Extra Effort (AN4.169)

Numbered Discourses 4.169

17. Practice

Extra Effort

“Mendicants, these four individuals are found in the world.

What four?

One individual is fully extinguished in this very life by making extra effort.

One individual is fully extinguished when the body breaks up by making extra effort.

One individual is fully extinguished in this very life without making extra effort.

One individual is fully extinguished when the body breaks up without making extra effort.

And how is an individual fully extinguished in this very life by making extra effort?

It’s when a mendicant meditates observing the ugliness of the body, perceives the repulsiveness of food, perceives dissatisfaction with the whole world, observes the impermanence of all conditions,

and has well established the perception of their own death.

They rely on these five powers of a trainee:

faith, conscience, prudence, energy, and wisdom.

And these five faculties manifest in them strongly:

faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom.

Because of the strength of the five faculties, they are fully extinguished in this very life by making extra effort.

That’s how an individual is fully extinguished in this very life by making extra effort.

How is an individual fully extinguished when the body breaks up by making extra effort?

It’s when a mendicant meditates observing the ugliness of the body, perceives the repulsiveness of food, perceives dissatisfaction with the whole world, observes the impermanence of all conditions,

and has well established the perception of their own death.

They rely on these five powers of a trainee:

faith, conscience, prudence, energy, and wisdom.

But these five faculties manifest in them weakly:

faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom.

Because of the weakness of the five faculties, they are fully extinguished when the body breaks up by making extra effort.

That’s how an individual is fully extinguished when the body breaks up by making extra effort.

And how is an individual fully extinguished in this very life without making extra effort?

It’s when a mendicant … enters and remains in the first absorption … second absorption … third absorption … fourth absorption …

They rely on these five powers of a trainee:

faith, conscience, prudence, energy, and wisdom.

And these five faculties manifest in them strongly:

faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom.

Because of the strength of the five faculties, they are fully extinguished in this very life without making extra effort.

That’s how an individual is fully extinguished in this very life without making extra effort.

And how is an individual fully extinguished when the body breaks up without making extra effort?

It’s when a mendicant … enters and remains in the first absorption … second absorption … third absorption … fourth absorption …

They rely on these five powers of a trainee:

faith, conscience, prudence, energy, and wisdom.

But these five faculties manifest in them weakly: faith, energy, mindfulness, immersion, and wisdom.

Because of the weakness of the five faculties, they are fully extinguished when the body breaks up without making extra effort.

That’s how an individual is fully extinguished when the body breaks up without making extra effort.

These are the four individuals found in the world.”