Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
What is not the true teaching is the ten wrong factors from wrong view to wrong freedom; the true teaching is the ten right factors from right view to right freedom.
A near-repeat from the previous chapter, intensified
AN 10.138, in chapter 14, already paired dhamma and adhamma; this discourse adds the prefix sad- to make saddhamma, “true” or “genuine” teaching — a small but real shift, emphasizing authenticity over mere categorical membership.
Saddhamma, a term with its own currency elsewhere
Saddhamma is a recognizable term in its own right across this canon, often contrasted with saddhammapatirūpaka, a counterfeit of the true teaching that superficially resembles it — a concern with imitation and authenticity that this discourse's stark two-way ten-factor test addresses directly, if implicitly.
Two near-twin discourses, three chapters apart
Read alongside AN 10.138, this discourse shows the same underlying concern — what actually counts as the teaching — returning with slightly intensified vocabulary, a reminder that this project's repeated themes are not confined to any single chapter's own eleven- or ten-discourse run.
Key terms
The text
Not the true teaching, and the true teaching
§1“I will teach you what is the true teaching and what is not the true teaching. … And what is not the true teaching? Wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, wrong immersion, wrong knowledge, and wrong freedom. This is called what is not the true teaching. And what is the true teaching? 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 true teaching.”
Self-check quiz
6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.