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Eight Streams of Benefit

AN 8.39, the Abhisanda Sutta — set 2, The Basic Diagnosis and the Path

Reading time: about 5 min · 732 words

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Before you read

Most lists of the five precepts read like rules you agree to keep. This short talk turns them around and asks what other people get out of them.

The answer is concrete. Someone who has given up killing has handed every living being one thing they can count on: they will not be killed by this person. The same goes for stealing, for betrayal, for lying, and for the recklessness that comes with being drunk. The text calls each of these a gift, and a great one, because the number of people it protects was never limited in advance.

The last turn is the surprising one. Whoever gives that freedom from fear ends up sharing in it themselves, without limit.

The three refuges — the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Saṅgha — are counted here on the same list and in the same terms, as things that simply do you good.

A "stream of benefit" is this project's rendering of puññābhisanda: benefit flowing in, the way water flows into a low place.

Translation

Eight Streams of Benefit

"Bhikkhus, there are eight streams of benefit, streams of what is wholesome, food for ease. They are heavenly, they ripen in ease, they lead to heaven, and they lead to what is wished for, loved, and agreeable, to welfare and ease.

Which eight?

Going for Refuge

Bhikkhus, a noble disciple has gone to the Buddha for refuge. This is the first stream of benefit, a stream of what is wholesome, food for ease. It is heavenly, it ripens in ease, it leads to heaven, and it leads to what is wished for, loved, and agreeable, to welfare and ease.

Again, bhikkhus, a noble disciple has gone to the Dhamma for refuge. This is the second stream of benefit, and everything said of the first holds for it.

Again, bhikkhus, a noble disciple has gone to the Saṅgha for refuge. This is the third stream of benefit, a stream of what is wholesome, food for ease. It is heavenly, it ripens in ease, it leads to heaven, and it leads to what is wished for, loved, and agreeable, to welfare and ease.

Five Great Gifts

There are five gifts, bhikkhus—great gifts, known to be foremost, known to be long-standing, known to belong to an old lineage, ancient, uncorrupted, never corrupted before, not corrupted now, and never to be corrupted; and recluses and brahmins who have discernment do not fault them.

Which five?

Bhikkhus, a noble disciple gives up taking life and refrains from taking life. Bhikkhus, by refraining from taking life, a noble disciple gives countless beings freedom from fear, gives them freedom from enmity, gives them freedom from affliction. And by giving countless beings freedom from fear, freedom from enmity, and freedom from affliction, they come to share in freedom from fear, freedom from enmity, and freedom from affliction without limit.

This is the first gift, bhikkhus, a great gift, known to be foremost, known to be long-standing, known to belong to an old lineage, ancient, uncorrupted, never corrupted before, not corrupted now, and never to be corrupted; and recluses and brahmins who have discernment do not fault it.

And this is the fourth stream of benefit, a stream of what is wholesome, food for ease. It is heavenly, it ripens in ease, it leads to heaven, and it leads to what is wished for, loved, and agreeable, to welfare and ease.

The next three go the same way:

  • a noble disciple gives up taking what is not given and refrains from taking what is not given
  • a noble disciple gives up sexual misconduct and refrains from sexual misconduct
  • a noble disciple gives up false speech and refrains from false speech

In each case a noble disciple gives countless beings freedom from fear, freedom from enmity, and freedom from affliction, and comes to share in that same freedom without limit. Each of these is a great gift in the same way—the second, the third, and the fourth—and each is a stream of benefit in the same way: the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh.

Again, bhikkhus, a noble disciple gives up intoxicants that lead to heedlessness and refrains from intoxicants that lead to heedlessness. By refraining from intoxicants that lead to heedlessness, bhikkhus, a noble disciple gives countless beings freedom from fear, gives them freedom from enmity, gives them freedom from affliction. And by giving countless beings freedom from fear, freedom from enmity, and freedom from affliction, they come to share in freedom from fear, freedom from enmity, and freedom from affliction without limit.

This is the fifth gift, bhikkhus, a great gift, known to be foremost, known to be long-standing, known to belong to an old lineage, ancient, uncorrupted, never corrupted before, not corrupted now, and never to be corrupted; and recluses and brahmins who have discernment do not fault it.

And this is the eighth stream of benefit, a stream of what is wholesome, food for ease. It is heavenly, it ripens in ease, it leads to heaven, and it leads to what is wished for, loved, and agreeable, to welfare and ease.

The Eight Together

Bhikkhus, these are the eight streams of benefit, streams of what is wholesome, food for ease. They are heavenly, they ripen in ease, they lead to heaven, and they lead to what is wished for, loved, and agreeable, to welfare and ease."

The ninth discourse is finished.

Words used in this translation (10)
bhikkhus
Buddhist monks -- those who have left household life to practise full time. The Buddha's usual way of addressing the assembly, roughly "friends" in force.
Dhamma
The Buddha's teaching taken as a whole -- both what he taught and the way things actually are, which the teaching describes.
heedlessness
The opposite of heedfulness: drifting, letting things slide, not noticing what the mind is doing.
noble disciple
Someone who has had the breakthrough into the path and so is no longer merely an ordinary person. It does not mean noble by birth, and does not require being a monastic.
recluses
This project's rendering of "samaṇa": people who left ordinary working life to practise full time. They belonged to any of the traditions of the period, not only this one.
refuge
Where someone turns for safety and direction. Going for refuge to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Saṅgha is how a person shows they take this path seriously. It is not a conversion ritual.
Saṅgha
The community of the Buddha's disciples. In traditional recollection formulas, as in AN 11.12, it means especially those who have entered and realized the path, not everyone who calls themselves Buddhist.
stream of benefit
This project's rendering of "puññābhisanda" -- benefit flowing in, the way water flows into a low place. "Benefit" is the house rendering of "puñña", more often translated "merit".
streams of benefit
This project's rendering of "puññābhisanda" -- benefit flowing in, the way water flows into a low place. "Benefit" is the house rendering of "puñña", more often translated "merit".
wholesome
This project's rendering of "kusala". Roughly: mentally and ethically healthy. It is blameless, leads to well-being, and people with good judgment praise it.
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