Untitled in the source — Rāgapeyyāla — the eleventh and final chapter of the Eights
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single terse statement naming the noble eightfold path as what develops insight into greed
Length
a few seconds to read
A callback, not new content
Unlike this book's earlier Rāgapeyyāla precedents in other nipātas, which opened with fresh material, this discourse simply restates the noble eightfold path already met throughout this book, most recently mapped onto a field simile at AN 8.34
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief and entirely familiar, its significance lying in what it opens rather than what it says
Why this discourse
AN 8.118 opens this book's final chapter by naming the noble eightfold path — right view, purpose, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and immersion — as what should be developed for insight into greed, the first of three eightfold lists this closing chapter will multiply against an extensive peyyāla of defilements and verbs.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
For insight into greed, the noble eightfold path — right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion — should be developed, the same eight factors this book has named repeatedly since AN 8.34's own field simile.
Opening a chapter with familiar material, not new content
Where this book's earlier chapters typically open with a discourse introducing something the chapter will then explore, this discourse and the two immediately following it instead call back to three eightfold lists already fully established elsewhere in this exact nipāta — the closing peyyāla builds from what this book has already taught, not from anything new.
The first of three lists this chapter will multiply
AN 8.118, 8.119, and 8.120 each name a different eightfold list in full — the noble eightfold path here, the eight dimensions of mastery next, and the eight liberations after that — establishing the three “eights” that the chapter's enormous closing peyyāla will run against a full inventory of defilements.
Greed, named first among the defilements to come
This discourse's own title names greed (rāga) specifically, the defilement that gives this entire closing chapter its name, Rāgapeyyāla. The chapter's later merged pages will extend the identical formula to sixteen further defilements in turn, but greed itself opens the sequence.
Key terms
rāgassa abhiññāya — “for insight into greed” — the discourse's own opening phrase, naming the defilement that gives this entire chapter its title, Rāgapeyyāla.
sammādiṭṭhi, sammāsaṅkappo, sammāvācā, sammākammanto, sammāājīvo, sammāvāyāmo, sammāsati, sammāsamādhi — the noble eightfold path in full, the identical eight factors already met throughout this book, most recently mapped onto a field simile at AN 8.34.
aṭṭha dhammā bhāvetabbā — “eight things should be developed” — the discourse's own recurring formula, repeated identically across AN 8.118, 8.119, and 8.120 with only the named eightfold list changing.
rāgapeyyālaṁ — “abbreviated texts beginning with greed” — this chapter's own title, naming both its opening defilement and its method of textual compression.
ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo — “the noble eightfold path” — the standard name for the eight factors listed here, though not used as a single compound term within this particular discourse's own wording.
The text
The discourse in full: the noble eightfold path, named as what develops insight into greed. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
The noble eightfold path, for insight into greed
§1“For insight into greed, eight things should be developed. What eight? Right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. For insight into greed, these eight things should be developed.”
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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 eightfold list does this discourse name as developing insight into greed?
Correct: B. The same eight factors already met throughout this book, most recently at AN 8.34.
Question 2 of 6
How does this discourse's opening approach differ from most of this book's other chapter openers?
Correct: B. A closing chapter built from material this book has already taught.
Question 3 of 6
What does this chapter's own title, Rāgapeyyāla, name?
Correct: B. Both the opening defilement and the chapter's own compression method.
Question 4 of 6
What role do AN 8.118, 8.119, and 8.120 play together?
Correct: B. Three foundational eightfold lists, each fully stated before the peyyāla compression begins.
Question 5 of 6
Which specific discourse earlier in this book most recently mapped the noble eightfold path onto a simile?
Correct: B. The field simile, mapping the eightfold path reversed and upright onto a gift's fruitfulness.
Question 6 of 6
Is a setting given for this discourse?
Correct: C. A bare formula, matching several other discourses in this book.
