Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Being an ascetic is not about external appearance but about abandoning inner impurities and pervading the world with loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity.
The structure of the discourse
| Scene | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. The challenge | People call you “ascetics.” You claim to be ascetics. You should train in the practices that make the claim true. |
| 2. External marks | The Buddha lists external signs — shaved head, matted hair, rough robe, ashes on the body, sleeping on the ground, ritual bathing — and says that none of these make a person a true ascetic. The inner impurities may persist despite any amount of outward austerity. |
| 3. The impurities | The Buddha lists specific inner impurities that a monk must recognize and abandon: covetousness and unrighteous greed, ill will and hatred, anger, hostility, contempt, domineering, envy, stinginess, deceit, fraud, evil desires, and wrong view. For each, the monk understands: “I have this impurity — it is an impure quality in an ascetic” — and abandons it. |
| 4. The four brahmavihāras | Having abandoned the impurities, the monk pervades the world with loving-kindness (mettā), then compassion (karuṇā), then appreciative joy (muditā), then equanimity (upekkhā) — in all directions, boundless, without limit, free from hostility and ill will. |
| 5. Conclusion | A monk who has accomplished this is a true ascetic — one who has “bathed with the inner bathing.” |
The impurities: a moral inventory
The list of impurities in MN 40 reads like a moral inventory. The Buddha does not ask the monk to suppress these qualities; he asks the monk to recognize them first: “I have covetousness and unrighteous greed — this is an impure quality in an ascetic.” Recognition is the first step. Only after honest acknowledgment can the monk make the effort to abandon them.
The list moves from the coarser to the subtler: from outright greed and hatred, through anger and resentment, to the more insidious qualities of contempt, domineering, envy, stinginess, deceit, fraud, evil desires, and wrong view. Wrong view comes last because it is the root: a person with wrong view will generate all the other impurities, while right view naturally leads to their abandonment.
The four brahmavihāras
The discourse’s climax is the development of the four brahmavihāras — the “divine abidings” or “boundless states.” These are not sentiments but trained mental states, cultivated through formal practice:
- Loving-kindness (mettā) — the wish for all beings to be happy. Pervaded in all directions, without limit, without exclusion.
- Compassion (karuṇā) — the wish for all beings to be free from suffering. Not pity but an active response to the pain of others.
- Appreciative joy (muditā) — joy in the success, happiness, and good fortune of others. The antidote to envy.
- Equanimity (upekkhā) — a balanced, impartial awareness that embraces all beings without preference. Not indifference but a steady, wise composure.
The formula is the same for each: the monk pervades “one direction, then the second, the third, the fourth, above, below, all around, everywhere — the whole world with a mind full of [loving-kindness / compassion / appreciative joy / equanimity], abundant, exalted, measureless, without hostility, without ill will.” The language insists on boundlessness: no being is excluded.
MN 39 and MN 40: two paths to the same place
MN 39 (the Greater Discourse at Assapura) gives the full graduated training: moral restraint, sense restraint, the jhānas, and the three true knowledges. It is the “wisdom path” — detailed, technical, culminating in direct insight.
MN 40 (the Shorter Discourse at Assapura) gives a different angle: abandon the inner impurities and develop the boundless states. It is the “heart path” — focused on ethical purification and universal goodwill. The two discourses are not in tension; they are complementary. A complete practitioner walks both paths. MN 40 reminds us that the point of all the technical training in MN 39 is not technique for its own sake but the transformation of character.
Three questions Western students often ask
“If robes and shaving don’t make an ascetic, why do monks still do it?” The Buddha does not say external practices are useless — he says they are insufficient. Shaving the head and wearing robes serve as reminders of renunciation, as aids to simplicity, and as a social signal that invites accountability. But they are the container, not the content. A shaved head without inner purification is an empty gesture; inner purification without outward simplicity is still genuine.
“Are the brahmavihāras a form of meditation or an ethical practice?” Both. In the canonical framework, the brahmavihāras are formally cultivated in sitting meditation — the monk sits, establishes mindfulness, and systematically pervades each direction with loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, or equanimity. But they are also meant to inform all of daily life. The formal practice trains the capacity; the daily practice applies it. In some discourses (DN 13, for example), the brahmavihāras are presented as a path to rebirth in the Brahmā world; in others, they serve as the emotional foundation for liberating insight.
“Can this discourse stand alone as a complete teaching?” Yes. MN 40 is one of the most self-contained discourses in the collection. A person who took this discourse as their sole guide — honestly identifying their inner impurities, working to abandon them, and cultivating the four boundless states — would be practicing the heart of the Buddha’s teaching. This is what makes MN 40 an excellent entry point for new readers, especially those drawn to the ethical and emotional dimensions of the path.
Key terms
The text
The challenge
§1So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the Aṅga country, where there is a town of the Aṅgans named Assapura.
§2There the Buddha addressed the monks: “Monks, people call you ‘ascetics, ascetics.’ And when asked, ‘What are you?’, you claim to be ascetics. Since you are so designated and so claim, you should train like this: ‘We will practice the way that is proper for ascetics, so that our designation will be true and our claim genuine, and the services of those whose robes, almsfood, lodging, and medicines we use will be of great fruit and benefit, and our going forth will not be in vain, but fruitful and fertile.’”
External marks do not suffice
§3“And what, monks, is the way that is not proper for ascetics? If a monk who has covetousness and unrighteous greed has not abandoned covetousness and unrighteous greed; if a monk who has ill will and hatred has not abandoned ill will and hatred — that is the way not proper for ascetics.”
The impurities to abandon
§4“Monks, when a monk has covetousness and unrighteous greed, that is an impure quality in an ascetic. When a monk has ill will and hatred, that is an impure quality in an ascetic. When a monk has anger, that is an impure quality. When a monk has hostility … contempt … a domineering attitude … envy … stinginess … deceit … fraud … evil desires … wrong view — that is an impure quality in an ascetic.”
§5“Monks, suppose a person who is not blind were to look at their own reflection in a clear, unclouded mirror or bowl of water. If they saw dirt or a blemish on their face, they would try to remove it. If they saw no dirt or blemish, they would be glad: ‘How fortunate that I am clean!’ In the same way, when a monk examines themselves and sees any of these impure qualities, they make an effort to abandon them. And when they no longer see any of these impure qualities, they are glad and train further.”
The four brahmavihāras
§6“When a monk has abandoned these impure qualities and sees in themselves their absence, gladness is born. From gladness, rapture is born. With a rapturous mind, the body becomes tranquil. When the body is tranquil, they feel pleasure. And with pleasure, the mind becomes composed.”
§7“They pervade one direction with a mind full of loving-kindness, then the second direction, the third, and the fourth. In the same way above, below, all around, everywhere — the whole world. They pervade it with a mind full of loving-kindness — abundant, exalted, measureless, without hostility, without ill will.”
§8“They pervade one direction with a mind full of compassion, then the second direction, the third, and the fourth. In the same way above, below, all around, everywhere — the whole world. They pervade it with a mind full of compassion — abundant, exalted, measureless, without hostility, without ill will.”
§9“They pervade one direction with a mind full of appreciative joy, then the second direction, the third, and the fourth. In the same way above, below, all around, everywhere — the whole world. They pervade it with a mind full of appreciative joy — abundant, exalted, measureless, without hostility, without ill will.”
§10“They pervade one direction with a mind full of equanimity, then the second direction, the third, and the fourth. In the same way above, below, all around, everywhere — the whole world. They pervade it with a mind full of equanimity — abundant, exalted, measureless, without hostility, without ill will.”
The inner bathing
§11“Monks, suppose there were a lake in a mountain hollow, clear, transparent, and unclouded. A person with good eyesight standing on the bank would see the shells, gravel, pebbles, and the schools of fish swimming about and resting. They would think: ‘This lake is clear, transparent, and unclouded. I can see the shells, gravel, pebbles, and fish.’ In the same way, a monk who has abandoned these impure qualities and pervaded the world with the four brahmavihāras sees their own mind as purified.”
§12“Monks, this is called a monk who has bathed with the inner bathing.”
§13At that time the brahmin Sundarika Bhāradvāja was sitting in the assembly. He said to the Buddha: “But does Master Gotama go to the Bahu River to bathe?”
“Why the Bahu River, brahmin? What can the Bahu River do?”
“Master Gotama, the Bahu River is regarded by many people as purifying, as holy. Many people wash away their bad deeds in the Bahu River.”
§14Then the Buddha addressed Sundarika Bhāradvāja in verse:
“A fool may bathe in rivers evermore —
what can mere water do for one who acts in evil ways?
One who is clean, whose conduct is pure —
for them it is always the holy day.”
When this was said, Sundarika Bhāradvāja said: “Excellent, Master Gotama! Excellent! As if one were to set upright what had been overturned … I go to Master Gotama for refuge, to the teaching, and to the Saṅgha. May I receive the going forth in Master Gotama’s presence?”
And Sundarika Bhāradvāja received the going forth, the full ordination. Not long after his ordination, dwelling alone, withdrawn, diligent, ardent, and resolute, he realized the supreme goal of the spiritual life in this very lifetime. He understood: “Birth is ended, the spiritual life has been lived, what had to be done has been done, there is no more coming back to any state of being.”
And Venerable Sundarika Bhāradvāja became one of the perfected ones.
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