Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 10.73

Likable

Iṭṭhadhammasutta — Ākaṅkhavagga — the eighth chapter of the Tens

Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A ten-item list, given three times: named, blocked, and nourished
Length
~2 minutes to read
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — a tightly matched three-part structure

Why this discourse

Ten things that everyone wants but few obtain — wealth, beauty, health, ethics, the spiritual life, friends, learning, wisdom, good qualities, and heaven — each get their own precise diagnosis: exactly what blocks them, and exactly what feeds them.

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

Ten rare and desirable things — wealth, beauty, health, ethics, the spiritual life, friends, learning, wisdom, good qualities, and heaven — each have their own specific roadblock (from laziness to wrong practice) and their own specific nourishment (from initiative to right practice).

A worldly and spiritual list, side by side

Unusually for this nipāta, the ten items mix frankly worldly goods (wealth, beauty, health, friends) with spiritual ones (ethics, the spiritual life, wisdom, good qualities, heaven) on completely equal footing, treating both kinds of aspiration with the same careful, practical diagnosis rather than ranking one above the other.

Precisely matched pairs, not a generic prescription

Rather than offering one all-purpose remedy, the discourse pairs each of the ten items with its own distinct roadblock and its own distinct nourishment: sloth blocks wealth specifically, while dishonesty blocks friendship specifically, and adornment nourishes beauty in a way that would do nothing for wisdom, which is nourished instead by eagerness to listen and ask questions.

Ordinary causes for extraordinary rarity

The discourse's opening claim — that these ten things are rare in the world — is answered not with anything mysterious but with entirely mundane causes: rarity comes down to sloth, dishonesty, not listening, and similarly ordinary failures, each reversible by its own equally ordinary remedy.

Key terms

iṭṭhā kantā manāpā dullabhā lokasmiṁ — “likable, desirable, and agreeable things… rare in the world” — the discourse's own framing of all ten items, and the source of its title.
bhogā, vaṇṇo, ārogya — “wealth, beauty, health” — the first three, frankly worldly items on the list.
kosajjaṁ anuṭṭhānaṁ bhogānaṁ antarāyo — “sloth and lack of initiative are a roadblock for wealth” — the first of ten precisely matched roadblocks.
uṭṭhānaviriyādhigatā bhogā — “application and initiative nourish wealth” — the corresponding nourishment, mirroring the first roadblock.
sotukāmatā pucchakamyatā paññāya āhāro — “eagerness to listen and ask questions nourishes wisdom” — the nourishment matched specifically to wisdom, distinct from what nourishes any other item on the list.

The text

The discourse in full: the ten rare and desirable things, their roadblocks, and their nourishments. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

Ten rare and desirable things

§1“Mendicants, these ten likable, desirable, and agreeable things are rare in the world. What ten? Wealth, beauty, health, ethical conduct, the spiritual life, friends, learning, wisdom, good qualities, and heaven are likable, desirable, and agreeable things that are rare in the world.

Ten roadblocks

§2Ten things are roadblocks for these ten likable, desirable, and agreeable things that are rare in the world. Sloth and lack of initiative are a roadblock for wealth. Lack of adornment and decoration are a roadblock for beauty. Unsuitable activity is a roadblock for health. Bad friendship is a roadblock for ethical conduct. Lack of sense restraint is a roadblock for the spiritual life. Dishonesty is a roadblock for friends. Not rehearsing is a roadblock for learning. Not wanting to listen and ask questions are roadblocks for wisdom. Lack of commitment and reviewing are roadblocks for good qualities. Wrong practice hinders heaven. These ten things are roadblocks for these ten likable, desirable, and agreeable things that are rare in the world.

Ten nourishments

§3Ten things nourish these ten likable, desirable, and agreeable things that are rare in the world. Application and initiative nourish wealth. Adornment and decoration nourish beauty. Suitable activity nourishes health. Good friendship nourishes ethical conduct. Sense restraint nourishes the spiritual life. Honesty nourishes friends. Rehearsing nourishes learning. Eagerness to listen and ask questions nourishes wisdom. Commitment and reviewing nourish good qualities. Right practice nourishes heaven. These ten things nourish these ten likable, desirable, and agreeable things that are rare in the world.”

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Self-check quiz

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

Question 1 of 5
What ten things does this discourse name as rare and desirable?
Correct: B. A mix of worldly and spiritual goods, treated on equal footing.
Question 2 of 5
How does the discourse structure its treatment of these ten things, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Ten distinct diagnoses, not a single all-purpose prescription.
Question 3 of 5
What is named as the roadblock specifically for wealth?
Correct: B. Each roadblock is matched to exactly one of the ten items.
Question 4 of 5
According to the guide, what kind of cause does the discourse give for these ten things being rare?
Correct: B. Rarity traced to ordinary, reversible human failings.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: D. No location is given for this discourse.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

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