Uttarimanussadhammasutta — Arahattavagga — the eighth chapter of the Sixes, continuing the Second Fifty
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
Two matched six-item lists, cause and its direct reversal
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The pairing of unguarded senses and excess in eating with failure to progress recurs widely across the Chinese Āgamas' monastic-conduct material; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief and formulaic, returning to concrete conduct after two discourses on inward states
Why this discourse
After AN 6.75's thoughts and AN 6.76's conceit, this discourse returns to the register of concrete daily conduct: lack of mindfulness and situational awareness, not guarding the sense doors, eating too much, fawning, and flattery block a “superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones” — the discourse's own term for realizations beyond the ordinary human range.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Without giving up lack of mindfulness and situational awareness, unguarded senses, eating too much, fawning, and flattery, a superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision cannot be realized; giving up all these makes it realizable.
Familiar items from elsewhere in this series
Not guarding the sense doors and eating without moderation already appeared together at AN 6.31's list of a trainee's causes of decline, in the earlier First Fifty. Their reappearance here, applied to a different and more elevated target, shows the same conduct-level failures treated as consequential across more than one register of attainment.
Two items naming insincerity specifically
Fawning (lapanā) and flattery (unnaḷā, sometimes rendered differently across translations) close the list with something distinct from the other four: not a failure of restraint but a failure of honesty in how one presents oneself to others, suggesting the superhuman distinction this discourse concerns is blocked as much by self-presentation as by sense-discipline.
'Superhuman' as this discourse's own term, not an overclaim
Uttarimanussadhamma, “superhuman state,” is the discourse's own technical term for meditative and realizational attainments beyond the ordinary human range — the same term whose false claim is treated with particular gravity elsewhere in the monastic code, underscoring how seriously this list's stakes are meant to be taken.
Key terms
uttarimanussadhamma — “superhuman state” — the discourse's own term for attainments beyond the ordinary human range, whose false claim carries particular gravity elsewhere in the monastic code.
satisampajañña — “mindfulness and situational awareness” — the first item, whose lack opens this discourse's list.
indriyesu aguttadvāratā, bhojane amattaññutā — “not guarding the sense doors, eating without moderation” — two items already met at AN 6.31 in the earlier First Fifty, applied here to a different target.
lapanā — “fawning” — one of two closing items naming a failure of honest self-presentation rather than restraint.
ariyānaṁ ñāṇadassanavisesa — “a distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones” — the full formula this discourse's six items are said to block.
The text
The discourse in full: six conduct-level obstacles to a superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision, and their reversal. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Six things that block superhuman distinction
§1“Mendicants, without giving up six qualities you can’t realize a superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones. What six? Lack of mindfulness and situational awareness, not guarding the sense doors, eating too much, fawning, and flattery. Without giving up these six qualities you can’t realize a superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.
Six things that enable it
§2But after giving up six qualities you can realize a superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones. What six? Lack of mindfulness and situational awareness, not guarding the sense doors, eating too much, fawning, and flattery. After giving up these six qualities you can realize a superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.”
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Self-check quiz
Eight questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 8
What does 'uttarimanussadhamma' mean, and what is notable about the term?
Correct: B. This discourse's own technical term, not an informal description.
Question 2 of 8
Which two items on this discourse's list already appeared together at AN 6.31?
Correct: B. Met earlier at AN 6.31's list of a trainee's causes of decline, in the First Fifty, now applied to a different and more elevated target.
Question 3 of 8
What do the two closing items, fawning and flattery, name that the other four do not, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Insincerity in self-presentation, distinct from sense-discipline or moderation.
Question 4 of 8
What attainment does this discourse's six-item list block?
Correct: B. The discourse's own stated stakes, named explicitly in both halves.
Question 5 of 8
Is a setting stated for AN 6.77?
Correct: B. A bare formula, matching this chapter's other formulaic discourses.
Question 6 of 8
What does satisampajañña mean?
Correct: B. The first item, whose lack opens this discourse's list.
Question 7 of 8
How does the guide characterize this discourse's register compared to AN 6.75 and 6.76?
Correct: B. Sense-discipline, eating, and honest self-presentation — concrete conduct, not inward states.
Question 8 of 8
What is the discourse's overall structure?
Correct: B. The same compressed shape as this chapter's other formulaic discourses.
