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The Five Lower Fetters

MN 64, the Mahāmālukya Sutta — set 5, Advanced and Reference Texts

Reading time: about 14 min · 2,401 words

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Before you read

Mālukyaputta — the same disciple who asked the unanswerable questions in MN 63 — lists the five lower fetters correctly and is immediately challenged on it.

The challenge is the infant simile. A baby lying on its back has no view of self, no doubt, no attachment to rules and rituals, because it has no concepts at all yet. Does that make it free of the fetters? No: the tendency still lies underneath, waiting for something to attach to.

Then the way out, mental theme by mental theme, with the Ganges simile for why it cannot be skipped: a weak man does not get to swim the flooded river just because a strong one can. This is MN 63's disciple further along the road, and it reads best after that text.

Translation

The Setting

So I heard.

At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī, in Jeta's Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍika's monastery.

There the Buddha addressed the bhikkhus:

"Bhikkhus."

"Bhante," they replied.

The Buddha said this:

Mālukyaputta's List

"Bhikkhus, do you remember the five lower fetters I have taught?"

When this was said, Venerable Mālukyaputta said to the Buddha:

"Bhante, I remember the five lower fetters the Buddha has taught."

"But, Mālukyaputta, how do you remember the five lower fetters I have taught?"

"Bhante, I remember identity view as a lower fetter taught by the Buddha.

I remember doubt as a lower fetter taught by the Buddha.

I remember grasping at habits and observances as a lower fetter taught by the Buddha.

I remember sensual desire as a lower fetter taught by the Buddha.

I remember ill will as a lower fetter taught by the Buddha.

That is how, Bhante, I remember the five lower fetters taught by the Buddha."

The Infant Simile

"Mālukyaputta, for whom do you remember these five lower fetters as taught in this way?

Wouldn't wanderers of other traditions challenge you with this simile of a tender infant?

For a young, tender infant lying on its back does not even have identity. So how could identity view arise in that child?

Yet the underlying tendency toward identity view lies underneath.

A young, tender infant lying on its back does not even have dhammas. So how could doubt about dhammas arise in that child?

Yet the underlying tendency toward doubt lies underneath.

A young, tender infant lying on its back does not even have rules. So how could grasping at habits and observances arise in that child?

Yet the underlying tendency toward grasping at habits and observances lies underneath.

A young, tender infant lying on its back does not even have sensualities. So how could sensual desire regarding sensualities arise in that child?

Yet the underlying tendency toward sensual passion lies underneath.

A young, tender infant lying on its back does not even have beings. So how could ill will toward beings arise in that child?

Yet the underlying tendency toward ill will lies underneath.

Wouldn't wanderers of other traditions challenge you with this simile of a tender infant?"

Ānanda Requests the Teaching

When this was said, Venerable Ānanda said to the Buddha:

"Now is the time, Blessed One. Now is the time, Fortunate One, for the Buddha to teach the five lower fetters. Once the bhikkhus have heard it from the Buddha, they will remember it."

"Then, Ānanda, listen carefully, attend well, and I will speak."

"Yes, Bhante," Venerable Ānanda replied.

The Buddha said this:

The Unlearned Ordinary Person

"Ānanda, an unlearned ordinary person, someone who has not seen the noble ones, who is unskilled and untrained in the noble Dhamma, someone who has not seen true persons, who is unskilled and untrained in the true person's Dhamma, lives with a heart overwhelmed by identity view, possessed by identity view.

When identity view has arisen, that person does not discern its escape as it has come to be. For that person, identity view is firmly established, not brought under training, a lower fetter.

That person lives with a heart overwhelmed by doubt, possessed by doubt.

When doubt has arisen, that person does not discern its escape as it has come to be. For that person, doubt is firmly established, not brought under training, a lower fetter.

That person lives with a heart overwhelmed by grasping at habits and observances, possessed by grasping at habits and observances.

When grasping at habits and observances has arisen, that person does not discern its escape as it has come to be. For that person, grasping at habits and observances is firmly established, not brought under training, a lower fetter.

That person lives with a heart overwhelmed by passion for sensuality, possessed by passion for sensuality.

When passion for sensuality has arisen, that person does not discern its escape as it has come to be. For that person, passion for sensuality is firmly established, not brought under training, a lower fetter.

That person lives with a heart overwhelmed by ill will, possessed by ill will.

When ill will has arisen, that person does not discern its escape as it has come to be. For that person, ill will is firmly established, not brought under training, a lower fetter.

The Learned Noble Disciple

"But, Ānanda, a learned noble disciple, someone who has seen the noble ones, who is skilled and trained in the noble Dhamma, someone who has seen true persons, who is skilled and trained in the true person's Dhamma, does not live with a heart overwhelmed by identity view, or possessed by identity view.

When identity view has arisen, that disciple discerns its escape as it has come to be. For that disciple, identity view is abandoned together with its underlying tendency.

That disciple does not live with a heart overwhelmed by doubt, or possessed by doubt.

When doubt has arisen, that disciple discerns its escape as it has come to be. For that disciple, doubt is abandoned together with its underlying tendency.

That disciple does not live with a heart overwhelmed by grasping at habits and observances, or possessed by grasping at habits and observances.

When grasping at habits and observances has arisen, that disciple discerns its escape as it has come to be. For that disciple, grasping at habits and observances is abandoned together with its underlying tendency.

That disciple does not live with a heart overwhelmed by passion for sensuality, or possessed by passion for sensuality.

When passion for sensuality has arisen, that disciple discerns its escape as it has come to be. For that disciple, passion for sensuality is abandoned together with its underlying tendency.

That disciple does not live with a heart overwhelmed by ill will, or possessed by ill will.

When ill will has arisen, that disciple discerns its escape as it has come to be. For that disciple, ill will is abandoned together with its underlying tendency.

The Path Cannot Be Skipped

"Ānanda, suppose someone were to say:

'Without coming to the path and the way of practice for abandoning the five lower fetters, I will know, see, and abandon the five lower fetters.'

That is not possible.

It is like saying:

'I will cut the heartwood from a great standing tree without first cutting through its bark and sapwood.'

That is not possible.

In the same way, without coming to the path and the way of practice for abandoning the five lower fetters, it is not possible to know, see, and abandon the five lower fetters.

"But suppose someone were to say:

'By coming to the path and the way of practice for abandoning the five lower fetters, I will know, see, and abandon the five lower fetters.'

That is possible.

It is like saying:

'I will cut the heartwood from a great standing tree after first cutting through its bark and sapwood.'

That is possible.

In the same way, by coming to the path and the way of practice for abandoning the five lower fetters, it is possible to know, see, and abandon the five lower fetters.

The Ganges Simile

"Suppose, Ānanda, the Ganges River were full of water, brimming, with water up to the banks so a crow could drink from it.

Then a weak person might come along and think:

'I will cross this Ganges River safely by cutting across the current with my arms.'

But that person would not be able to cross the Ganges River safely by cutting across the current with the arms.

In the same way, when the Dhamma is being taught for the quenching of identity, there are people whose heart does not leap forward, does not become confident, does not settle, and is not released. They should be seen like that weak person.

"Again, suppose the Ganges River were full of water, brimming, with water up to the banks so a crow could drink from it.

Then a strong person might come along and think:

'I will cross this Ganges River safely by cutting across the current with my arms.'

That person would be able to cross the Ganges River safely by cutting across the current with the arms.

In the same way, when the Dhamma is being taught for the quenching of identity, there are people whose heart leaps forward, becomes confident, settles, and is released. They should be seen like that strong person.

The First Mental Theme

"Ānanda, what is the path, what is the way of practice for abandoning the five lower fetters?

Ānanda, with seclusion from supports, with the abandoning of unwholesome dhammas, and with the complete calming of bodily heaviness, quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unwholesome dhammas, a bhikkhu enters and remains in the first mental theme, with thinking and pondering, with rejoicing and satisfaction born of seclusion.

Whatever is there connected with form, felt experience, recognition, putting things together, and knowing: that bhikkhu observes those dhammas as impermanent, as dissatisfaction, as disease, as a boil, as a dart, as misery, as affliction, as alien, as disintegrating, as empty, as not-self.

They turn the heart back from those dhammas.

Once they have turned the heart back from those dhammas, they bring the heart to the element of the deathless:

'This is peace. This is refined: the calming of all constructions, the relinquishment of all supports, the wearing away of ignorant wanting, fading, quenching, nibbāna.'

Standing there, they reach the wearing away of the outflows.

But if they do not reach the wearing away of the outflows, then because of that passion for the Dhamma and that relishing in the Dhamma, with the complete wearing away of the five lower fetters, they are spontaneously reborn, finally quenched there, and not liable to return from that world.

Ānanda, this too is the path, this is the way of practice for abandoning the five lower fetters.

The Higher Mental Themes

"Again, Ānanda, with the subsiding of thinking and pondering, a bhikkhu enters and remains in the second mental theme.

Again, a bhikkhu enters and remains in the third mental theme.

Again, a bhikkhu enters and remains in the fourth mental theme.

In each case, whatever is there connected with form, felt experience, recognition, putting things together, and knowing, they observe those dhammas as impermanent, as dissatisfaction, as disease, as a boil, as a dart, as misery, as affliction, as alien, as disintegrating, as empty, as not-self.

They turn the heart back from those dhammas and bring it to the element of the deathless:

'This is peace. This is refined: the calming of all constructions, the relinquishment of all supports, the wearing away of ignorant wanting, fading, quenching, nibbāna.'

Standing there, they reach the wearing away of the outflows. But if they do not reach the wearing away of the outflows, then because of that passion for the Dhamma and that relishing in the Dhamma, with the complete wearing away of the five lower fetters, they are spontaneously reborn, finally quenched there, and not liable to return from that world.

Ānanda, this too is the path, this is the way of practice for abandoning the five lower fetters.

The Formless Spheres

"Again, Ānanda, by completely going beyond recognitions of form, with the ending of recognitions of resistance, and not attending to recognitions of diversity, a bhikkhu enters and remains in the sphere of boundless space, aware that 'space is boundless.'

Whatever is there connected with felt experience, recognition, putting things together, and knowing, they observe those dhammas as impermanent, as dissatisfaction, as disease, as a boil, as a dart, as misery, as affliction, as alien, as disintegrating, as empty, as not-self.

They turn the heart back from those dhammas and bring it to the element of the deathless.

Standing there, they reach the wearing away of the outflows. But if they do not reach the wearing away of the outflows, then because of that passion for the Dhamma and that relishing in the Dhamma, with the complete wearing away of the five lower fetters, they are spontaneously reborn, finally quenched there, and not liable to return from that world.

Ānanda, this too is the path, this is the way of practice for abandoning the five lower fetters.

"Again, Ānanda, by completely going beyond the sphere of boundless space, a bhikkhu enters and remains in the sphere of boundless knowing, aware that 'knowing is boundless.'

Whatever is there connected with felt experience, recognition, putting things together, and knowing, they observe those dhammas in the same way, turn the heart back from those dhammas, and bring it to the element of the deathless.

Standing there, they reach the wearing away of the outflows. But if they do not reach the wearing away of the outflows, then because of that passion for the Dhamma and that relishing in the Dhamma, with the complete wearing away of the five lower fetters, they are spontaneously reborn, finally quenched there, and not liable to return from that world.

Ānanda, this too is the path, this is the way of practice for abandoning the five lower fetters.

"Again, Ānanda, by completely going beyond the sphere of boundless knowing, a bhikkhu enters and remains in the sphere of nothingness, aware that 'there is nothing.'

Whatever is there connected with felt experience, recognition, putting things together, and knowing, they observe those dhammas in the same way, turn the heart back from those dhammas, and bring it to the element of the deathless.

Standing there, they reach the wearing away of the outflows. But if they do not reach the wearing away of the outflows, then because of that passion for the Dhamma and that relishing in the Dhamma, with the complete wearing away of the five lower fetters, they are spontaneously reborn, finally quenched there, and not liable to return from that world.

Ānanda, this too is the path, this is the way of practice for abandoning the five lower fetters."

Release of Mind and Release Through Discernment

"Bhante, if this is the path and the way of practice for abandoning the five lower fetters, why do some bhikkhus have release of mind while others have release through discernment?"

"Ānanda, I say the difference is in their faculties."

That is what the Buddha said.

Venerable Ānanda was satisfied and welcomed what the Buddha had said.

The Mahāmālukya Sutta, the fourth discourse, is finished.

Words used in this translation (44)
Bhante
A respectful way of addressing a senior monastic, roughly "venerable sir." Left untranslated because English has no natural equivalent.
bhikkhu
A Buddhist monk -- someone who has left household life to practise full time. Left untranslated because "monk" carries centuries of unrelated European associations.
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.
Blessed One
One of the Buddha's traditional titles, used respectfully in place of his name in these texts.
born of seclusion
Coming from having stepped away from busyness and distraction, rather than from anything acquired.
calming
A settling and quieting of the mind on the way toward full release.
deathless
A name for nibbāna: what does not die, because it was never born.
Dhamma
The Buddha's teaching taken as a whole -- both what he taught and the way things actually are, which the teaching describes.
dissatisfaction
This translation's rendering of "dukkha," the Buddhist term for the unsatisfying, unstable quality of ordinary experience. Often translated "suffering," but that can sound more dramatic than the everyday sense of things not quite being right.
doubt
Uncertainty and indecision, especially about the practice and the teaching. As one of the five hindrances, it keeps the mind wavering instead of committing.
escape
This project's rendering of "nissaraṇa". It is the real way out of whatever the text is discussing, unlike the false escapes an untrained mind reaches for. In SN 36.6 the escape is from being stuck in a feeling; in Ud 8.3 it is from everything born, made, and conditioned.
faculties
The capacities used in practice, especially confidence, energy, remembering, unification of mind, and discernment. You can train them and bring them into balance.
fading
The fading away of attraction and investment in experience, as passion cools.
felt experience
This project's rendering of "vedanā", often translated "feeling". It is the immediate pleasant, painful, or mixed tone of an experience, before any story we build on top of it.
five lower fetters
Five patterns said to bind a person to ordinary sensual existence: self-view, doubt, grasping at rules and observances, sensual passion, and aversion.
form
This project's rendering of "rūpa" -- the physical, material aspect of experience, one of the five heaps.
heart
This project's rendering of "citta": the feeling side of mind. It takes on moods, wants, leans, and reacts. Practice can gladden, steady, train, and release it. Some call it the "heart-mind" or "feeling mind". Here "heart" does not mean only emotion, or the physical organ.
ignorant wanting
Wanting something you can't have right now. This project's rendering of "taṇhā", often translated "craving". We call it ignorant because it comes from not seeing clearly; ordinary, sensible wanting is something else.
ill will
Hostility toward others or situations: pushing things away and wishing them harm. As one of the five hindrances, it pulls the mind off track.
knowing
This project's rendering of "viññāṇa" (often translated "consciousness") -- bare awareness of an object through one of the senses or the mind.
mental theme
This project's rendering of "jhāna" -- a single theme the mind rests on and holds steadily. Described in a sequence of four, each calmer than the last. Most translations leave the word in Pāli.
nibbāna
The end of greed, hatred, and confusion -- the traditional goal of Buddhist practice. Left untranslated because no single English word covers it; "quenching" is the closest one-word gloss.
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.
not-self
This project's rendering of "anattā". It does not claim that you don't exist. It says that, when you actually look, nothing in experience holds up as a fixed self you could own.
ordinary person
This project's rendering of "puthujjana" -- someone who has not yet had the breakthrough into the path. It is the standard term for the untrained starting point, not an insult.
outflows
This project's rendering of "āsavā" -- deep-running habits that keep seeping out and driving behaviour, classically sensuality, becoming, and ignorance. Often translated "taints" or "defilements."
putting things together
This project's rendering of "saṅkhāra": the ongoing activity of assembling experience, and also what that activity assembles. Context shows which of the two the text means. Other translations often say "formations" or "fabrications", which this project avoids as needlessly opaque.
quenching
An extinguishing image for dissatisfaction and its causes going out. Different Pali words use this image on different pages, so the exact scope comes from the sentence.
recognition
This project's rendering of "saññā" (often translated "perception") -- the mind's act of identifying and labeling what it encounters.
rejoicing
This project's rendering of "pīti" (often translated "rapture") -- the bright, uplifted gladness that shows up when practice is going well.
release of mind
Release described from the mind or heart side of experience, often paired with release through discernment.
release through discernment
Release described from the clear-understanding side, paired with release of mind rather than reduced to intellectual knowledge.
relinquishment
This project's rendering of "vossagga" -- letting go, in the sense of releasing a hold rather than pushing something away.
resistance
A reflexive pushing-away from what's unwanted, arising automatically in response to unpleasant feeling.
seclusion
This project's rendering of "viveka" -- being apart from the usual pull of the senses and from unwholesome states. Physical solitude is one form of it, not the whole of it.
sensual desire
When wanting something pleasant pulls you off track. One of the five hindrances.
sphere of boundless knowing
A deep meditative state in which awareness rests on knowing itself without limit.
sphere of boundless space
A deep meditative state in which awareness rests on space without limit.
sphere of nothingness
A deep meditative state in which awareness rests on there being nothing at all to take up.
spontaneously reborn
Reborn fully formed rather than through a womb, egg, or moisture. AN 4.5 uses this traditional cosmological description for a non-returner.
underlying tendency
A reactive pattern that isn't necessarily active right now but is ready to reassert itself given the right conditions -- lying underneath rather than gone.
unwholesome
This project's rendering of "akusala". Roughly: mentally and ethically harmful. It is blameworthy, leads to harm, and people with good judgment criticize it.
wearing away
The gradual using-up of something until it runs out completely. The texts use it especially for what has to run out before release.
world
A word whose scope shifts with the teaching. It can mean the lived world we build through the senses and the mind, or the wider physical cosmos. The surrounding passage shows which sense it has.
Source and corrections