The seventh path-formulation names the four bases of psychic power — immersion born of enthusiasm, energy, mental development, and inquiry, each paired with active effort — as a single group, continuing this vagga's own settled pattern. Naming an explicitly supernormal faculty as a path to the unconditioned sits alongside the more strictly ethical and meditative formulations elsewhere in this vagga without comment.
Reading guide
Psychic power, named without elaboration
“Cattāro iddhipādā” — “the four bases of psychic power” — is named as one group; the four bases themselves (enthusiasm, energy, mental development, and inquiry, each conventionally paired with active effort) are presupposed rather than spelled out in this compressed discourse.
An unusual inclusion, held without comment
Iddhi (psychic power) is elsewhere on this site associated with supernormal feats rather than ethical cultivation; this discourse simply lists its own four bases alongside the mindfulness and effort formulations flanking it, offering no argument for why a capacity for psychic feats belongs on a list of paths to liberation.
Key terms
cattāro iddhipādā — “the four bases of psychic power” — named here as one group, its own four members not individually listed
chandasamādhi — “immersion due to enthusiasm” — the first base, presupposed rather than spelled out in this discourse's own text
vīmaṁsāsamādhi — “immersion due to inquiry” — the fourth base, likewise presupposed here
asaṅkhatagāmimaggo — “the path that leads to the unconditioned” — the question this discourse opens directly on
sattamaṁ — “seventh” — this vagga's own internal count-marker, left untranslated in the root
The text
The complete discourse, as genuinely translated — this vagga's own compressed form. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“And what is the path that leads to the unconditioned? The four bases of psychic power. …”
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Self-check quiz
3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 3
What does this discourse name as "the path that leads to the unconditioned"?
Correct: A. Enthusiasm, energy, mental development, and inquiry — the four bases, presupposed rather than individually spelled out here.
Question 2 of 3
How does this reading guide characterize the inclusion of psychic power on this list?
Correct: A. Simply listed alongside the ethical and meditative formulations flanking it, without further comment from the source.
Question 3 of 3
What quality is each of the four bases of psychic power conventionally paired with?
Correct: A. Enthusiasm, energy, mental development, and inquiry are each conventionally paired with active effort, though not individually spelled out in this compressed discourse.
