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Four Steps That Lead to the Path

SN 55.5, the Dutiyasāriputta Sutta — set 2, The Basic Diagnosis and the Path

Reading time: about 2 min · 256 words

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Before you read

Sāriputta is asked what actually sets someone on the path, and his answer starts somewhere you might not expect: with other people. Keeping good company comes first. Then hearing the teaching, then attending to it carefully, then practicing in line with it.

It is a short exchange, and the order is the point. The first step is not an inward one at all — it is about who you spend your time around. Everything inward comes after that.

Translation

The Setting

Then Venerable Sāriputta went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. The Buddha said to him:

The Factors of Stream-Entry

"Sāriputta, they speak of 'a factor of stream-entry, a factor of stream-entry.' What is a factor of stream-entry?"

"Bhante, keeping company with good persons is a factor of stream-entry. Hearing the true Dhamma is a factor of stream-entry. Wise attention is a factor of stream-entry. Practicing in line with the Dhamma is a factor of stream-entry."

"Good, good, Sāriputta. Keeping company with good persons is a factor of stream-entry. Hearing the true Dhamma is a factor of stream-entry. Wise attention is a factor of stream-entry. Practicing in line with the Dhamma is a factor of stream-entry.

The Stream

They speak of 'the stream, the stream.' What is the stream?"

"Bhante, this noble eightfold path is itself the stream: right view, right attitude, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right remembering, right unification of mind."

"Good, good, Sāriputta. This noble eightfold path is itself the stream: right view, right attitude, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right remembering, right unification of mind.

The Stream-Enterer

They speak of 'a stream-enterer, a stream-enterer.' What is a stream-enterer?"

"Bhante, anyone who has this noble eightfold path is called a stream-enterer — this venerable one, with such a name, from such a family."

"Good, good, Sāriputta. Anyone who has this noble eightfold path is called a stream-enterer — this venerable one, with such a name, from such a family."

The fifth discourse is finished.

Words used in this translation (11)
Bhante
A respectful way of addressing a senior monastic, roughly "venerable sir." Left untranslated because English has no natural equivalent.
Dhamma
The Buddha's teaching taken as a whole -- both what he taught and the way things actually are, which the teaching describes.
noble eightfold path
The eight-part practice these texts teach: right view, right attitude, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right remembering, and right unification of mind.
right action
Acting without harming -- a factor of the eightfold path.
right attitude
This project's rendering of the path factor usually translated "right intention" -- the underlying motivation a person brings to their actions.
right effort
Effort that is well aimed: heading off what is unhelpful and building up what helps -- a factor of the eightfold path.
right livelihood
Making a living in a way that does not depend on harming or deceiving anyone -- a factor of the eightfold path.
right remembering
This project's rendering of the path factor usually translated "right mindfulness" -- keeping what actually matters in view, moment to moment, rather than losing track of it.
right speech
Speech that is truthful, kind, timely, and worth saying -- a factor of the eightfold path.
right unification of mind
The path factor in which the mind gathers together and becomes unified, supported and directed by the rest of the noble path. The thinking mind and the heart work as one whole; nobody forces them into a trance.
right view
Seeing how experience and practice actually work -- the first factor of the eightfold path. "Right" here means well-aimed and accurate, not morally righteous.
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