Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The Dhamma is for crossing over, not for holding on — but precisely because it can be grasped wrongly, the practitioner must learn the structural anatomy of self-view, recognize the impermanence of every aggregate, and let go of what was never theirs to begin with.
The Ariṭṭha incident (§§1–8)
The discourse opens with one of the canon's clearest case studies of doctrinal misunderstanding. A mendicant named Ariṭṭha — formerly a vulture trapper, the canonical note signaling his rough background — has formed the conviction: "As I understand the Buddha's teaching, the acts that he says are obstructions are not really obstructions for the one who performs them." The specific reference is to sensual pleasures, which the Buddha had repeatedly said do obstruct the practitioner.
Other mendicants try to correct Ariṭṭha by reciting the standard list of ten similes for sensual pleasures: a skeleton, a scrap of meat, a grass torch, a pit of glowing coals, a dream, borrowed goods, fruit on a tree, a butcher's knife and chopping board, swords and spears, and a snake's head. Each simile carries its own teaching, but the structural point is that the Buddha has said this many times. Ariṭṭha refuses to recant.
The Buddha then summons Ariṭṭha personally. His rebuke is unusually harsh: "Futile man, who on earth have you ever known me to teach in that way?" When the other mendicants confirm that they have not understood the teaching as Ariṭṭha does, the Buddha sets out the diagnosis: Ariṭṭha has wrong-grasped the teaching. The diagnosis matters more than the particular doctrinal error. Ariṭṭha is the canonical figure of the practitioner who memorizes the words but takes hold of them by the wrong end.
The cobra simile (§§10–11)
The Buddha then gives the simile that names the discourse. A person searching for a cobra finds one — but grasps it the wrong way:
| Wrong grasp (§10) | Right grasp (§11) |
|---|---|
| Grabs the cobra by the coil or the tail. The cobra twists back and bites the hand or arm, resulting in death or deadly pain. | Holds the cobra down carefully with a cleft stick, only then grasps it by the neck. The cobra may wrap its coils around the hand or arm, but no death or deadly pain results. |
The Buddha's application is precise. A practitioner who memorizes the teaching "for the sake of finding fault and winning debates" — who collects the teaching as ammunition rather than as path — has grasped the cobra by the tail. The teaching will bite them. By contrast, a practitioner who memorizes and then "examines the meaning with wisdom, and comes to an acceptance after deliberation" has used the cleft stick. They can hold even the most powerful teaching safely.
The image is striking because it places the danger inside the practice, not outside. The cobra is the Dhamma itself. The teaching is powerful enough to liberate — and powerful enough to harm, if grasped wrongly. Ariṭṭha has been bitten by what was meant to free him.
The raft simile (§§13–14)
The Buddha then offers what may be the most famous simile in all of Buddhism. A traveler comes to a great water — the near shore is dangerous, the far shore safe. There is no boat. So they gather grass, sticks, branches, and leaves, build a raft, and paddle across. Once on the far shore, what should they do?
Many would think: "This raft has been very helpful. Why don't I hoist it on my head or carry it on my shoulder and take it with me wherever I want?" The Buddha's correction is direct: that is not what should be done with the raft. The right response is to think: "This raft has been very helpful. Why don't I beach it on dry land or set it adrift on the water, and go wherever I want?"
The Buddha's application is one of the most consequential sentences in the canon:
"In the same way, I have taught a simile of the teaching as a raft: for crossing over, not for holding on. By understanding the simile of the raft, you will even give up the teachings, let alone what is not the teachings."
The phrase is carefully chosen. The Buddha does not say the teaching is dispensable — only that holding on to the teaching, once it has done its work, is itself a form of attachment. The raft simile is what keeps the cobra simile from collapsing into mere clinging to "right doctrine." The Buddha is not asking the practitioner to grasp tightly the doctrine that warns against wrong grasping. He is asking them to grasp it carefully, use it, and let it go.
The six grounds for views (§§15–16)
Having framed the meta-doctrine, the Buddha turns to the structural anatomy of self-view. There are six "grounds for views" — six places where the unlearned ordinary person sees self where there is none:
- Form (rūpa)
- Feeling (vedanā)
- Perception (saññā)
- Choices (saṅkhāra)
- Whatever is seen, heard, thought, known, attained, sought, and explored by the mind
- The view "The cosmos and the self are one and the same. After death I will be that, permanent, everlasting, eternal, imperishable, and will last forever and ever."
The first four are the standard aggregates minus consciousness (which is named later). The fifth covers all mental objects and operations. The sixth is the eternalist view — and the Buddha treats it as itself a "ground for view," meaning the very doctrine of eternal self is something the unlearned grasp as self. The eternalist mistake is to think one has escaped self-view by believing in a permanent self; the Buddha's analysis is that this is just another grasping.
The learned noble disciple sees each of the six as "not mine, I am not this, this is not my self." The threefold formula — n'etaṃ mama, n'eso 'ham asmi, na meso attā — is one of the canon's standard contemplative phrases and appears throughout the discourse.
The four kinds of anxiety (§§17–21)
A mendicant then asks the Buddha about anxiety — specifically, anxiety "about what doesn't exist." The Buddha's analysis is fourfold:
| Externally (about something outside) | Internally (about oneself) | |
|---|---|---|
| With anxiety | "Oh, it once was mine but is mine no more. Oh, it could be mine but I do not get it." Sorrow and lamentation follow. | The eternalist hears the Buddha teaching for the uprooting of all grounds of view, and thinks: "Whoa, I'm going to be annihilated and destroyed! I won't even exist any more!" Sorrow and lamentation follow. |
| Without anxiety | One who does not think "It was mine but is mine no more." | One who does not hold the eternalist view, and so does not panic when the radical teaching is given. |
The structural insight is that anxiety about loss requires a prior conviction of ownership. Anxiety about annihilation requires a prior conviction of permanent existence. The two anxieties have the same root: an unexamined ownership-claim. The teaching is structurally designed to uproot that claim — and this is precisely what frightens the eternalist. The Buddha's analysis of the four kinds of anxiety is, in part, a diagnosis of why his teaching is sometimes terrifying to those who hear it.
The three impossibility arguments (§§22–24)
The Buddha then asks the mendicants three closely related questions:
- "It would make sense to be possessive about something that's permanent, everlasting, eternal, imperishable. But do you see any such possession?" "No, sir."
- "It would make sense to grasp at a theory of self that didn't give rise to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. But do you see any such theory of self?" "No, sir."
- "It would make sense to rely on a view that didn't give rise to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. But do you see any such view to rely on?" "No, sir."
The form of the questions is deliberate. The Buddha is not denying that possession could make sense — only that no actual possession of the required kind exists. He is not denying that a self-theory could be worth grasping — only that no self-theory has been found that doesn't produce suffering. The argument grants what it grants and then notes the absence of the conditions under which the grant would matter. It is one of the canon's most carefully structured single arguments.
The anatta formula (§§25–29)
The Buddha then runs the standard anatta argument through the five aggregates. The form: each aggregate is impermanent (anicca) → therefore suffering (dukkha) → therefore not fit to be regarded as "mine, I am, my self." Once this is seen, the learned noble disciple becomes disillusioned with form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. Disillusionment leads to fading of desire; fading leads to freedom; freedom leads to the knowledge of freedom and the standard closing formula: "Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place."
The §27 instruction is unusually thorough. Every form, of every kind — past, future, or present; internal or external; solid or subtle; inferior or superior; far or near — is to be seen with right understanding as not-mine, not-I, not-self. The same for feeling, perception, choices, consciousness. The thoroughness is the point. Anatta is not a selective doctrine to be applied to convenient aggregates; it is the structural fact of every aggregate of every kind.
The arahant titles (§§30–35)
The Buddha then names five poetic titles for the practitioner who has reached the end of the path. Each title is decoded:
| Title | What has been given up |
|---|---|
| One who has lifted the cross-bar | Ignorance (avijjā), cut off at the root |
| One who has filled in the moat | Transmigrating through births in future lives |
| One who has pulled up the pillar | Craving (taṇhā) |
| One who is unimpeded | The five lower fetters |
| A noble one with banner lowered and burden dropped, detached | The conceit "I am" (asmimāna) |
The images are fortress-architectural. A fortified city has a cross-bar at the gate (ignorance), a moat around the walls (rebirth), a central pillar in the citadel (craving), various impediments (the five lower fetters), and a banner raised on top (the conceit "I am"). The arahant has dismantled the fortress. They are not inside it; the fortress is not there.
The "exterminator" charge and the Buddha's equanimity (§§36–39)
The Buddha then anticipates a misreading. Some ascetics and brahmins, hearing the radical teaching, will charge the Buddha with "advocating the annihilation, eradication, and nonexistence of an existing being." The Buddha's response is calm and unequivocal: "In the past, as today, what I describe is suffering and the cessation of suffering."
He then extends the principle to the mendicants. If others abuse, attack, harass, or trouble them, they should not become resentful or bitter. If others honor, respect, or venerate them, they should not become thrilled or excited. If they are praised, the appropriate thought is: "They do such things for me regarding what in the past was completely understood." The equanimity here is not detachment from human exchange; it is the recognition that praise and blame both attach to a pattern that has already been seen through.
Give up what isn't yours — the Jeta's Grove simile (§§40–41)
The closing teaching is the discourse's most concrete. "Give up what isn't yours. Giving it up will be for your lasting welfare and happiness." What isn't yours? Form, feeling, perception, choices, consciousness — the five aggregates.
The Buddha then turns to the immediate scene. "Suppose a person was to carry off the grass, sticks, branches, and leaves in this Jeta's Grove, or burn them, or do what they want with them. Would you think, 'This person is carrying us off, burning us, or doing what they want with us'?" "No, sir. Why is that? Because to us that's neither self nor belonging to self."
The simile is structurally simple but pedagogically perfect. The mendicants are sitting in Jeta's Grove. The Buddha points to what is right there. They do not feel ownership of the leaves; they would not feel attacked if someone burned them. So with the five aggregates. The aggregates are also there, all around the self, but they are no more the self than the leaves of Jeta's Grove are. Once seen, the aggregates can be released as easily as one releases leaves.
Three questions Western students often ask
"The raft simile sounds like a license to discard the Buddha's teachings whenever they become inconvenient. Is that what it means?" No. The raft simile is precise. It says the teaching is to be used (built, paddled across on), and then released when its function is fulfilled (the far shore is reached). It does not say the teaching is to be released before its function is fulfilled. The mendicant who has not yet crossed cannot put down the raft — they would drown. The simile is about the relationship of the fully accomplished practitioner to the teaching, not about a beginner's license to discard whatever does not appeal to them. The Ariṭṭha incident, which immediately precedes the raft simile, is a deliberate contrast: Ariṭṭha thinks he can discard the teaching on sensual pleasures because he has "understood" — but his "understanding" is precisely a wrong grasp.
"The four kinds of anxiety, especially the third — fear of annihilation — sound like an honest description of how a Western audience often reacts to anatta. What does the Buddha do about it?" The Buddha names the panic, names its structural cause (a prior conviction of permanent self), and then proceeds to dismantle that prior conviction through the impossibility arguments and the anatta formula. He does not soften the teaching to relieve the panic. His implicit claim is that the panic itself is evidence of the very view that needs to be uprooted. The teaching is doing its work precisely when it produces the discomfort. The practitioner's task is to sit with the discomfort and let the analysis run its course, not to retreat to a more comfortable reading.
"The 'exterminator' charge in §37 sounds almost contemporary — modern Western readers also sometimes hear anatta as 'nihilistic.' How does the Buddha respond?" The Buddha's response is two-pronged. First, he denies the charge directly: "In the past, as today, what I describe is suffering and the cessation of suffering." The teaching is not the annihilation of an existing being; it is the cessation of suffering. Second, he says the misrepresentation does not provoke him to resentment. The Buddha's calm here is itself part of the answer. A teacher who became upset at being called a nihilist would suggest the charge had bite. The Buddha's equanimity is, in part, a structural demonstration that the teaching has done in him what it claims to do. The mendicants are then asked to extend the same equanimity to themselves.
Key terms
The text
The Ariṭṭha incident and the cobra simile
§1So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's monastery.
§2Now at that time a mendicant called Ariṭṭha, who had previously been a vulture trapper, had the following harmful misconception: "As I understand the Buddha's teaching, the acts that he says are obstructions are not really obstructions for the one who performs them." Several mendicants heard this rumour.
§3They went up to Ariṭṭha and said to him, "Is it really true, Reverend Ariṭṭha, that you have such a harmful misconception …?" "Absolutely, reverends. As I understand the Buddha's teaching, the acts that he says are obstructions are not really obstructions for the one who performs them." Then, wishing to dissuade Ariṭṭha from his view, the mendicants pursued, pressed, and grilled him, "Don't say that, Ariṭṭha! Don't misrepresent the Buddha … In many ways the Buddha has said that obstructive acts are obstructive … The Buddha says that sensual pleasures give little gratification and much suffering and distress, and they are all the more full of drawbacks. With the similes of a skeleton … a scrap of meat … a grass torch … a pit of glowing coals … a dream … borrowed goods … fruit on a tree … a butcher's knife and chopping board … swords and spears … a snake's head, the Buddha says that sensual pleasures give little gratification and much suffering and distress." But even though the mendicants pursued, pressed, and grilled him, Ariṭṭha obstinately stuck to his misconception. When they weren't able to dissuade him, the mendicants went to the Buddha and told him what had happened.
§5So the Buddha sent for Ariṭṭha and asked him, "Is it really true, Ariṭṭha, that you have such a harmful misconception …?" "Absolutely, sir."
§6"Futile man, who on earth have you ever known me to teach in that way? Haven't I said in many ways that obstructive acts are obstructive, and that they really do obstruct the one who performs them? I've said that sensual pleasures give little gratification and much suffering and distress, and they are all the more full of drawbacks. With the similes of a skeleton … a snake's head, I've said that sensual pleasures give little gratification and much suffering and distress. But still you misrepresent me by your wrong grasp, harm yourself, and brim with much wickedness. This will be for your lasting harm and suffering."
§§7–8Then the Buddha asked the assembled mendicants whether they understood his teaching as Ariṭṭha did. They confirmed they did not, repeating the standard list of similes. The Buddha then said: "But still this Ariṭṭha misrepresents me by his wrong grasp, harms himself, and brims with much wickedness. This will be for his lasting harm and suffering.
§9Truly, mendicants, it is quite impossible to perform sensual acts without sensual desires, sensual perceptions, and sensual thoughts.
§10Take a futile person who memorizes the teaching — statements, mixed prose & verse, discussions, verses, inspired exclamations, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and elaborations. But they don't examine the meaning of those teachings with wisdom, and so don't come to an acceptance of them after deliberation. They memorize the teaching for the sake of finding fault and winning debates. They don't realize the goal for which they memorized them. Because they're wrongly grasped, those teachings lead to their lasting harm and suffering. Why is that? Because of their wrong grasp of the teachings. Suppose there was a person in need of a cobra. And while wandering in search of a cobra they'd see a big cobra, and grasp it by the coil or the tail. But that cobra would twist back and bite them on the hand or the arm or other major or minor limb, resulting in death or deadly pain. Why is that? Because of their wrong grasp of the cobra. In the same way, a futile person memorizes the teaching … and those teachings lead to their lasting harm and suffering. Why is that? Because of their wrong grasp of the teachings.
§11Now, take a gentleman who memorizes the teaching. Once he's memorized them, he examines their meaning with wisdom, and comes to an acceptance of them after deliberation. He doesn't memorize the teaching for the sake of finding fault and winning debates. He realizes the goal for which he memorized them. Because they're correctly grasped, those teachings lead to his lasting welfare and happiness. Why is that? Because of his correct grasp of the teachings. Suppose there was a person in need of a cobra. And while wandering in search of a cobra they'd see a big cobra, and hold it down carefully with a cleft stick. Only then would they correctly grasp it by the neck. And even though that cobra might wrap its coils around that person's hand or arm or some other major or minor limb, that wouldn't result in death or deadly pain. Why is that? Because of their correct grasp of the cobra. In the same way, a gentleman memorizes the teaching … and those teachings lead to his lasting welfare and happiness.
§12So, mendicants, when you understand what I've said, you should remember it accordingly. But if I've said anything that you don't understand, you should ask me about it, or some competent mendicants.
The raft simile
§13Mendicants, I will teach you a simile of the teaching as a raft: for crossing over, not for holding on. Listen and apply your mind well, I will speak. Suppose there was a person traveling along the road. They'd see a large deluge, whose near shore was dubious and perilous, while the far shore was a sanctuary free of peril. But there was no ferryboat or bridge for crossing over. They'd think, 'Why don't I gather grass, sticks, branches, and leaves and make a raft? Riding on the raft, and paddling with my hands and feet, I can safely reach the far shore.' And so they'd do exactly that. And when they'd crossed over to the far shore, they'd think, 'This raft has been very helpful to me. Riding on the raft, and paddling with my hands and feet, I have safely crossed over to the far shore. Why don't I hoist it on my head or pick it up on my shoulder and go wherever I want?' What do you think, mendicants? Would that person be doing what should be done with that raft?" "No, sir." "And what, mendicants, should that person do with the raft? When they'd crossed over they should think, 'This raft has been very helpful to me. … Why don't I beach it on dry land or set it adrift on the water and go wherever I want?' That's what that person should do with the raft. In the same way, I have taught a simile of the teaching as a raft: for crossing over, not for holding on.
§14By understanding the simile of the raft, you will even give up the teachings, let alone what is not the teachings.
The six grounds for views and the four kinds of anxiety
§15Mendicants, there are these six grounds for views. What six? Take an unlearned ordinary person who has not seen the noble ones, and is neither skilled nor trained in the teaching of the noble ones. They regard form as: 'This is mine, I am this, this is my self.' They also regard feeling … perception … choices … whatever is seen, heard, thought, known, attained, sought, and explored by the mind as: 'This is mine, I am this, this is my self.' And as for this ground for views: 'The cosmos and the self are one and the same. After death I will be that, permanent, everlasting, eternal, imperishable, and will last forever and ever.' They regard this also as: 'This is mine, I am this, this is my self.'
§16But a learned noble disciple has seen the noble ones, and is skilled and trained in the teaching of the noble ones. They regard form like this: 'This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.' They also regard feeling … perception … choices … whatever is seen, heard, thought, known … like this: 'This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.' And the same for the ground for views about the cosmos and the eternal self.
§17Seeing in this way they're not anxious about what doesn't exist."
§18When he said this, one of the mendicants asked the Buddha, "Sir, can there be anxiety about what doesn't exist externally?" "There can, mendicant," said the Buddha. "It's when someone thinks, 'Oh, it once was mine but is mine no more. Oh, it could be mine but I do not get it.' They sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. That's how there is anxiety about what doesn't exist externally."
§19"But can there be no anxiety about what doesn't exist externally?" "There can, mendicant," said the Buddha. "It's when someone doesn't think, 'Oh, it once was mine but is mine no more.' They don't sorrow and wail and lament. That's how there is no anxiety about what doesn't exist externally."
§20"But can there be anxiety about what doesn't exist internally?" "There can, mendicant. It's when someone has such a view: 'The cosmos and the self are one and the same. After death I will be that, permanent, everlasting, eternal, imperishable, and will last forever and ever.' They hear the Realized One or their disciple teaching Dhamma for the uprooting of all grounds, fixations, obsessions, insistences, and underlying tendencies regarding views; for the stilling of all activities, the letting go of all attachments, the ending of craving, fading away, cessation, extinguishment. They think, 'Whoa, I'm going to be annihilated and destroyed! I won't even exist any more!' They sorrow and wail and lament, beating their breast and falling into confusion. That's how there is anxiety about what doesn't exist internally."
§21"But can there be no anxiety about what doesn't exist internally?" "There can. It's when someone doesn't have such a view. They hear the Realized One teaching Dhamma for the uprooting of all grounds of view, and they don't think, 'Whoa, I'm going to be annihilated!' That's how there is no anxiety about what doesn't exist internally.
The three impossibility arguments and the anatta formula
§22Mendicants, it would make sense to be possessive about something that's permanent, everlasting, eternal, imperishable, and will last forever and ever. But do you see any such possession?" "No, sir." "Good, mendicants! I also can't see any such possession.
§23It would make sense to grasp at a theory of self that didn't give rise to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. But do you see any such theory of self?" "No, sir." "Good, mendicants! I also can't see any such theory of self.
§24It would make sense to rely on a view that didn't give rise to sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. But do you see any such view to rely on?" "No, sir." "Good, mendicants! I also can't see any such view to rely on.
§25Mendicants, were a self to exist, would there be the thought, 'Belonging to my self'?" "Yes, sir." "Were what belongs to a self to exist, would there be the thought, 'My self'?" "Yes, sir." "But since a self and what belongs to a self are not found as a genuine fact, is not the following a totally foolish teaching: 'The cosmos and the self are one and the same. After death I will be that, permanent, everlasting, eternal, imperishable, and will last forever and ever'?" "How could it not, sir? It's a totally foolish teaching."
§26"What do you think, mendicants? Is form permanent or impermanent?" "Impermanent, sir." "But if it's impermanent, is it suffering or happiness?" "Suffering, sir." "But if it's impermanent, suffering, and perishable, is it fit to be regarded thus: 'This is mine, I am this, this is my self'?" "No, sir." [The same for feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness.]
§27"So, mendicants, you should truly see any kind of form at all — past, future, or present; internal or external; solid or subtle; inferior or superior; far or near: all form — with right understanding: 'This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.' [The same for feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness.]
§§28–29Seeing this, a learned noble disciple grows disillusioned with form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. Being disillusioned, desire fades away. When desire fades away they're freed. When they're freed, they know they're freed. They understand: 'Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.'
The arahant titles
§30Such a mendicant is one who is called 'one who has lifted the cross-bar', 'one who has filled in the moat', 'one who has pulled up the pillar', 'one who is unimpeded', and also 'a noble one with banner lowered and burden dropped, detached'.
§§31–35And how has a mendicant lifted the cross-bar? Given up ignorance, cut it off at the root, made it like a palm stump. Filled in the moat? Given up transmigrating through births in future lives. Pulled up the pillar? Given up craving. Unimpeded? Given up the five lower fetters. A noble one with banner lowered and burden dropped? Given up the conceit 'I am'. Each cut off at the root, made like a palm stump, obliterated, unable to arise in the future.
§36When a mendicant's mind was freed like this, the gods together with Indra, the Divinity, and the Progenitor, search as they may, will not discover: 'This is the basis of that realized one's consciousness.' Why is that? Because even in this very life that realized one is not found, I say.
The "exterminator" charge and the closing teaching
§37Though I state and assert this, certain ascetics and brahmins misrepresent me with the incorrect, hollow, false, untruthful claim: 'The ascetic Gotama is an exterminator. He advocates the annihilation, eradication, and nonexistence of an existing being.' They misrepresent me as what I am not, and saying what I do not say. In the past, as today, what I describe is suffering and the cessation of suffering. This being so, if others abuse, attack, harass, and trouble the Realized One, he doesn't get resentful, bitter, and emotionally exasperated.
§§38–39Or if others honor, respect, revere, or venerate him, he doesn't get thrilled, elated, and emotionally excited. If they praise him, he just thinks, 'They do such things for me regarding what in the past was completely understood.' So, mendicants, if others abuse, attack, harass, and trouble you, don't make yourselves resentful, bitter, and emotionally exasperated. Or if others honor, respect, revere, or venerate you, don't make yourselves thrilled, elated, and emotionally excited. If they praise you, just think, 'They do such things for us regarding what in the past was completely understood.'
§40So, mendicants, give up what isn't yours. Giving it up will be for your lasting welfare and happiness.
§41And what isn't yours? Form isn't yours: give it up. Giving it up will be for your lasting welfare and happiness. Feeling … perception … choices … consciousness isn't yours: give it up. Giving it up will be for your lasting welfare and happiness. What do you think, mendicants? Suppose a person was to carry off the grass, sticks, branches, and leaves in this Jeta's Grove, or burn them, or do what they want with them. Would you think, 'This person is carrying us off, burning us, or doing what they want with us'?" "No, sir. Why is that? Because to us that's neither self nor belonging to self." "In the same way, mendicants, give up what isn't yours. Giving it up will be for your lasting welfare and happiness."
The seven kinds of practitioner
§§42–47The teaching well-explained thus by me is clarified, revealed, illuminated, and stripped of patchwork. In this teaching: arahants who have ended the defilements find no further cycle of rebirths. Those who have given up the five lower fetters are reborn spontaneously and are extinguished there (non-returners). Those who have given up three fetters and weakened greed, hate, and delusion are once-returners. Those who have ended three fetters are stream-enterers, assured, destined for awakening. Those who are followers of teachings or followers by faith are assured, destined for awakening. The teaching well-explained thus by me is clarified, revealed, illuminated, and stripped of patchwork. In this teaching, those who have a degree of faith and love for me are all bound for heaven."
That is what the Buddha said. Satisfied, the mendicants approved what the Buddha said.
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