Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Ten kinds of pleasure seeker are found in the world, generated by crossing how wealth is earned (illegitimate and coercive, mixed, or legitimate and non-coercive) with whether it is enjoyed and whether it is shared, with the single best type further distinguished by whether that wealth is enjoyed with attachment or with understanding of its drawbacks.
A grid, not a simple ranking
The ten types are not simply ranked worst to best on one scale: they are generated by crossing three independent variables (means of earning, personal enjoyment, generosity), each combination separately scored on exact grounds for praise and criticism — the worst type is criticized on three counts, the best praised on four, with every intermediate combination precisely tallied in between.
Method of earning weighed independently of what's done with it
The discourse's structure makes a subtle point often collapsed in simpler moral teachings: how wealth is earned and what is done with it afterward are scored as genuinely separate questions, so that even someone who earned wealth illegitimately still receives distinct praise for later enjoying and sharing it, rather than having that later generosity erased by the earlier wrongdoing.
Cream of ghee, and the wealth beyond attachment
The discourse closes with a five-step refinement chain — milk to curds to butter to ghee to the cream of ghee, each stage finer than the last — applied to the single best of the ten pleasure seekers: one who earns legitimately, enjoys and shares their wealth, and does so without being tied to it, seeing its drawbacks and understanding the escape from it.
Key terms
The text
Ten pleasure seekers
§1“These ten pleasure seekers are found in the world. What ten? First, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. They don’t make themselves happy and pleased, nor share it and make merit. Next, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. They make themselves happy and pleased, but don’t share it and make merit. Next, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. They make themselves happy and pleased, and they share it and make merit. Next, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, and coercive and non-coercive. They don’t make themselves happy and pleased, nor share it and make merit. Next, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, and coercive and non-coercive. They make themselves happy and pleased, but don’t share it and make merit. Next, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, and coercive and non-coercive. They make themselves happy and pleased, and they share it and make merit. Next, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means. They don’t make themselves happy and pleased, nor share it and make merit. Next, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means. They make themselves happy and pleased, but don’t share it and make merit. Next, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means. They make themselves happy and pleased, and they share it and make merit. But they enjoy that wealth tied, infatuated, attached, blind to the drawbacks, and not understanding the escape. Next, a pleasure seeker seeks wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means. They make themselves happy and pleased, and they share it and make merit. And they enjoy that wealth untied, uninfatuated, unattached, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape.
Grounds for praise and criticism
§2Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means, and who doesn’t make themselves happy and pleased, nor share it and make merit. They may be criticized on three grounds. They seek for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the first ground for criticism. They don’t make themselves happy and pleased. This is the second ground for criticism. They don’t share it and make merit. This is the third ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be criticized on these three grounds. Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means, and who makes themselves happy and pleased, but doesn’t share it and make merit. They may be criticized on two grounds, and praised on one. They seek for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the first ground for criticism. They make themselves happy and pleased. This is the one ground for praise. They don’t share it and make merit. This is the second ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be criticized on these two grounds, and praised on this one. Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using illegitimate, coercive means, and who makes themselves happy and pleased, and shares it and makes merit. They may be criticized on one ground, and praised on two. They seek for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the one ground for criticism. They make themselves happy and pleased. This is the first ground for praise. They share it and make merit. This is the second ground for praise. This pleasure seeker may be criticized on this one ground, and praised on these two. Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, and coercive and non-coercive, and who doesn’t make themselves happy and pleased, nor share it and make merit. They may be praised on one ground, and criticized on three. They seek for wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means. This is the one ground for praise. They seek for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the first ground for criticism. They don’t make themselves happy and pleased. This is the second ground for criticism. They don’t share it and make merit. This is the third ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on this one ground, and criticized on these three. Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, and coercive and non-coercive, and who makes themselves happy and pleased, but doesn’t share it and make merit. They may be praised on two grounds, and criticized on two. They seek for wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means. This is the first ground for praise. They seek for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the first ground for criticism. They make themselves happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. They don’t share it and make merit. This is the second ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these two grounds, and criticized on these two. Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using means both legitimate and illegitimate, and coercive and non-coercive, and who makes themselves happy and pleased, and shares it and make merit. They may be praised on three grounds, and criticized on one. They seek for wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means. This is the first ground for praise. They seek for wealth using illegitimate, coercive means. This is the one ground for criticism. They make themselves happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. They share it and make merit. This is the third ground for praise. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these three grounds, and criticized on this one. Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means, and who doesn’t make themselves happy and pleased, nor share it and make merit. They may be praised on one ground and criticized on two. They seek for wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means. This is the one ground for praise. They don’t make themselves happy and pleased. This is the first ground for criticism. They don’t share it and make merit. This is the second ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on this one ground, and criticized on these two. Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means, and who makes themselves happy and pleased, but doesn’t share it and make merit. They may be praised on two grounds and criticized on one. They seek for wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means. This is the first ground for praise. They make themselves happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. They don’t share it and make merit. This is the one ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these two grounds, and criticized on this one. Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means, and who makes themselves happy and pleased, and shares it and makes merit. But they enjoy that wealth tied, infatuated, attached, blind to the drawbacks, and not understanding the escape. They may be praised on three grounds and criticized on one. They seek for wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means. This is the first ground for praise. They make themselves happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. They share it and make merit. This is the third ground for praise. They enjoy that wealth tied, infatuated, attached, blind to the drawbacks, and not understanding the escape. This is the one ground for criticism. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these three grounds, and criticized on this one. Now, consider the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means, and who makes themselves happy and pleased, and shares it and makes merit. And they enjoy that wealth untied, uninfatuated, unattached, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape. They may be praised on four grounds. They seek for wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means. This is the first ground for praise. They make themselves happy and pleased. This is the second ground for praise. They share it and make merit. This is the third ground for praise. They enjoy that wealth untied, uninfatuated, unattached, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape. This is the fourth ground for praise. This pleasure seeker may be praised on these four grounds.
The finest of the ten, and the ghee simile
§3These are the ten pleasure seekers found in the world. The pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means, who makes themselves happy and pleased, and shares it and makes merit, and who uses that wealth untied, uninfatuated, unattached, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape is the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest of the ten. From a cow comes milk, from milk comes curds, from curds come butter, from butter comes ghee, and from ghee comes cream of ghee. And the cream of ghee is said to be the best of these. In the same way, the pleasure seeker who seeks wealth using legitimate, non-coercive means, who makes themselves happy and pleased, and shares it and makes merit, and who uses that wealth untied, uninfatuated, unattached, seeing the drawbacks, and understanding the escape is the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest of the ten.”
Self-check quiz
5 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.