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Aṅguttara Nikāya · Discourse 5.68

Bases of Psychic Power (2nd)

Dutiyaiddhipādasutta — Saññāvagga — the seventh 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, speaking autobiographically in the first person
Form
AN 5.67's five qualities restated as first-person pre-awakening practice, opening onto the extended abhiññā formula already met at AN 5.23 and AN 5.28
Length
~2 minutes to read
Northern parallel
First-person accounts of the Buddha's own pre-awakening practice recur across the Chinese Āgamas' biographical material; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — the same five qualities as AN 5.67, now spoken by the Buddha about himself

Why this discourse

This discourse takes AN 5.67's general teaching and does something this chapter has not done elsewhere: attributes it to the Buddha's own past, before awakening, bodhisattova samāno, while still a bodhisattva. The same five qualities that guarantee enlightenment or non-return for any monk or nun are here presented as what the Buddha himself developed and cultivated on the way to becoming the Buddha, opening directly onto the same extended list of superhuman abilities this series has already met.

Reading guide

The teaching in one sentence

Before his awakening, while still a bodhisattva, the Buddha developed and cultivated the same five qualities as AN 5.67, and having done so, was capable of realizing whatever he wished, since each and every ability was within range.

The identical formula, now first person

Every word of the five qualities themselves — the four bases of psychic power built from enthusiasm, energy, mental development, and inquiry, plus sheer vigor as a fifth — matches AN 5.67 exactly. What changes entirely is the grammatical person: bhāvesiṁ, I developed, replacing the general bhāveti, one develops. A universal claim about any monk or nun becomes a specific claim about the Buddha's own past.

A bodhisattva who needed the same five things

This is a genuinely notable claim, worth sitting with rather than passing over: the discourse does not present the Buddha's pre-awakening cultivation as categorically different from what any mendicant might develop. He is described using the same formula, requiring the same five qualities, as anyone else attempting this path — not exempted from the causal structure by virtue of who he would become.

Opening onto the full abhiññā list, again

Once the five qualities are established, the discourse moves into the extended formula for superhuman abilities already given in full at AN 5.23 and, in even greater length, at the legacy page AN 5.28: psychic power, clairaudience, reading minds, recollecting past lives, clairvoyance, and the ending of defilements. This discourse gives only the first and last of that list in full — multiplying the self, and freedom of heart and wisdom — trusting the reader to recall the complete formula from where it was already given twice.

Closing this chapter's fourth pair

AN 5.67 and 5.68 complete the fourth of this chapter's matched pairs. AN 5.69 and 5.70, the final two discourses, will return to perception, giving the chapter's fifth and last pair on the identical structural principle: one list, two consequences named.

Key terms

bodhisatta — “one intent on awakening” — the Buddha's own term for himself before his awakening, used in this discourse's opening line.
anabhisambuddho — “not yet fully awakened” — the qualifier marking this account as specifically pre-awakening practice.
bhāvesiṁ — “I developed” — the first-person verb replacing AN 5.67's general third-person formula throughout this discourse.
sakkhibhabbataṁ pāpuṇāti — “becomes capable of realizing” — the phrase marking the transition from the five qualities to the extended abhiññā formula.
cetovimutti paññāvimutti — “freedom of heart, freedom by wisdom” — the final ability named, closing the abbreviated abhiññā list this discourse gives.

The text

The discourse in full: the Buddha's first-person account of pre-awakening practice, and the abilities it opened onto, given here in abbreviated form. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

Before my awakening

§1“Mendicants, before my awakening—when I was still not awake but intent on awakening—I developed and cultivated five things. What five?

§2The basis of psychic power that has immersion due to enthusiasm, and active effort … the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to energy, and active effort … the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to mental development, and active effort … the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to inquiry, and active effort. And the fifth is sheer vigor.

§3When I had developed and cultivated these five things, with vigor as fifth, I extended the mind to realize by insight each and every thing that can be realized by insight; and I was capable of realizing those things, since each and every one was within range.

What became possible

§4If I wished: ‘May I multiply myself and become one again … controlling the body as far as the realm of divinity.’ I was capable of realizing it, since each and every one is within range.

§5If I wished: … ‘May I realize the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom in this very life, and live having realized it with my own insight due to the ending of defilements.’ I was capable of realizing it, since each and every one is within range.”

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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
Who is the speaker of this discourse, and what is distinctive about the framing?
Correct: B. A specific autobiographical claim, not general instruction.
Question 2 of 10
How do the five qualities in this discourse compare to AN 5.67's?
Correct: B. A universal third-person claim becomes a specific first-person one.
Question 3 of 10
What does the guide find notable about how the Buddha describes his own pre-awakening cultivation?
Correct: B. Worth sitting with rather than passing over, per the guide's reading.
Question 4 of 10
Where was the extended abhiññā formula this discourse opens onto already given in full?
Correct: B. This discourse gives only the first and last items, trusting the reader to recall the rest.
Question 5 of 10
Which two abilities does this discourse actually spell out from the full abhiññā list?
Correct: B. The first and last of the extended list, with the rest left implicit.
Question 6 of 10
What term does the Buddha use for himself before his awakening?
Correct: B. A specific term marking his pre-awakening status.
Question 7 of 10
What pair of chapter discourses does AN 5.67–68 complete?
Correct: B. Following perceptions, growth, and discussion/shared-life as the first three.
Question 8 of 10
What does AN 5.69, the next discourse, return to?
Correct: B. One list, two consequences, closing the chapter on the same structural principle.
Question 9 of 10
Does this discourse claim the Buddha's pre-awakening practice differed in kind from what AN 5.67 describes for any monk or nun?
Correct: B. The same structural claim, now spoken in the first person about a specific past.
Question 10 of 10
Where is AN 5.68 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 5.67 · Bases of Psychic Power (1st)