well-behaved practitioners in this way see their merit grow continuously, day and night, eventually passing on to a heavenly rebirth
55. Page 85–90 Fitting Deeds and the Proper Use of Wealth (4.61) The Buddha identifies four things that are hard to get but universally desired — legitimately earned wealth, good reputation, long life, and a good rebirth — and explains that these are attained through accomplishment in faith, ethics, generosity, and wisdom, each of which he defines in turn (including overcoming the five mental corruptions of covetousness, ill will, dullness, restlessness, and doubt). He then lays out four "fitting" uses for wealth honestly earned: supporting oneself, family, a
56. Page 90–91 Four Kinds of Lay Happiness (4.62) The Buddha outlines four kinds of happiness available to a layperson who still enjoys sensual pleasures: the happiness of owning legitimately earned wealth, the happiness of actually using that wealth (including making merit with it), the happiness of being free of debt, and the happiness of blameless conduct in body, speech, and mind. Reflecting on each brings genuine pleasure, but the Buddha ranks them: the happiness of blamelessness is declared far superior to the other three combined, worth
57. Page 91–92 Honoring Parents as Living Divinities (4.63) The Buddha teaches that a family whose children honor their parents at home is said to "live with divinity," with one's "first tutors," with the "elder gods," and with those worthy of offerings dedicated to the gods — all of these titles being ways of referring to one's own parents. The reasoning given is that parents are enormously helpful to their children: they raise them, nurture them, and introduce them to the world. The verses call on children to revere their parents concretely, through fo
58. Page 92 Four Qualities That Lead to Hell (4.64) A brief, direct teaching stating that anyone possessing four qualities — killing living creatures, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying — is placed in hell as surely as if delivered there. The closing verse simply reiterates that killing, stealing, lying, and adultery are behaviors that wise people do not praise, framing basic ethical restraint as the dividing line between a good and a bad rebirth.
59. Page 92–93 Judging Others by Appearance versus Principle (4.65) The Buddha classifies people according to what leads them to trust or esteem others: some judge purely by outward appearance, some by a pleasing voice, some by displays of ascetic mortification, and only a few judge by genuine underlying principle. The verses criticize those swayed by appearance or voice as driven by desire and greed, unable to see what is truly inside a person. Only someone who understands both the inner reality and outer conduct, without being swept away by superficial impress
60. Page 93 The Greedy, the Hateful, the Delusional, the Conceited (4.66) A short teaching identifying four character types found in the world: people dominated by greed, by hatred, by delusion, and by conceit. The verses explain that beings driven by desire for pleasant things only tighten their own bonds, and that unskillful deeds born of greed, hatred, or delusion inevitably produce affliction and pain. The final lines warn that people shaped by these qualities become what they habitually act out, yet remain blind to this connection, shrouded by their own ignorance
61. Page 94–95 The Snake King's Protective Verse (4.67) After a monk in Sāvatthī dies from a snakebite, the Buddha explains that this happened because the monk had not spread a mind of loving-kindness toward the four royal snake clans (Virūpakkha, Erāpatha, Chabyāputta, and Kaṇhāgotamaka). He then teaches the mendicants a protective verse in which he expresses love for these snake clans and for all footless, two-footed, four-footed, and many-footed creatures, wishing that none of them cause harm. The verse closes by invoking the immeasurable qualitie
62. Page 95–96 Devadatta's Ruin through Gain and Honor (4.68) Shortly after Devadatta's departure, the Buddha comments that the possessions, honor, and popularity Devadatta received ultimately caused his own downfall and ruin. He illustrates this with a series of similes: a banana plant, a bamboo, and a reed are all destroyed by the very fruit or growth they produce, and a mule dies from carrying its own pregnancy. In the same way, honor and gain destroyed a morally compromised person like Devadatta, warning practitioners that outward success can be spirit
63. Page 96–97 The Four Right Efforts (4.69) The Buddha defines the four classic efforts of Buddhist practice: the effort to restrain unskillful qualities from arising in the first place, the effort to give up unskillful qualities that have already arisen, the effort to develop skillful qualities that have not yet arisen, and the effort to preserve and mature skillful qualities once they exist. These four together form a complete system for actively shaping one's own mind through sustained enthusiasm and exertion. The closing verse states
64. Page 97–99 How an Unprincipled King Corrupts the Whole World (4.70) The Buddha describes a cascading chain of moral decline: when kings behave unprincipled, their officials follow suit, then brahmins and householders, then ordinary townsfolk, and this moral corruption is said to ripple outward until even the sun and moon, the seasons, the winds, and the rains become erratic, causing crops to ripen poorly and people to become short-lived and sickly. When a king is principled, the reverse chain produces regularity in nature and healthy, long-lived people. The teac
65. Page 99 A Sure Bet: Ethical, Learned, Energetic, Wise (4.71) A very brief teaching stating that a mendicant possessing four qualities — being ethical, learned, energetic, and wise — has effectively guaranteed their own success: their practice is "a sure bet" and they have laid the necessary groundwork for ending the defilements. It presents this fourfold combination as the essential foundation for any mendicant's spiritual progress.
66. Page 99–100 A Sure Bet: Right View and Right Intention (4.72) A companion teaching to the previous sutta, offering an alternate set of four qualities that likewise make a mendicant's practice "a sure bet" for ending the defilements: thoughts of renunciation, good will, and harmlessness, together with right view. Where the prior sutta emphasized character traits like learning and energy, this one emphasizes correct mental intentions and understanding as the decisive foundation for progress.
67. Page 100–102 Recognizing a True Person (4.73) The Buddha teaches how to distinguish a genuinely "true" (trustworthy, honest) person from an "untrue" one by observing their pattern of praise and criticism: an untrue person readily volunteers criticism of others but only grudgingly and incompletely offers praise, while readily praising themselves and reluctantly criticizing themselves — a true person shows the opposite pattern, generous with praise of others and honest about their own faults. He illustrates the danger of complacency with the
68. Page 102 The Best of All Things (4.74–4.75) Two extremely brief, paired suttas each list a set of "the four best things." The first names ethics, immersion, wisdom, and freedom as the best qualities of spiritual practice. The second shifts to a more philosophical register, naming form, feeling, perception, and existence as "the best" among their respective categories, likely gesturing toward the highest attainable states within each.
69. Page 102–104 At Kusinārā: The Buddha's Final Invitation (4.76) Lying between the twin sal trees at Kusinārā at the time of his final passing, the Buddha three times invites the assembled mendicants to voice any remaining doubts about the Buddha, the teaching, the Saṅgha, the path, or the practice, warning them not to regret staying silent while still in the Teacher's presence. Each time the mendicants remain silent, until Venerable Ānanda declares his confidence that not a single mendicant present harbors any doubt. The Buddha confirms this is not just fait
70. Page 104 Four Unthinkable Things (4.77) The Buddha names four topics that should never be the subject of speculative thought, warning that anyone who tries will go mad or become frustrated: the domain of the Buddhas' full awakening, the domain of one deeply absorbed in meditation, the precise workings of karmic results, and speculation about the origin or ultimate nature of the world. This teaching cautions against unproductive metaphysical speculation, redirecting attention instead toward what is directly knowable and practically use
71. Page 104–105 How a Religious Donation Is Purified (4.78) The Buddha explains that the moral quality, or "purity," of a religious donation depends on the ethical character of both parties involved. A gift can be purified solely by an ethical giver even if the recipient is not, purified solely by an ethical recipient even if the giver is not, left unpurified when both are unethical, or fully purified when both giver and recipient are of good character. This framework locates the spiritual value of giving not just in the act itself but in the moral condi
72. Page 106–107 Sāriputta's Question on Business Fortune (4.79) Venerable Sāriputta asks the Buddha why the same kind of business venture succeeds wildly differently for different people — failing outright for one, falling short of hopes for another, meeting expectations for a third, and exceeding them for a fourth. The Buddha traces this to a specific past-life cause: when a person invited an ascetic or brahmin to ask for whatever they needed, whether that person then failed to give, gave but fell short, gave adequately, or gave generously determines the co
73. Page 107 Ānanda's Question about Women in Public Life (4.80) Venerable Ānanda asks the Buddha why women of that era did not attend council meetings, work outside the home for a living, or travel abroad to places like Persia. The Buddha's brief reply attributes this to women being irritable, jealous, stingy, and lacking intelligence. This short passage reflects the patriarchal social assumptions of its ancient setting rather than a doctrinal teaching on gender, and stands out among the collection as a culturally dated attitude rather than an ethical or med
74. Page 108–109 A Run of Confirmed Paths to Heaven or Hell (4.81–4.84) This is a short run of four highly formulaic paired suttas, each naming one set of four qualities that lead straight to hell and the corresponding abstention that leads straight to heaven. In turn these cover: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying versus refraining from them; false, divisive, harsh, and nonsensical speech versus its avoidance; praising or blaming others carelessly, without examining the truth, versus doing so only after careful scrutiny; and valuing anger, denigration,
75. Page 110 Four Types of Destiny: Dark and Light (4.85, begins) The Buddha introduces a fourfold typology of people based on where they start in life and where their conduct leads them: the "dark bound for darkness," the "dark bound for light," the "light bound for darkness," and the "light bound for light." This excerpt describes only the first type in detail: someone born into a low, impoverished family in an undesirable occupation, further burdened by physical deformity or illness and lack of material comforts, who then compounds this difficult starting p
76. Page 111–112 Dark and Light Individuals (concluding portion) This passage concludes a fourfold typology of people described through combinations of "dark" (lowly circumstances) and "light" (privileged circumstances) at birth, contrasted with their conduct and eventual rebirth. It explains that someone born into wealth and beauty who nonetheless behaves badly is "light and bound for darkness," their fortunate birth masking a moral corruption that leads to a bad rebirth, while someone equally privileged who acts well is "light and bound for light." The teac
77. Page 113 Sunk Low, Risen High (AN 4.86) A brief teaching outlining four types of people through the imagery of sinking and rising: one who has sunk low and sinks lower still, one who has sunk low but rises high, one who has risen high but sinks low again, and one who has risen high and rises even higher. The sutta is given only as an abbreviated outline, its full explanation elided in reliance on a familiar pattern from neighboring discourses. Its point is that a person's present low or high state is not fixed as their final destiny;
78. Page 113–119 Four Kinds of Ascetics: Confirmed, White Lotus, Pink Lotus, and Delicate (AN 4.87–4.90) This run of four suttas defines a recurring set of four progressively advanced practitioners — the "confirmed ascetic," "white lotus ascetic," "pink lotus ascetic," and "delicate ascetic of ascetics" — and reapplies the same fourfold scheme through several different lenses. It is defined first by stage of practice (an aspiring trainee versus one who has fully realized freedom, with or without direct experience of the eight meditative liberations), then by which fetters have been abandoned (from
79. Page 119–120 Titans and Gods: Leaders and Their Followers (AN 4.91) The Buddha describes four types of people paired with their followers using the imagery of titans (asuras) and gods: a "titan surrounded by titans" is an unethical person leading equally unethical followers, a "titan surrounded by gods" is an unethical leader whose followers are ethical, a "god surrounded by titans" is an ethical leader saddled with unethical followers, and a "god surrounded by gods" is an ethical leader presiding over an ethical community. The teaching highlights that a leader'
80. Page 120–124 Serenity and Discernment: Three Approaches to Balancing Calm and Insight (AN 4.92–4.94) This set of three suttas explores the relationship between "serenity" (tranquil concentration of the heart) and "discernment" (penetrating wisdom into the nature of things), laying out the four possible combinations of having one, the other, neither, or both. Each version then gives escalating practical advice: a first version simply states the four types, a second recommends that a practitioner lacking one quality should cultivate it by building on the other they already have — or, lacking both
81. Page 124–125 A Firebrand: Benefiting Oneself and Others (AN 4.95) Using the vivid image of a corpse-burning firebrand — charred at both ends and smeared with dung in the middle, useless as timber anywhere — the Buddha depicts the person who benefits neither themselves nor others as the worst of four types. He ranks the four in ascending order: benefiting only others is better than benefiting no one, benefiting only oneself is better still, but the person who benefits both themselves and others is the finest, compared to ghee-cream, the most refined product dis
82. Page 125–127 Removing Greed, Hate, and Delusion (AN 4.96) This sutta grounds the "benefit self and others" typology from the previous discourse in concrete ethical practice: whether a person works to remove their own greed, hatred, and delusion, and whether they also encourage others to do the same. Someone who purifies themselves without teaching others benefits only themselves; someone who urges others toward virtue without practicing it benefits only others; someone who does neither benefits no one; and the ideal practitioner both purifies their own
83. Page 127–129 The Quick-Witted and the Good Speaker (AN 4.97) Continuing the "benefit self and others" theme, this sutta distinguishes two separate capacities: being "quick-witted" in memorizing, examining, and living by the teaching, and being "a good speaker" able to teach others clearly and inspiringly. A person with inner understanding who cannot communicate it benefits only themselves; a gifted communicator who lacks that inner grounding benefits others but not themselves; lacking both benefits no one; and possessing both together lets a person benefi
84. Page 129–131 To Benefit Oneself, and the Five Precepts (AN 4.98–4.99) The first of these two short suttas simply restates the fourfold "benefit self and others" formula without elaboration, serving as a bare placeholder in the series. The second fills that formula in with the five ethical precepts — refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants: a person may keep the precepts privately without encouraging others, break them while still urging others toward virtue, do neither, or, ideally, both keep the precepts and encourage others t
85. Page 131–134 With Potaliya the Wanderer: Praise, Criticism, and Equanimity (AN 4.100) The wanderer Potaliya visits the Buddha, who describes four types of people distinguished by whether they criticize the blameworthy and praise the praiseworthy, do only one of the two, or do neither, and then asks which type Potaliya considers finest. Potaliya first answers that the person who does neither — who neither praises nor criticizes — is best, prizing equanimity above all else. The Buddha corrects him, teaching that the finest person is the one who criticizes and praises appropriately,
86. Page 135–150 The "Clouds" Chapter: Nature Similes for Sincerity versus Appearance (AN 4.101–4.110) This long run of short, tightly formulaic discourses forms the "Clouds" chapter, each pairing a natural or everyday image — clouds that thunder or rain, pots that are covered or full, lakes and mangoes that are shallow or unripe versus deep or ripe in reality as opposed to appearance, mice that dig burrows or live in them, quarrelsome oxen, hard versus soft timber trees, and vipers whose venom is fast-acting or lethal — with a matching fourfold classification of people. The recurring point, repe
87. Page 151–152 With Kesi the Horse Trainer (AN 4.111) The horse trainer Kesi visits the Buddha and explains that he tames unruly horses using gentle methods, harsh methods, or both together, and that a horse resistant to every method must simply be killed so as not to disgrace his teacher's reputation. The Buddha replies that he trains people the same threefold way — gently, by describing the good results of good conduct; harshly, by describing the grim results of bad conduct; and by both together — but when a person responds to none of these appro
88. Page 153 Speed: The Qualities of a Fine Thoroughbred (AN 4.112) A short sutta comparing a royal thoroughbred horse's four prized qualities — integrity, speed, patience, and gentleness, which make it worthy of serving a king — to the four qualities that make a mendicant a worthy recipient of offerings and the supreme field of merit for the world. The parallel implies that spiritual excellence, like equine excellence, is a recognizable, cultivable set of virtues rather than an accident of birth or status.
89. Page 153–156 The Goad: Four Kinds of Thoroughbred and What Moves Them (AN 4.113) The Buddha describes four grades of fine thoroughbred horse according to how much prompting each needs to respond — moved to act merely by seeing the shadow of the training goad, only when struck on the hair, only when struck on the hide, or only when struck to the bone — and maps these onto four types of spiritual practitioners. The most sensitive people are spurred to earnest practice simply by hearing that someone elsewhere has suffered or died; others need to witness it themselves or have it
90. Page 157–159 A Royal Elephant: Listening, Destroying, Enduring, and Going Fast (AN 4.114) The Buddha describes the four qualities that make a royal war elephant fit to serve a king: it listens attentively to its trainer's commands, it destroys the enemy's soldiers and mounts in battle, it endures being struck by weapons and unsettled by the din of war, and it goes swiftly wherever directed. He maps these onto the qualities of an excellent mendicant — listening closely to the teaching, "destroying" unskillful thoughts as soon as they arise, enduring physical hardship and harsh critici
91. Page 159–160 Four Things: Pleasant, Unpleasant, Harmful, and Beneficial (AN 4.115) This sutta distinguishes between how pleasant or unpleasant an action feels to perform and whether its actual consequences are harmful or beneficial, yielding four combinations. Two are morally straightforward — an unpleasant act with a harmful result should never be done, and a pleasant act with a beneficial result should always be done — but the other two test character: the fool avoids an unpleasant-but-beneficial task and pursues a pleasant-but-harmful one out of momentary comfort, while the
92. Page 161 Diligence in Conduct and View (AN 4.116) A brief exhortation urging mendicants to be diligent in giving up bad conduct of body, speech, and mind while developing good conduct, and in giving up wrong view while developing right view. The Buddha states that a mendicant who does not neglect these two tasks need not fear death, since their ethical and view-based foundations are secure regardless of what follows.
93. Page 161 Guarding the Mind Against Greed, Hate, Delusion, and Intoxication (AN 4.117) The Buddha instructs mendicants to actively guard their own minds in four respects: against being aroused by things that provoke greed, angered by things that provoke hatred, deluded by things that promote confusion, and intoxicated by anything that intoxicates. Once a mendicant has eliminated these four vulnerabilities, they become unshakeable — they no longer tremble or grow nervous, and cannot be swayed by the doctrines of other ascetics and teachers. The teaching frames inner steadiness as t
94. Page 162 The Four Inspiring Pilgrimage Places (AN 4.118) The Buddha names four sites that a devoted lay follower should visit as places of inspiration: the place of his birth, the place of his awakening as a fully enlightened Buddha, the place where he first taught the Dhamma, and the place of his final passing into complete extinguishment. These four sites became the historical basis for the Buddhist pilgrimage tradition, treating the key turning points of the Buddha's life as worthy of devotional visitation and reflection.
95. Page 162 Two Sets of Perils: Existential and Worldly (AN 4.119–4.120) Two very brief, paired suttas each list a set of four perils that all beings face. The first set names perils inherent to embodied existence itself — rebirth, old age, sickness, and death — while the second names external, worldly dangers — fire, water, hostile kings, and bandits. Presented back to back, they contrast unavoidable existential suffering with contingent worldly threats, both of which a wise person should keep in mind.
96. Page 162–164 The Four Fears: Guilt, Shame, Punishment, and Bad Rebirth (AN 4.121) The Buddha explains four kinds of fear that motivate ethical behavior: fear of guilt (self-blame for one's own bad conduct), fear of shame (blame from others), fear of punishment, and fear of being reborn in a bad place. The fear of punishment is illustrated at length with a grim catalogue of corporal and capital punishments inflicted on criminals by kings in ancient India, vividly deterring the listener from theft and violence out of plain self-interest, while the fear of bad rebirth reframes t
97. Page 165 The Dangers of Renunciant Life: The Danger of Waves (AN 4.122, opening portion) The Buddha compares the dangers awaiting anyone who enters open water — waves, gharials, whirlpools, and sharks — to four dangers facing anyone who goes forth from lay life into the homeless monastic life. This excerpt covers only the first of the four, the "danger of waves," which the Buddha explains is a term for anger and resentment: a sincere new mendicant, once ordained, resents being corrected and instructed by fellow monastics who seem junior to them in age or former social standing, and
98. Page 166–168 The Dangers of Gharials, Whirlpools, and Sharks This passage concludes a teaching on four symbolic "dangers" that can cause a newly ordained monk to disrobe. The danger of gharials represents gluttony: a monk resents being restricted in what and when he may eat, comparing it unfavorably to his old freedom as a layperson, and disrobes in anger. The danger of whirlpools represents the pull of the five sensual pleasures, as a monk sees a wealthy layperson enjoying luxuries and decides to return to lay life so he can enjoy wealth while still maki
99. Page 169–171 Difference Between Disciple and Ordinary Person via the Jhānas The Buddha describes four types of individuals distinguished by which of the four jhānas (absorptions) they master and enjoy, each leading to rebirth among a different order of Brahmā gods with a progressively longer lifespan. The key point is the difference between an ordinary person and a learned disciple of the Buddha who attain the very same heavenly rebirth: the ordinary person eventually exhausts that heavenly lifespan and falls back into hell, the animal realm, or the ghost realm, whereas
100. Page 171–172 Difference Between Disciple and Ordinary Person via Insight This sutta repeats the four-jhāna framework of the previous discourse but adds a crucial factor: instead of merely enjoying the jhāna, the practitioner uses each absorption as a basis to contemplate the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, choices, consciousness) as impermanent, suffering, and not-self. Because of this insight, such a person is reborn not among the ordinary Brahmā gods but in the "pure abodes," a realm reserved for non-returners who will attain final nibbāna there. The co
101. Page 172–174 Rebirth Through the Four Divine Abodes (1st) The Buddha teaches that meditators who cultivate boundless love, compassion, rejoicing, and equanimity (the four "divine abodes"), radiating each quality to the whole world in all directions, are reborn in different levels of the Brahmā heavens depending on which quality they master, with lifespans ranging from one to five hundred eons. As in the earlier discourse on jhāna, the key distinction is between the ordinary person, who eventually falls from that heaven back into lower realms once its l
102. Page 174–176 Rebirth Through the Four Divine Abodes with Insight (2nd) This sutta pairs the same four boundless meditations of love, compassion, rejoicing, and equanimity with insight into the five aggregates as impermanent, suffering, and not-self, mirroring how the jhāna teaching was earlier paired with insight. Practicing the divine abodes together with this contemplative insight leads not to ordinary heavenly rebirth but to rebirth among the gods of the pure abodes, a destiny reserved for those who will attain final nibbāna without returning. It reinforces that
103. Page 176–177 Four Incredible Things About the Realized One: Conception to Teaching The Buddha describes four extraordinary events marking a Buddha's career: his conception in his mother's womb, his birth, his awakening, and his first turning of the Wheel of Dhamma. At each of these four moments, an immeasurable, magnificent light is said to blaze through the cosmos, penetrating even the utter darkness between world systems where sun and moon cannot reach, and beings reborn there see each other by that light for the first time. This cosmic radiance functions as a mythic sign of
104. Page 178 Four Incredible Things: People's Openness to Liberating Teachings The Buddha names four more marvels of his appearance, this time concerning human psychology rather than cosmic phenomena. Though people naturally cling to clinging, conceit, and excitement, and are lost in ignorance, when a Buddha teaches the Dhamma of non-clinging, of removing conceit, of peace, and of dispelling ignorance, people are nonetheless willing to listen closely and try to understand. The teaching highlights the remarkable persuasive power of the Buddha's message, which can override p
105. Page 178–179 Four Incredible Things About Ānanda The Buddha praises Venerable Ānanda's extraordinary charisma, noting that whichever of the four Buddhist assemblies -- monks, nuns, laymen, or laywomen -- comes to see him, they are uplifted simply by seeing him and hearing him speak, and are never satisfied even once he falls silent. This short discourse honors Ānanda's exceptional gift for putting people at ease and inspiring them through his mere presence and speech.
106. Page 179–180 Four Incredible Things About the Wheel-Turning Monarch The Buddha compares Ānanda's charismatic effect on the four assemblies to the effect a wheel-turning monarch, the ideal righteous world ruler, has on his four classes of subjects -- aristocrats, brahmins, householders, and ascetics -- who are likewise uplifted by seeing and hearing him and never tire of his presence. The parallel elevates Ānanda's spiritual charisma to the level of the legendary universal monarch's political and social charisma, and the discourse then repeats the same praise of
107. Page 180–182 Four Individuals Classified by Fetters Abandoned The Buddha classifies four types of noble individuals by which sets of fetters (mental bonds binding one to future existence) they have abandoned: the lower fetters, the fetters causing rebirth, and the fetters causing continued existence. A once-returner has abandoned none of the three; one "heading upstream" toward the Akaniṭṭha realm has abandoned only the lower fetters; one who attains extinguishment between one life and the next has abandoned the first two sets; and a fully perfected arahan
108. Page 182 Four Types of Eloquence The Buddha briefly categorizes speakers along two independent qualities -- staying on topic and being fluent -- yielding someone who is on-topic but not fluent, fluent but off-topic, both on-topic and fluent, and neither. It is a compact taxonomy noting that relevance and eloquence are separate skills that do not necessarily come together in the same speaker.
109. Page 182–183 Four Types of Learners The Buddha distinguishes four types of students by how readily they grasp the teaching: those who understand as soon as they hear a brief statement, those who need a detailed explanation, those who require ongoing guidance and training, and those who can do no more than memorize words by rote without real comprehension. This taxonomy of learning capacities acknowledges how greatly people vary in absorbing the Dhamma and implicitly calls for teachers to adapt accordingly.
110. Page 183 The Fruits of Initiative and Deeds This terse discourse identifies four types of people based on whether their livelihood or results come from personal initiative, from past deeds (kamma), from both, or from neither. It gestures toward the interplay between present effort and past karmic conditioning in shaping a person's circumstances.
111. Page 183–184 Four Grades of Blameworthiness The Buddha ranks people along a spectrum of moral conduct in body, speech, and mind: the thoroughly blameworthy, who act wrongly in nearly everything; the mostly blameworthy, who are occasionally blameless; the slightly blameworthy, who are mostly blameless but occasionally err; and the wholly blameless. This graded scale offers a practical way to assess one's own ethical progress rather than treating morality as a simple binary.
112. Page 184 Four Individuals by Fulfillment of Ethics, Immersion, and Wisdom The Buddha describes a fourfold progression of spiritual accomplishment based on the cumulative fulfillment of ethics, immersion (meditative concentration), and wisdom: someone who has fulfilled none of the three, someone who has fulfilled ethics alone, someone who has fulfilled ethics and immersion, and someone who has fulfilled all three. This scheme presents the three trainings as a staged path culminating in complete spiritual maturity.
113. Page 184–185 Four Individuals by Valuing Ethics, Immersion, and Wisdom This companion discourse repeats the same threefold scheme of ethics, immersion, and wisdom but shifts the emphasis from actual fulfillment to the inner attitude of valuing and submitting to (taking seriously and committing to train in) each of the three. It distinguishes someone who values none of them from those who progressively value ethics, then ethics and immersion, then all three, stressing that genuine respect for the training is itself a mark of spiritual development.
114. Page 185–186 Four Kinds of Retreat: Body and Mind The Buddha distinguishes bodily and mental seclusion as two independent dimensions of retreat: a person can dwell physically in a remote forest lodging while their mind is still full of sensual, malicious, or cruel thoughts (retreat in body only), or remain in a populated area while thinking thoughts of renunciation, goodwill, and harmlessness (retreat in mind only), or lack both, or possess both. The teaching makes clear that true seclusion is fundamentally a state of mind, not merely a matter
115. Page 186–187 Four Kinds of Dhamma Speakers The Buddha classifies Dhamma teachers along two axes -- how much they speak and whether they stay on topic -- describing speakers who say little and wander off topic, who say little but stay focused, who say much but wander, and who say much while staying on topic. In every case the audience's ability to distinguish relevant from irrelevant content depends on the speaker's own clarity, yet all four are still simply regarded by their audience as "a Dhamma speaker," suggesting the label alone says
116. Page 187 Four Kinds of Speakers and Textual Analysis The Buddha identifies four kinds of speakers based on whether they run out of meaningful content, run out of ways to phrase things, run out of both, or never run out of either. He concludes that anyone who has mastered the four kinds of textual analysis (of meaning, text, definition, and eloquence) will never be at a loss for either substance or expression, linking eloquence to a specific, attainable form of analytical mastery.
117. Page 187–188 The Brightness, Radiance, Light, Shining, and Lamps of Wisdom This is a run of five nearly identical short discourses that each list the "four kinds" of a luminosity-related quality -- brightness, radiance, light, shining, and lamps -- attributing each to the moon, the sun, fire, and wisdom, and in every case declaring the light of wisdom to be the best and most excellent of the four. The repeated formula uses different near-synonyms for "light" purely as a rhetorical device to drive home a single point: wisdom outshines every physical source of illuminati
118. Page 188–189 The Four Times for Practice The Buddha names four times or occasions essential to spiritual practice: a time for listening to the teaching, a time for discussing it, a time for cultivating serenity (calm concentration), and a time for cultivating discernment (insight). The companion discourse adds that developing and returning to these four times regularly and correctly gradually leads to the ending of the defilements, illustrated by the simile of rain falling on a mountaintop and gradually filling hollows, pools, lakes, s
119. Page 189 Four Kinds of Bad and Good Speech The Buddha gives a compact, mirrored pair of teachings on speech: the four kinds of verbal misconduct are speech that is false, divisive, harsh, and nonsensical, while the four kinds of good verbal conduct are speech that is true, harmonious, gentle, and thoughtful. Together they form a simple ethical checklist for evaluating one's own speech against basic standards of right and wrong conduct by way of the mouth.
120. Page 189 The Four Essentials In one of the shortest discourses in the collection, the Buddha names ethics, immersion, wisdom, and freedom as the four essentials of the spiritual path, presenting a minimal skeleton of the entire Buddhist training in a single sentence.
121. Page 189–190 The Faculties and Powers (Peyyāla Series) This is another short formulaic series listing sets of "four faculties" or "four powers," beginning with faith, energy, mindfulness, and immersion, then varying the composition to wisdom-energy-blamelessness-inclusiveness, mindfulness-immersion-blamelessness-inclusiveness, and reflection-development-blamelessness-inclusiveness. Each discourse simply enumerates its list without further elaboration, functioning as a quick-reference catalogue of the qualities that support and empower spiritual prac
122. Page 190–191 The Four Incalculable Periods of an Eon The Buddha describes an eon (kappa), the vast unit of cosmic time in Buddhist cosmology, as containing four "incalculable" phases -- contraction, remaining fully contracted, expansion, and remaining fully expanded -- each so immense that it cannot be measured in years or even hundreds of thousands of years. The teaching conveys the almost incomprehensible scale of cosmic time within which the cycle of rebirth unfolds.
123. Page 191–193 Two Kinds of Illness and the Four Illnesses of Renunciants The Buddha first distinguishes physical illness, which some people can remain free of for many years, from mental illness (the defilements), which almost no unenlightened being is free from even for an hour. He then describes four "illnesses" specific to those who have gone forth: having excessive wishes, being chronically dissatisfied with one's robes, food, lodging, and medicine, and consequently developing ulterior, self-serving motives in nearly every interaction. The cure he prescribes is t
124. Page 193 Sāriputta on Decline and Non-Decline Venerable Sāriputta teaches a simple diagnostic for monitoring one's own spiritual progress: if one notices an abundance of greed, hatred, and delusion, along with a wisdom-eye that fails to penetrate deep matters, one should recognize this as decline in one's skillful qualities. Conversely, if greed, hatred, and delusion are diminishing and one's wisdom increasingly penetrates deep matters, this signals genuine non-decline, giving practitioners a clear, honest way to self-assess.
125. Page 193–197 Ānanda Teaches a Sick Nun to Let Go of Attachment When a nun who is unwell asks Ānanda to visit her out of sympathy, she instead attempts to seduce him by lying provocatively wrapped up on her cot; Ānanda responds calmly by teaching her four things the body is "produced by" -- food, craving, conceit, and sex -- each of which should be reflected on and eventually let go of through disciplined practice, such as eating only to sustain the body rather than for pleasure, and using others' spiritual attainments to spur one's own effort rather than je
126. Page 197 The Training of a Holy One The Buddha explains that a "Holy One" (a Buddha) and the training he establishes remain in the world for the welfare, benefit, and happiness of gods and humans. A Holy One is defined by the full list of epithets used to describe an awakened Buddha, and his training consists of teaching a Dhamma that is good in the beginning, middle, and end, and revealing a spiritual path that is complete and pure. This sets up the following teaching's discussion of what threatens or preserves that training's su
127. Page 198–199 Four Causes for Decline and Persistence of the True Teaching The Buddha lists four causes of the decline and eventual disappearance of the true teaching: mendicants memorizing discourses incorrectly so that meaning is distorted, mendicants being difficult to admonish and impatient with correction, learned elders failing to carefully pass on the teachings to others so they are lost when those elders die, and senior mendicants becoming indulgent and slack, setting a bad example that junior mendicants then imitate. He then gives the mirror-image list of four
128. Page 199–202 The Four Ways of Practice: Painful/Pleasant, Slow/Swift Insight The Buddha introduces four fundamental "ways of practice" combining two variables: whether the practice itself feels painful or pleasant, and whether the resulting insight comes slowly or swiftly. The detailed explanation shows that painful, slow practice occurs in someone dominated by strong greed, hatred, and delusion whose five spiritual faculties (faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, wisdom) are weak, so progress toward ending the defilements is both uncomfortable and gradual; the other th
129. Page 202–204 The Four Ways of Practice Grounded in Ugliness and the Jhānas This discourse maps the same four ways of practice (painful/pleasant combined with slow/swift insight) onto specific meditation methods: the painful practices are grounded in contemplating the body's ugliness, the repulsiveness of food, dissatisfaction with the whole world, the impermanence of all conditions, and awareness of death; the pleasant practices are instead grounded in progressively entering the four jhānas. In both cases, whether the resulting insight is slow or swift depends on wheth
130. Page 204–205 Impatient, Patient, Taming, and Calming Practice: Provocation and Sense Restraint The Buddha describes four practices concerning how one responds to provocation and sense experience: the "impatient practice" is retaliating in kind when abused or provoked; the "patient practice" is not retaliating; the "taming practice" is restraining the six sense faculties so that experience does not give rise to covetousness or displeasure; and the "calming practice" is actively abandoning any unskillful thought or quality that arises rather than tolerating it. Together these describe an es
131. Page 205–207 Impatient, Patient, Taming, and Calming Practice: Enduring Hardship This companion discourse repeats the same four categories -- impatient, patient, taming, and calming practice -- but reframes them around physical hardship rather than interpersonal provocation: the impatient practice is failing to endure cold, heat, hunger, thirst, insect bites, harsh criticism, and severe pain, while the patient practice is enduring all of these. The taming and calming practices are described identically to the previous discourse, in terms of sense restraint and abandoning unw
132. Page 207 Ranking the Four Ways of Practice The Buddha ranks the four ways of practice from the earlier discourses according to two criteria, pleasantness and speed: painful-slow practice is inferior in both respects, painful-swift and pleasant-slow practice are each inferior in one respect, and pleasant-swift practice is superior in both respects. This brief discourse offers an explicit value judgment on which mode of practice is most desirable, even though all four modes lead to the same goal.
133. Page 207–209 Moggallāna's and Sāriputta's Practice In a pair of matching dialogues, Sāriputta visits Mahāmoggallāna and asks which of the four ways of practice he relied on to free his mind from defilements, and Moggallāna answers that he relied on the painful practice with swift insight; then Moggallāna visits Sāriputta and asks the same question, and Sāriputta answers that he relied on the pleasant practice with swift insight. The pair shows that two of the Buddha's chief disciples, though both attained liberation swiftly, took markedly differ
134. Page 209–211 Four Types of Full Extinguishment, With or Without Extra Effort The Buddha describes four types of individuals distinguished by whether they attain final extinguishment in this very life or only after the body breaks up at death, and whether they do so "with extra effort" (through strenuous meditation on the body's ugliness, food's repulsiveness, and similar contemplations) or "without extra effort" (through progressively entering the four jhānas). In every case the outcome depends on whether the practitioner's five spiritual faculties are strong or weak, ag
135. Page 211–213 Ānanda on the Four Paths to Perfection Venerable Ānanda declares that every monk and nun who has ever told him they attained full awakening did so via one of four paths: developing serenity (calm concentration) before insight, developing insight before serenity, developing both together in tandem, or having a mind seized by agitation about the teaching that eventually settles and becomes unified in samādhi, at which point the path arises. This teaching, attributed to Ānanda based on his direct experience with many practitioners, offe
136. Page 213–214 Intention as the Cause of Pleasure and Pain The Buddha explains that as long as a body, voice, or mind exists, the intention behind bodily, verbal, or mental action gives rise to pleasure and pain within oneself, but this causal chain operates only because of underlying ignorance. Action can be instigated by oneself or by others, deliberately or without deliberation, but in every case ignorance is what makes the process function; once ignorance fades away completely, the very "field" or "ground" on which pleasure and pain depend ceases to
137. Page 214–216 The Four Kinds of Rebirth and the Path of Non-Return The Buddha names four kinds of incarnation according to whose intention determines the outcome: rebirths where only one's own intention is effective, only others' intention, both, or neither. When Sāriputta presses for clarification, the Buddha identifies the fourth category as referring to the gods reborn in the formless realm of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. Sāriputta then asks why some beings who reach that lofty realm still return to this world as "returners" while others become non
138. Page 216–217 Sāriputta's Attainment of Textual Analysis Sāriputta declares to the assembly that he realized full mastery of the four kinds of textual analysis -- of meaning, of the text itself, of definitions, and of eloquent expression -- just two weeks after his ordination, and that he can explain, teach, and clarify these in many ways. He confidently invites anyone with doubts to question him, noting that the Buddha himself, supremely skilled in the teaching, is present to confirm his understanding, presenting Sāriputta's rapid mastery as a mark o
139. Page 217–220 What Remains When the Six Senses Cease In a pair of mirrored dialogues -- first Mahākoṭṭhita questioning Sāriputta, then Ānanda questioning Mahākoṭṭhita -- one monk asks whether, once the six fields of sense contact have completely ceased, "something else" still exists, no longer exists, both, or neither, and in each case the respondent refuses all four alternatives with "don't put it like that." The refusal is then explained: framing the question in any of those four ways is itself a form of conceptual proliferation, and since the s
140. Page 220–221 Upavāṇa Questions Sāriputta on What Makes One a Terminator Venerable Upavāṇa asks Sāriputta whether he has become a "terminator" (attained the destruction of defilements) because of knowledge, because of conduct, because of both, or for some other reason, and Sāriputta rejects every option. He explains that if any of those alone were sufficient, then even someone who still clings to fuel for further existence, or an ordinary unawakened person, could claim to be a terminator; instead, it is only by being accomplished in good conduct that one truly comes
141. Page 221–222 The Buddha's Model Disciples The Buddha names exemplary disciples that each of the four Buddhist assemblies should aspire to emulate: monks should aspire to be like Sāriputta and Moggallāna, nuns like Khemā and Uppalavaṇṇā, laymen like the householders Citta and Hatthaka of Āḷavī, and laywomen like Khujjuttarā and Veḷukaṇṭakī (Nanda's mother). By naming these individuals as the Buddha's own standard and measure for each community, the discourse gives concrete human role models for spiritual aspiration rather than only abstr
142. Page 222 Rāhula and the Earth Element The Buddha begins teaching his son Rāhula that both the internal earth element (within one's own body) and the external earth element (in the world) are simply "the earth element," and that this should be seen with right understanding as "this is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self." Seeing it this way, one grows disillusioned with the earth element and detaches the mind from it. This is the opening of a well-known progressive teaching on the elements as a basis for non-attachment, whic
143. Page 223 Elements (concluding section) This is the concluding portion of a discourse on the four elements, covering the water, fire, and air elements. It teaches that both the elements within one's own body and those found in the external world are simply instances of the same physical elements, so neither can rightly be claimed as "mine" or as a self. Seeing this clearly with right understanding produces disillusionment and detaches the mind from identifying with these material components. A mendicant who sees all four elements this
144. Page 224–226 AN 4.178: The Billabong The Buddha describes four kinds of mendicants distinguished by whether their mind "leaps forth" with confidence toward two goals: the cessation of proliferation and the destruction of ignorance. He uses the simile of a hand smeared with glue versus a clean hand grasping a branch - a mind still gripped by attachment sticks fast and cannot realize the goal, while a clear, confident mind is not obstructed. A second simile compares a billabong (a stagnant, cut-off river pool) that will only break it
145. Page 226 AN 4.179: Extinguishment In a brief exchange, Venerable Ananda asks Venerable Sariputta why some beings fail to reach full extinguishment in this very life while others succeed. Sariputta explains that the difference lies in whether a person truly understands four kinds of perception: which ones make unwholesome qualities worse, which keep the mind steady, which lead to spiritual distinction, and which lead to penetrative insight. Those who understand this are able to fully extinguish defilements in this life, while tho
146. Page 227–231 AN 4.180: The Four Great References At the Ananda Shrine near Bhoga City, the Buddha teaches the four "great references" (mahapadesa), a method for testing whether a teaching attributed to him is authentic. Whether someone claims to have heard a teaching directly from the Buddha, from a senior Sangha, from a group of learned elders, or from a single learned elder, the listener should neither immediately approve nor reject the claim, but carefully compare its wording against the actual discourses and monastic training. If it fits,
147. Page 231–232 AN 4.181: A Warrior Using the image of an ideal royal warrior who is skilled in the fundamentals, shoots accurately at long range, hits the mark, and can smash large targets, the Buddha describes four qualities that make a mendicant worthy of offerings and the supreme field of merit for the world. Being "skilled in the basics" means keeping ethical conduct and monastic discipline; being a "long-distance shooter" means seeing all conditioned phenomena, past, present, or future, as not self; being a "marksman" means
148. Page 232–233 AN 4.182: Guarantee A short teaching states that no one in the world - not an ascetic, brahmin, god, Mara, or any other being - can guarantee immunity from old age, sickness, or death, or prevent the ripening of bad deeds done in past lives. It underscores the universality of these four inescapable realities as a basis for spiritual urgency, since no status or power can shield any being from them.
149. Page 233–235 AN 4.183: Vassakāra on What is Heard The Magadhan minister Vassakāra tells the Buddha his view that there is nothing wrong with simply reporting whatever one has seen, heard, thought, or known. The Buddha refines this position, saying he does not recommend indiscriminately speaking about everything perceived, nor recommend staying silent about everything - the deciding factor is the effect of the speech. If talking about something causes unskillful qualities to grow and skillful ones to decline, it should not be said; if it has the
150. Page 235–238 AN 4.184: Fearless The brahmin Jānussoṇi claims that everyone facing death is frightened of it, but the Buddha corrects him, describing four kinds of people who are terrified when gravely ill: those still attached to sensual pleasures, those attached to the body, those who have lived immorally, and those uncertain about the true teaching. He contrasts these with four kinds who face death without fear because they lack those attachments, have lived ethically, and are confident in the teaching. Each type is illustra
151. Page 238–240 AN 4.185: Truths of the Brahmins When wanderers near the Serpentine River are debating "the truths of the brahmins," the Buddha declares four truths he has realized through his own insight: that no living being should be killed, that all sensual pleasures are impermanent and unsatisfying, that all states of existence are impermanent and unsatisfying, and that nothing ultimately belongs to oneself or to anyone. He stresses that merely asserting these truths does not make someone an "ascetic" or "brahmin," nor superior to others
152. Page 240–243 AN 4.186: Approach A mendicant questions the Buddha on three points, each praised as an excellent question before the Buddha answers: what leads and controls the world (the mind itself drives and drags the world), what makes someone a "learned memorizer of the teaching" (genuinely understanding and practicing even a single four-line verse qualifies, not sheer quantity memorized), and the difference between someone "learned with penetrating wisdom" (who directly grasps the four noble truths) and someone "astute wit
153. Page 243–246 AN 4.187: With Vassakāra The minister Vassakāra asks whether an untrue (dishonest) person can recognize another untrue person, or a true person, and vice versa; the Buddha replies that an untrue person can never truly know either type, but a true, honest person can accurately discern both. Vassakāra illustrates this with a court anecdote about King Eḷeyya and his ministers showing great deference to the ascetic Rāmaputta, reasoned by the brahmin Todeyya as proof that Rāmaputta must be even more astute than the king hims
154. Page 246–248 AN 4.188: With Upaka Upaka, son of Maṇḍikā, criticizes anyone who complains about others without giving reasons, not realizing this describes his own recent conduct toward the Buddha; the Buddha turns the accusation back on him, catching him "like a fish in a trap." The Buddha explains that his teachings on what is skillful versus unskillful, and what should be developed versus abandoned, are expressed in countless different words and phrasings that all point to the same underlying truth. Upaka accepts the rebuke an
155. Page 248 AN 4.189: Things to be Realized A concise list of four categories of realization and how each is attained: the eight liberations are realized through direct meditative experience, past lives are realized through recollection, the passing away and rebirth of sentient beings is realized through vision (the divine eye), and the ending of defilements is realized through wisdom. This brief taxonomy maps different facets of an awakened person's attainments onto the specific cognitive faculty by which each is known.
156. Page 248–251 AN 4.190: Sabbath On a sabbath day, the Buddha looks over the silent, disciplined assembly of monks and praises it as free of "chaff" - rare in the world and worthy of the deepest generosity and respect. He describes four types of spiritual attainment present among the mendicants: reaching the level of the gods (through the four absorptions), reaching divinity (through the four divine abodes of love, compassion, rejoicing, and equanimity radiated in all directions), reaching the imperturbable (through the four fo
157. Page 251–254 AN 4.191: Followed by Ear The Buddha describes four possible outcomes for a mendicant who has thoroughly memorized and internalized the teachings but dies without full awakening and is reborn among the gods. Depending on circumstances, their memory of the Dhamma may return spontaneously once they are happy there, be triggered by a psychically gifted mendicant teaching Dhamma to the gods, be triggered by a minor deity doing so, or be triggered by a fellow reborn being reminding them of their shared past - each case illust
158. Page 254–259 AN 4.192: Facts The Buddha teaches that four qualities in a person - ethical conduct, purity in dealings, resilience under hardship, and wisdom - can only be truly known through prolonged, attentive observation by a wise observer, not through brief or careless contact. He illustrates each: consistent behavior over time reveals true ethics, consistent fair dealing with different people reveals purity, calm reflection on impermanence when facing loss of family, wealth, or health reveals resilience, and the abilit
159. Page 259–264 AN 4.193: With Bhaddiya When Bhaddiya the Licchavi asks whether rumors are true that the Buddha uses a "conversion trick" to lure away other religions' disciples, the Buddha gives his well-known instruction not to accept teachings merely on the basis of oral tradition, lineage, scripture, logic, inference, or a teacher's reputation, but only after personally verifying whether they lead to harm or to welfare. He walks Bhaddiya through this reasoning using greed, hatred, delusion, and aggression as things everyone can ve
160. Page 264–266 AN 4.194: At Sāpūga Venerable Ananda teaches the Koliyan people of Sāpūga about four factors of "trying to be pure" (padhāniyaṅga) that lead to purification and to realizing extinguishment: purity of ethics (careful moral discipline), purity of mind (attaining the four absorptions), purity of view (understanding the four noble truths), and purity of freedom (detaching the mind from everything that arouses greed). Each factor is paired with the same formula of sustained effort, energy, and mindfulness devoted to ful
161. Page 266–271 AN 4.195: With Vappa Vappa, a Jain disciple, and Venerable Mahāmoggallāna leave a discussion unfinished about whether someone who is fully restrained can still be defiled by the results of past bad deeds; the Buddha resolves it by explaining that new suffering-producing defilements can only arise through fresh unwholesome bodily, verbal, or mental activity, and once such activity and ignorance cease, old kammic results simply wear away gradually and visibly in this very life without adding anything new. He describes
162. Page 271–275 AN 4.196: With Sāḷha The Licchavis Sāḷha and Abhaya ask the Buddha about ascetics who teach that one crosses "the flood" of samsara through ethical purification combined with harsh self-mortification out of disgust for sin. Using the simile of a man trying to cross a river in a log that has been shaped on the outside but never hollowed out (it sinks), versus one properly hollowed into a boat and fitted with oars (it safely crosses), the Buddha teaches that outward austerity without inner purification of body, speech
163. Page 275–277 AN 4.197: Queen Mallikā (excerpt) Queen Mallikā asks the Buddha why some women are born unattractive and poor, others unattractive but wealthy, others attractive but poor, and others attractive and wealthy. The Buddha begins to explain that a woman's temperament - whether irritable and bad-tempered or even-tempered - determines physical attractiveness in future lives, while generosity toward ascetics and brahmins together with freedom from jealousy determines wealth and status; the excerpt breaks off partway through enumerating
164. Page 278–279 Queen Mallikā Reflects on the Causes of Beauty and Status This is the close of a teaching in which the Buddha explains why women differ in appearance, wealth, and social standing, tracing each trait back to past karma. Queen Mallikā then confesses that her own past irritability and bad temper explain her plainness, her past generosity explains her wealth, and her freedom from envy explains her high status and authority in the royal court. She resolves to change her conduct going forward, controlling her temper, giving generously, and letting go of jeal
165. Page 279–283 Three Kinds of Self-Torment: Mortifying Oneself, Others, and Both The Buddha describes four types of people according to how they relate to self-mortification, beginning with the ascetic who tortures only himself through extreme austerities such as going naked, eating minimal or foul food, wearing rough materials like bark or hair, and adopting painful postures. He then describes the person who mortifies only others, exemplified by butchers, hunters, executioners, and other violent livelihoods. The third type mortifies both self and others, illustrated vividly
166. Page 283–287 The Middle Way: The Path That Mortifies No One The Buddha describes the fourth and best kind of person, one who neither tortures themselves nor others, through the complete gradual training of a Buddhist monastic. It traces the journey from hearing the Dhamma and going forth from lay life, through ethical restraint (abandoning killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and harmful speech), contentment with simple robes and almsfood, sense restraint, and mindful awareness in daily activities. From this foundation the practitioner takes up meditati
167. Page 289–290 Craving, the Weaver of the World The Buddha teaches on craving (taṇhā), described poetically as a weaver, a migrant, something creeping and clinging, that chokes and entangles the world like tangled yarn or matted reeds, preventing beings from escaping the cycle of rebirth. He enumerates eighteen currents of craving arising from within, rooted in notions of "I am," "mine," and "I will be" in their various permutations, and eighteen more arising from external conditions, phrased as "because of this." Multiplied across past, futu
168. Page 290–293 How Fondness and Hate Are Born from Each Other The Buddha explains four ways fondness and hate arise in relation to a person one already likes or dislikes: fondness born of fondness, when others also like someone we like; hate born of fondness, when others dislike someone we like; fondness born of hate, when others also dislike someone we dislike; and hate born of hate, when others like someone we dislike. He then explains that a mendicant absorbed in any of the four jhānas is temporarily free of all four reactions, and one who has attained
169. Page 293–296 Not Drawing Close, Not Fuming, Not Burning: Marks of a Free Mind Continuing the same discourse, the Buddha defines terms describing how an unliberated versus a liberated mendicant relates to experience. "Drawing close" means identifying the five aggregates, form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness, as self or as belonging to self; "pushing back" means retaliating when abused or provoked; "fuming" and being "ignited" refer to the arising of the many conceits of "I am" and "mine," both internally and in relation to external conditions; and "burning
170. Page 296–308 Degrees of the True and Untrue Person (4.201–210) This is a run of ten closely related short suttas, each contrasting four graded types of character: the "untrue person" and an "even more untrue person" who additionally encourages others in bad qualities, versus the "true person" and an "even truer person" who also encourages others toward good. Across the series the specific qualities examined shift from sutta to sutta, covering the five precepts, the seven or ten courses of unwholesome and wholesome action, the eightfold and tenfold paths, an
171. Page 308–310 Placed in Heaven or Hell As If Delivered There (4.211–220) This is a series of short, formulaic suttas describing pairs of qualities that determine whether someone is figuratively "placed in hell" or "placed in heaven" as though delivered there directly. Different suttas cycle through various fourfold groupings: good and bad conduct of body, speech, and mind combined with right or wrong view; gratitude versus ingratitude; the five precepts observed or broken; the path factors, wrong versus right; truthful versus dishonest claims about what one has seen,
172. Page 310–313 The Foolish and the Astute: Bad Conduct and Its Opposite (4.221–230) This series of short suttas repeats the theme of the preceding groups but recasts it in terms of the "foolish, incompetent untrue person," who keeps themselves "broken and damaged" and deserves blame, versus the "astute, competent true person," who stays "healthy and whole" and deserves praise. As before, the specific qualities examined cycle through good and bad conduct of body, speech, and mind with right or wrong view, gratitude, the five precepts, the path factors, truthful expression, and f
173. Page 313 The Four Kinds of Poets In a brief standalone sutta, the Buddha identifies four types of poets: one who composes original verse through their own reflection, one who recites received oral tradition, one who composes for teaching purposes, and one who improvises spontaneously. Unlike the surrounding suttas, this one offers no ethical evaluation of the four types, simply cataloguing the different sources of poetic composition current in the Buddha's time.
174. Page 313–323 The Four Kinds of Deeds: Dark, Bright, Mixed, and Beyond Both (4.232–240) The Buddha repeatedly teaches a fourfold classification of karma he says he has "realized with his own insight": dark deeds with dark, painful results, like those leading to hell; bright deeds with bright, pleasant results, like those leading to heavenly rebirth; deeds that are a mixture of both, producing a mixture of pleasure and pain as for humans and some gods; and deeds that are neither dark nor bright, which are simply the intention to abandon the other three kinds, identified in various v
175. Page 323–324 The Four Genuine Ascetics and the Benefit of Good Company The Buddha declares that only within his own teaching are there four kinds of true "ascetics," urging the mendicants to "roar their lion's roar" that other spiritual traditions are empty of such attainment. The four are defined by the four stages of awakening: the stream-enterer, who has ended the first three fetters; the once-returner, who has also weakened greed, hate, and delusion; the non-returner, who has ended the five lower fetters and will not return to this world; and the arahant, who h
176. Page 324–326 The Bad Monk's Four Reasons to Relish Schism Visiting the Buddha at Kosambī, Ānanda reports that a disciplinary dispute remains unresolved because the monk Bāhiya is bent on causing a schism in the Saṅgha while his mentor Anuruddha stays silent about it. The Buddha redirects responsibility for settling such disputes to Ānanda, Sāriputta, and Moggallāna, and then explains the psychology behind schism: a corrupt monk, one who is unethical, holds wrong view, has wrong livelihood, or craves material gain and honor, realizes that a divided Saṅg
177. Page 326–329 The Four Perils of Monastic Offenses The Buddha uses four vivid similes drawn from criminal punishment to describe the graded severity of monastic rule-breaking. A condemned bandit paraded to execution represents the gravest "expulsion" offenses; a man voluntarily submitting to clubbing represents "suspension" offenses; one submitting to carrying a sack of ashes represents lesser "confession" offenses; and one merely submitting to public criticism represents the mildest infractions. In each case, a mendicant who has cultivated a vi
178. Page 329–331 Training, Wisdom, Freedom, and Mindfulness as Pillars of the Spiritual Life The Buddha explains a summary formula describing the spiritual life as having training for its benefit, wisdom as its overseer, freedom as its core, and mindfulness as its ruler. Training includes both the supplementary monastic regulations, meant to inspire and strengthen confidence, and the fundamental training that leads to the complete ending of suffering. Wisdom examines critically whatever the Buddha has taught, and freedom is the direct experience of that teaching realized through practic
179. Page 331–332 The Four Ways of Lying Down The Buddha compares four postures of lying down: a corpse lies flat on its back; a pleasure-seeker, someone absorbed in sensual indulgence, typically lies on the left side; a lion, king of beasts, lies on its right side with paws crossed and tail tucked, checking its body upon waking and feeling satisfaction or displeasure depending on its posture; and a Realized One "lies down" by entering and abiding in the four absorptions. The simile playfully uses ordinary bodily postures to characterize di
180. Page 332 Three Short Teachings: Monuments, the Growth of Wisdom, and What Helps a Person Three brief, unconnected suttas are grouped together here. The first names four figures worthy of a memorial monument: a fully awakened Buddha, an independent Buddha (paccekabuddha), a disciple of a Buddha, and a wheel-turning monarch. The second and third suttas are near-identical, each naming the same four conditions, associating with true, spiritually accomplished persons, listening to the true teaching, applying the mind wisely, and practicing in accordance with the teaching, first as what l
181. Page 332–333 Noble and Ignoble Ways of Speaking About What One Knows This short peyyāla series defines four combinations of truthful and false claims about direct experience: seeing, hearing, thinking, or knowing something. It is "ignoble" to claim to have seen, heard, thought, or known something one has not, and equally ignoble to deny having seen, heard, thought, or known something one actually has; conversely, it is "noble" to honestly deny experience one lacks, and equally noble to honestly affirm experience one actually has. The four short suttas systematica
182. Page 333 The Four Things to Be Understood, Given Up, Developed, and Realized (opening) This sutta, cut off at the end of the excerpt, opens the Buddha's teaching on four categories of things approached through direct knowledge: things that should be completely understood, things that should be given up, things that should be developed, and things that should be realized. This maps onto core categories of Buddhist practice, understanding suffering, abandoning its causes, developing the path, and realizing cessation, though the text breaks off before the Buddha specifies what falls
183. Page 334 Four Tasks of Direct Knowledge This passage closes out a discourse on four categories of things a practitioner must handle through direct knowledge. The five grasping aggregates (the components of body and mind that are clung to as self) are what must be fully understood. Ignorance and craving for continued existence are what must be given up. Serenity (calm concentration) and discernment (insight wisdom) are what must be developed, and knowledge and freedom are what must be realized. Together these four tasks summarize the e
184. Page 334–335 Numbered Discourses 4.255 – Searches The Buddha contrasts four ignoble searches with four noble searches. An ignoble search is one where a person subject to old age, sickness, death, or corruption merely seeks after more of the same conditioned, defiled things. A noble search, by contrast, arises from recognizing the drawbacks of these vulnerable states and instead seeking what is free from them entirely: the deathless, unconditioned freedom of extinguishment (nibbana). The teaching reframes worldly striving as either reinforcing b
185. Page 335 Numbered Discourses 4.256 – Ways of Being Inclusive A brief teaching listing the four ways a person can hold a community together: giving generously, speaking kindly, working for others' welfare, and treating people as equals. These four qualities, drawn from the classic set of "bases of sympathy" (saṅgahavatthu), describe the social glue that keeps relationships and communities cohesive. The sutta is stated tersely, without elaboration, as a simple enumeration of virtues that foster goodwill and unity among people.
186. Page 335–336 Numbered Discourses 4.257 – With Māluṅkyaputta The elderly monk Māluṅkyaputta asks the Buddha for a brief teaching he can use to practice alone in seclusion. The Buddha first gently points out the incongruity of an old, senior monk still asking for basic instruction, then relents and teaches him about the four things that give rise to craving in a mendicant: the desire for robes, almsfood, lodging, and future rebirth. He explains that when this craving is uprooted entirely, a mendicant is freed from the fetters and has made an end of sufferi
187. Page 336–337 Numbered Discourses 4.258 – Families A practical, worldly teaching about household economics rather than meditation or metaphysics. Families fail to remain wealthy for one or more of four reasons: neglecting lost property, failing to maintain what they own, excessive eating and drinking, and putting an unethical person in charge of affairs. Conversely, families stay prosperous when they do the opposite of each: recovering what is lost, keeping things in repair, moderating consumption, and placing ethical people in positions of resp
188. Page 337–339 Numbered Discourses 4.259–260 – A Thoroughbred (1st and 2nd) Using the simile of a fine royal warhorse valued for being beautiful, strong, fast, and well-proportioned, the Buddha describes the qualities that make a mendicant a supreme field of merit worthy of offerings. Beauty is explained as ethical conduct and restraint according to the monastic code; strength as sustained energy in abandoning unskillful qualities and cultivating skillful ones; and being well-proportioned as receiving robes, almsfood, lodging, and medicine appropriately. The two paired
189. Page 339–340 Numbered Discourses 4.261 – Powers A short enumeration of the four powers a practitioner relies on for spiritual development: energy, mindfulness, immersion (concentration), and wisdom. No further explanation is given beyond the bare list, as this is a compact reference teaching meant to be memorized. These four qualities recur throughout the early texts as core inner resources supporting progress on the path.
190. Page 340 Numbered Discourses 4.262 – Wilderness The Buddha describes which mendicants are and are not fit to live in remote wilderness or forest dwellings. Those unfit are dominated by sensual, malicious, or cruel thoughts, or are witless and dull. Those fit for solitary forest life have instead cultivated thoughts of renunciation, good will, and harmlessness, and are wise and mentally sharp. The teaching links inner mental purity and clarity with the capacity to handle the challenges and solitude of remote dwelling.
191. Page 340–341 Numbered Discourses 4.263 – Deeds This teaching contrasts a foolish, untrue person with an astute, true person based on four kinds of conduct. The foolish person keeps themselves "broken and damaged" through blameworthy deeds of body, speech, and mind, along with holding blameworthy views, earning the criticism of sensible people. The astute person, by contrast, keeps themselves "healthy and whole" through blameless conduct in body, speech, and mind together with blameless views, and thereby accumulates merit rather than blame.
192. Page 341–344 Numbered Discourses 4.264–273 – The Ten Ways of Performing Deeds This is a formulaic series of ten near-identical short suttas covering the classic list of unwholesome and wholesome courses of action: killing living creatures, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, backbiting, harsh speech, talking nonsense, covetousness, ill will, and wrong view. For each, the pattern is the same: a person who personally does the deed, encourages others to do it, approves of it, and praises it is said to be "placed in hell as if delivered there," while a person who avoids the d
193. Page 345–346 Numbered Discourses 4.274–783 – Abbreviated Series on Greed and Other Defilements This closing section of the Book of the Fours applies a fourfold developmental formula to gaining insight into greed and then, by extension, to a long list of other mental defilements. It opens with three explicit short teachings on what should be developed for insight into greed: the four kinds of mindfulness meditation (on body, feelings, mind, and principles), the four right efforts (preventing, abandoning, developing, and maintaining skillful and unskillful qualities), and the four bases of