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Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 5.53

Factors That Support Meditation

Padhāniyaṅgasutta — Nīvaraṇavagga — the sixth chapter of the Fives

Setting
None stated; the discourse continues from AN 5.1, whose setting at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove is understood to hold
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
Five factors named in sequence, each described briefly, with no closing verse
Length
~2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
Physical health and digestion named as conditions for effective meditation recur across the Chinese Āgamas' monastic-conduct material; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — a list mixing the doctrinal and the bodily without apparent embarrassment

Why this discourse

Having just named what obstructs the mind and called it, entirely, a heap of the unskillful, this discourse turns to what actually supports the work of meditation — and the list it gives is not purely doctrinal. Faith and wisdom appear, in their usual formulas, but so does something unexpected: a stomach that digests well, neither too hot nor too cold, but just right.

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

Five factors support meditation: faith in the Buddha's awakening, freedom from illness with good digestion, honesty with one's teacher and companions, energy roused up for skillful qualities, and wisdom into arising and passing away.

Three definitions inherited without change

Faith (the nine-quality recollection of the Buddha), energy (roused up for giving up the unskillful and taking up the skillful), and wisdom (insight into arising and passing away) are worded here exactly as this nipāta has worded them every other time. This discourse adds nothing new to any of the three; what is genuinely new sits in the second and third factors.

A body that cooperates

The second factor is entirely physical: rarely ill, and possessing samavepākiniyā gahaṇiyā, an evenly-digesting constitution, nātisītāya nāccuṇhāya majjhimāya, neither too cold nor too hot, but moderate. This is a striking item to find alongside faith and wisdom in a list supporting meditation — the discourse treats bodily digestion as no less relevant to sustained practice than confidence in the teacher, without apparent embarrassment at the mixture.

Honesty as a support, not only a virtue

The third factor, asaṭho amāyāvī, not devious or deceitful, is framed specifically around revealing oneself honestly to the Teacher or sensible spiritual companions. This is honesty in service of a practical function: concealment from those positioned to help would itself become an obstacle, so transparency is named as a condition for meditation to proceed rather than only as an independent ethical requirement.

Support, not guarantee

Nothing in this list promises that meditation will succeed once these five factors are present; the discourse's title names them as what supports meditation, padhāniyaṅga, not what produces its result automatically. Compare this to AN 5.54, the very next discourse, which will name external circumstances that make meditation more or less possible in the first place — support operating at a second, different level entirely.

Key terms

padhāniyaṅga — “factor supporting meditation” — this discourse's title, naming conditions for practice rather than a guarantee of its result.
samavepākiniyā gahaṇiyā — “evenly-digesting constitution” — the striking physical item among the five, digestion neither too hot nor too cold.
asaṭho amāyāvī — “not devious or deceitful” — the third factor, honesty framed specifically toward one's teacher and companions.
padhānakkhamā — “fit for meditation” — the word describing the ideal digestive state, linking bodily comfort directly to meditative capacity.
udayatthagāminī paññā — “wisdom of arising and passing away” — the fifth factor, worded identically to every other use of this formula in this nipāta.

The text

The discourse in full: the five factors that support meditation, named in sequence. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

Faith

§1“Mendicants, there are these five factors that support meditation. What five?

Health and digestion

§2It’s when a mendicant has faith in the Realized One’s awakening: ‘That Blessed One is perfected, a fully awakened Buddha, accomplished in knowledge and conduct, holy, knower of the world, supreme guide for those fit for training, teacher of gods and humans, awakened, blessed.’

Honesty

§3They are rarely ill or unwell. Their stomach digests well, being neither too hot nor too cold, but just right, and fit for meditation.

Energy

§4They’re not devious or deceitful. They reveal themselves honestly to the Teacher or sensible spiritual companions.

Wisdom

§5They live with energy roused up for giving up unskillful qualities and embracing skillful qualities. They’re strong, staunchly vigorous, not slacking off when it comes to developing skillful qualities.

§6They’re wise. They have the wisdom of arising and passing away which is noble, penetrative, and leads to the complete ending of suffering. These are the five factors that support meditation.”

· · ·

Self-check quiz

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

Question 1 of 10
What five factors does this discourse say support meditation?
Correct: B. A mix of doctrinal and physical factors.
Question 2 of 10
Which factor does the guide flag as genuinely surprising to find in this list?
Correct: B. A striking bodily item, treated as no less relevant than doctrinal confidence.
Question 3 of 10
How is the ideal digestive state described?
Correct: B. Samavepākiniyā gahaṇiyā, nātisītāya nāccuṇhāya majjhimāya.
Question 4 of 10
How is the third factor, honesty, specifically framed?
Correct: B. Framed around a specific practical function, not only as independent ethics.
Question 5 of 10
Are faith, energy, and wisdom defined any differently here than elsewhere in this nipāta?
Correct: B. No new content added to these three; what's new sits in the second and third factors.
Question 6 of 10
What does the guide say this discourse's title, 'padhāniyaṅga', promises?
Correct: B. Conditions for practice, distinct from a promise of outcome.
Question 7 of 10
How does the guide connect this discourse to AN 5.54, the next one?
Correct: B. Two different kinds of 'support' for meditation, personal versus circumstantial.
Question 8 of 10
Does this discourse close with verses, like most discourses in this chapter?
Correct: B. A plain prose list with no poetic close.
Question 9 of 10
What does the faith factor's formula consist of?
Correct: B. The same buddhānussati formula used throughout this nipāta.
Question 10 of 10
Where is AN 5.53 set?
Correct: B. Consistent with the default setting used throughout this nipāta when nothing new is stated.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousAN 5.52 · A Heap of the Unskillful