Weaknesses in Training and the Bases of Psychic Power
Sekhasutta — Iddhipadavagga — the ninth chapter of the Nines
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The same five weaknesses as AN 9.63 and AN 9.73, now answered by the four bases of psychic power
Length
~1 minute to read
A third and final remedy
This chapter completes a three-part series (ch.7-9) applying three different canonical remedies to the identical ten obstacle-lists
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — brief, opening the last chapter in this project's clearest three-way structural parallel
Why this discourse
The same five weaknesses opening ch.7 and ch.8 — killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants — recur a third time, now given up by developing the four bases of psychic power: immersion born of enthusiasm, energy, mental development, and inquiry, each with active effort.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
To give up the five weaknesses in training, a mendicant should develop the four bases of psychic power: immersion due to enthusiasm, energy, mental development, and inquiry, each accompanied by active effort.
The third leg of a deliberate three-part series
With this discourse, this project meets the third and final remedy applied to the identical opening obstacle across three consecutive chapters: mindfulness meditation at AN 9.63, right effort at AN 9.73, and now the bases of psychic power — the same structural design confirmed explicitly by the source's own closing verse at AN 9.92, which names all three remedies together as intentionally parallel.
Four bases, each pairing a quality with immersion
The four bases of psychic power name four distinct roads into the same immersion: enthusiasm (chanda), energy (vīriya), mental development or the mind itself (citta), and inquiry or investigation (vīmaṁsā), each producing immersion through active striving rather than through observation (as with mindfulness) or effort alone (as with right effort).
A remedy this project has met before, in a different role
The four bases of psychic power already appeared at AN 9.35's culmination, among the six higher knowledges a pliable mind makes accessible after mastering all nine progressive attainments — there as an outcome of deep meditative mastery, here as a direct remedy for everyday ethical weakness, a striking range for the same fourfold practice.
Key terms
cattāro iddhipādā — “the four bases of psychic power” — this chapter's own remedy, the third substituted for ch.7's four kinds of mindfulness meditation.
chandasamādhipadhānasaṅkhārasamannāgataṁ iddhipādaṁ — “the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to enthusiasm, and active effort” — the first of the four bases.
vīriyasamādhi, cittasamādhi — “immersion due to energy... due to mental development” — the second and third bases, each sharing the same active-effort structure as the first.
vīmaṁsāsamādhipadhānasaṅkhārasamannāgataṁ iddhipādaṁ — “the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to inquiry, and active effort” — the fourth and final basis, closing the formula.
iddhividhā — “psychic power” — the attainment these four bases lead toward, already named among the six higher knowledges at AN 9.35.
The text
The discourse in full: five weaknesses, and the four bases of psychic power given as their remedy. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Five weaknesses in training
§1“Mendicants, there are these five weaknesses when you’re training. What five? Killing living creatures, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and consuming beer, wine, and liquor intoxicants. These are the five weaknesses when you’re training.
Four bases of psychic power
§2To give up these five weaknesses in your training you should develop the four bases of psychic power. What four? It’s when a mendicant develops the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to enthusiasm, and active effort. They develop the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to energy, and active effort. They develop the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to mental development, and active effort. They develop the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to inquiry, and active effort. To give up these five weaknesses in your training you should develop these four bases of psychic power.”
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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
How does this discourse's obstacle-list compare to AN 9.63 and AN 9.73?
Correct: B. The third leg of a deliberate three-chapter parallel.
Question 2 of 6
What third remedy does this chapter apply?
Correct: B. Completing a series alongside mindfulness meditation and right effort.
Question 3 of 6
According to the guide, how does the source itself confirm this three-chapter parallel is intentional?
Correct: B. A deliberate structural design, acknowledged in the source's own closing uddāna.
Question 4 of 6
Where has this project already met the four bases of psychic power in a different role?
Correct: B. There as an outcome of deep meditative mastery, here as a remedy for everyday ethical weakness.
Question 5 of 6
What distinguishes each of the four bases from one another?
Correct: B. Four distinct roads into the same underlying immersion.
Question 6 of 6
Is a setting given for this discourse?
Correct: C. A bare doctrinal teaching, opening this chapter without narrative frame.
