Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
An ethical person need not wish for any of the ten links — freedom from regret, joy, rapture, tranquility, bliss, immersion, true knowledge and vision, disillusionment and dispassion, and the knowledge and vision of freedom — since each arises naturally from the one before it.
The same relation this project has already met once
This discourse's ten links, and its refrain that each ‘need not be wished for’ since it ‘only naturally’ arises, are word-for-word identical to AN 10.2. As with AN 11.1's relation to AN 10.1, the Elevens reopens the Tens' second discourse unchanged, without the extra closing line AN 11.1 added to its own predecessor.
From near shore to far shore
The discourse's closing image is distinctive within this opening pair: good qualities are said to ‘flow on and fill up from one to the other, for going from the near shore to the far shore’ — a river-crossing metaphor for the whole progression, absent from AN 11.1's own closing restatement.
Why naturalness matters here
The discourse's real claim is about causal reliability, not merely inspiration: given genuine ethical conduct as the base, the remaining links are not separate achievements requiring separate effort or aspiration, but a single unfolding process that completes itself once correctly started.
Key terms
The text
Ten links, unfolding naturally
§1“Mendicants, an ethical person, who has fulfilled ethical conduct, need not make a wish: ‘May I have no regrets!’ It’s only natural that an ethical person has no regrets. When you have no regrets you need not make a wish: ‘May I feel joy!’ It’s only natural that joy springs up when you have no regrets. When you feel joy you need not make a wish: ‘May I experience rapture!’ It’s only natural that rapture arises when you’re joyful. When your mind is full of rapture you need not make a wish: ‘May my body become tranquil!’ It’s only natural that your body becomes tranquil when your mind is full of rapture. When your body is tranquil you need not make a wish: ‘May I feel bliss!’ It’s only natural to feel bliss when your body is tranquil. When you feel bliss you need not make a wish: ‘May my mind be immersed in samādhi!’ It’s only natural for the mind to become immersed in samādhi when you feel bliss. When your mind is immersed in samādhi you need not make a wish: ‘May I truly know and see!’ It’s only natural to truly know and see when your mind is immersed in samādhi. When you truly know and see you need not make a wish: ‘May I grow disillusioned!’ It’s only natural to grow disillusioned when you truly know and see. When you’re disillusioned you need not make a wish: ‘May I become dispassionate!’ It’s only natural to grow dispassionate when you’re disillusioned. When you’re dispassionate you need not make a wish: ‘May I realize the knowledge and vision of freedom!’ It’s only natural to realize the knowledge and vision of freedom when you’re dispassionate.
The chain, restated in full
§2And so, mendicants, the knowledge and vision of freedom is the goal and benefit of dispassion. Dispassion is the goal and benefit of disillusionment. Disillusionment is the goal and benefit of truly knowing and seeing. Truly knowing and seeing is the goal and benefit of immersion. Immersion is the goal and benefit of bliss. Bliss is the goal and benefit of tranquility. Tranquility is the goal and benefit of rapture. Rapture is the goal and benefit of joy. Joy is the goal and benefit of not having regrets. Not having regrets is the goal and benefit of skillful ethics. And so, mendicants, good qualities flow on and fill up from one to the other, for going from the near shore to the far shore.”
Self-check quiz
6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.