Reading guide
A familiar vocabulary pair, narrowly applied
Kusala and akusala (skillful and unskillful) are among this project's own most frequently met ethical terms, but this discourse applies them narrowly: not to actions or intentions in general, but specifically and only to the eightfold path's own eight wrong and eight right factors, confirmed by reading the discourse's own single definition directly.
Identical structure to SN 45.21, confirmed not merely assumed
Every other element of this discourse — the teach-you announcement, the eight-item lists, the closing formula — matches SN 45.21's own wording exactly except for the substituted framing term, confirmed by direct comparison of both discourses' own text.
Key terms
The text
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, I will teach you skillful and unskillful qualities. Listen … And what are unskillful qualities? They are wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong immersion. These are called unskillful qualities. And what are skillful qualities? They are right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. These are called skillful qualities.”
Self-check quiz
3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.