Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 10.145

The Noble Path

Ariyamaggasutta — Ariyavagga — the fifteenth chapter of the Tens, the Chapter on the Noble, closing the Third Fifty

Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A brief announcement, then the ten-factor path defined as noble and ignoble
Length
under 1 minute to read
Chapter's namesake
This discourse gives its own name to the new chapter, Ariyavagga, the Chapter on the Noble — a third chapter in a row built from a single compact template, and the chapter that will close the entire Third Fifty
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — as simple as this project's vocabulary gets

Why this discourse

Opening the Third Fifty's closing chapter, the Buddha returns to the exact template used throughout chapters 13 and 14, this time applying it to the most direct possible vocabulary: the noble path and its opposite.

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

The ignoble path is the ten wrong factors from wrong view to wrong freedom; the noble path is the ten right factors from right view to right freedom.

A third chapter, the same template

Following chapter 13's eleven purity-themed variations and chapter 14's eleven value-word variations, this chapter opens with the identical compact form: a brief announcement, then the ten wrong factors and ten right factors defined under a new pair of names — here, simply ariya and anariya, noble and ignoble.

A shorter run than its two predecessors

Unlike chapters 13 and 14, which each ran to eleven discourses, this chapter's own bilara-data source shows only ten discourses (AN 10.145–154) — the shortest of this project's three back-to-back single-template chapters, and, notably, the one that will close out the entire Third Fifty.

Naming what "noble" has meant all along

This discourse's own title makes explicit what AN 10.135's “teaching of the noble ones” already implied: the ten right factors are not merely endorsed by noble persons, they constitute the noble path itself, the very thing that makes a person noble in the first place.

Key terms

ariyamagga — “the noble path” — this discourse's own title, applying the vocabulary of nobility directly to the ten right factors as a path.
anariyamagga — “the ignoble path” — the negation applied to the ten wrong factors.
ariya — “noble” — already met throughout this nipāta naming the noble eightfold path, the noble truths, and the noble persons of AN 10.63–64 and AN 10.135.
micchāsati — “wrong mindfulness” — the seventh factor, unchanged from every list across chapters 11 through 15.
sammāñāṇaṁ — “right knowledge” — the ninth factor, one of the two extending the classical eightfold path.

The text

The discourse in full: the ten-factor path defined as the noble path and the ignoble path. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

The ignoble path, and the noble path

§1“I will teach you the noble path and the ignoble path. … And what is the ignoble path? Wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, wrong immersion, wrong knowledge, and wrong freedom. This is called the ignoble path. And what is the noble path? Right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right immersion, right knowledge, and right freedom. This is called the noble path.”

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Self-check quiz

6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.

Question 1 of 6
What pairing does this discourse apply the chapter's template to?
Correct: B. The most direct possible vocabulary: noble versus ignoble, applied to the ten-factor path itself.
Question 2 of 6
How many discourses does this chapter (Ariyavagga) contain, according to the guide?
Correct: B. One discourse shorter than each of its two immediate predecessors.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, what does this discourse make explicit that AN 10.135 already implied?
Correct: B. A direct naming of what "the teaching of the noble ones" had already suggested.
Question 4 of 6
What milestone will this chapter close, according to the guide?
Correct: B. AN 10.154's colophon will mark the end of the Third Fifty as a whole.
Question 5 of 6
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Question 6 of 6
Who does this discourse's audience consist of, per the glance box?
Correct: A. The same simple audience as every discourse in this compact chapter.
Answered 0 of 6 · Correct 0

Further reading

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