Untitled in the source — Rāgapeyyāla — the tenth chapter of the Nines, opening the great closing peyyāla
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A bare nine-item list, restated from AN 9.16, now framed as insight into greed
Length
~30 seconds to read
Opening the great closing peyyāla
This discourse and its twin at AN 9.94 open the mechanism that will close AN 9 entirely — the sixth time this project has met this standard closing pattern
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — brief in itself, but marks the start of this nipāta's largest structural feature
Why this discourse
For insight into greed, nine things should be developed: the perceptions of ugliness, death, repulsiveness of food, dissatisfaction with the whole world, impermanence, suffering in impermanence, not-self in suffering, giving up, and fading away — the identical nine perceptions already named in full at AN 9.16, opening the mechanism that will close this entire nipāta.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
For insight into greed, nine things should be developed: the perceptions of ugliness, death, repulsiveness of food, dissatisfaction with the whole world, impermanence, suffering in impermanence, not-self in suffering, giving up, and fading away.
The same nine perceptions already met in full
This is not a new list. Every one of these nine perceptions was already named, in the identical order, at AN 9.16 — where this project's memory of this project first flagged that this exact sequence would resurface later in this nipāta's closing peyyāla. That resurfacing happens here.
Untitled, and paired with an unnamed twin
Like AN 8.118-120 earlier in this project, this discourse carries no title in the source at all — not even an untranslated one, just the bare marker ‘~’ where a Pāli name would normally stand. Its twin at AN 9.94 is equally untitled, giving the second of this closing peyyāla's two foundational nine-fold sets.
Only two sets, not three, unlike earlier nipātas
AN 6, AN 7, and AN 8's own Rāgapeyyāla sections each opened with three foundational lists before compressing. This nipāta has only two — nine perceptions here, nine meditative attainments at AN 9.94 — since the Nines has no comparable third nava-dhamma set standing independently ready for reuse the way the Sixes, Sevens, and Eights each did.
Key terms
rāgassa abhiññāya nava dhammā bhāvetabbā — “for insight into greed, nine things should be developed” — the discourse's own opening formula, framing what follows as a remedy for greed specifically.
asubhasaññā, maraṇasaññā, āhāre paṭikūlasaññā — “the perceptions of ugliness, death, repulsiveness of food” — the first three of the nine, identical to AN 9.16's own list.
sabbaloke anabhiratasaññā — “dissatisfaction with the whole world” — the fourth perception, naming comprehensive disenchantment.
pahānasaññā, virāgasaññā — “giving up, and fading away” — the eighth and ninth perceptions, closing the list exactly as at AN 9.16.
~ — the source's own bare marker where this discourse's title would normally stand — genuinely untitled, like AN 8.118-120 earlier in this project.
The text
The discourse in full: nine perceptions for insight into greed. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Nine perceptions, for insight into greed
§1“For insight into greed, nine things should be developed. What nine? The perceptions of ugliness, death, repulsiveness of food, dissatisfaction with the whole world, impermanence, suffering in impermanence, not-self in suffering, giving up, and fading away. For insight into greed, these nine 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 nine things does this discourse say should be developed for insight into greed?
Correct: B. The identical nine perceptions already named in full at AN 9.16.
Question 2 of 6
Where has this project already met this exact same nine-item list?
Correct: B. A cross-nipāta callback this project anticipated when first meeting the list.
Question 3 of 6
What is unusual about this discourse's title?
Correct: B. No Pāli name at all, not even an untranslated one.
Question 4 of 6
What does this discourse open, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The sixth time this project has met this standard closing structure.
Question 5 of 6
How does this nipāta's closing peyyāla differ structurally from AN 6, AN 7, and AN 8's own versions?
Correct: B. A structural difference tied to what content this specific nipāta happens to have available for reuse.
Question 6 of 6
Is a setting given for this discourse?
Correct: C. A bare formula, like AN 9.16 whose list it repeats.
