Bojjhaṅgasutta — Rāgapeyyāla — the eleventh and final chapter of the Sevens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single-sentence bare list, the first of three discourses opening AN 7's final chapter, each giving one seven-item list in full
Length
under 1 minute to read
A familiar list, redirected toward greed
The seven awakening factors are the same list already met as one component of the thirty-seven qualities contributing to awakening at AN 7.71, here aimed specifically at direct knowledge of greed
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, opening a chapter that will multiply this discourse's own list at enormous scale
Why this discourse
AN 7.615 opens this book's final chapter by naming the seven awakening factors as what should be developed for direct knowledge of greed — the first of three discourses that will each supply one complete seven-item list before this chapter's remaining 507 discourses multiply all three against greed's fellow defilements and nine further verbs.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
For direct knowledge of greed, seven things should be developed: the awakening factors of mindfulness, investigation of principles, energy, rapture, tranquility, immersion, and equanimity.
A familiar list, aimed at a specific purpose
The seven awakening factors are not new to this book: they are one of the seven categories making up the full thirty-seven qualities contributing to awakening, already named as a set at AN 7.71. Here they are isolated and aimed at one specific purpose — direct knowledge (abhiññā) of greed — rather than presented as part of the larger thirty-seven.
The first of three list-giving discourses
This discourse, along with AN 7.616 and AN 7.617 immediately following, each supply one complete seven-item list in full. Together these three lists become the foundation this chapter's remaining discourses will multiply at massive scale: nine further verbs beyond “direct knowledge” at AN 7.618–644, and then all ten verbs against sixteen further defilements beyond greed at AN 7.645–1124.
Why direct knowledge of greed opens this closing chapter
This chapter's title, Rāgapeyyāla, means “abbreviated texts beginning with greed” — greed is both the first defilement addressed and the template every subsequent defilement in this chapter follows, making this discourse's specific pairing of the awakening factors with greed the chapter's own starting point.
Key terms
rāgassa abhiññāya — “for direct knowledge of greed” — the purpose this discourse's seven awakening factors are aimed at, and the first of ten verbs this chapter will eventually run through.
satisambojjhaṅgo — “the awakening factor of mindfulness” — the first of the seven awakening factors, elided in the middle of this discourse's own source text but standard across the canon's many other full statements of this list.
dhammavicayasambojjhaṅgo, vīriyasambojjhaṅgo, pītisambojjhaṅgo — “the awakening factors of investigation of principles, energy, and rapture” — three further factors in the standard seven, elided in this discourse's own text.
passaddhisambojjhaṅgo, samādhisambojjhaṅgo, upekkhāsambojjhaṅgo — “the awakening factors of tranquility, immersion, and equanimity” — the remaining three, with equanimity explicitly named at this discourse's close.
Rāgapeyyāla — “abbreviated texts beginning with greed” — this chapter's own title, naming both its starting defilement and its governing compression technique.
The text
The discourse in full, a single bare list. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The seven awakening factors, for direct knowledge of greed
§1“Mendicants, for insight into greed, seven things should be developed. What seven? The awakening factor of mindfulness … the awakening factor of equanimity. These seven things should be developed for insight into greed.”
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Self-check quiz
6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 6
What does this discourse say should be developed for direct knowledge of greed?
Correct: B. One category from the full thirty-seven qualities contributing to awakening, aimed here at a specific purpose.
Question 2 of 6
According to the guide, where has this same seven-item list already appeared in this book?
Correct: B. Isolated here for a specific purpose rather than named as part of the larger thirty-seven.
Question 3 of 6
What role does this discourse play within its own chapter, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A foundational list, reused across hundreds of further discourses in compressed form.
Question 4 of 6
What does this chapter's title, Rāgapeyyāla, mean?
Correct: B. Naming both the starting defilement and the compression technique this chapter relies on throughout.
Question 5 of 6
How many more discourses does this chapter contain after this one, according to the guide?
Correct: C. AN 7.616-617 complete the three foundational lists, then AN 7.618-1124 multiply them at massive scale.
Question 6 of 6
What is the seventh and final awakening factor named explicitly at this discourse's close?
Correct: B. Upekkhāsambojjhaṅgo, closing the standard seven-item list.
