Reading guide
A genuine addition, not another substitution
Unlike SN 45.21–23, which each simply renamed the identical pairing, this discourse adds new content: an explicit claim about who succeeds through right or wrong practice, confirmed by reading the discourse's own repeated “I don't praise... I praise” structure directly, not present in any of the three preceding discourses.
Laypeople and renunciates, named together
“Neither laypeople nor renunciates succeed in the system of the skillful teaching” through wrong practice, and both succeed through right practice — a claim this project has not seen made quite this explicitly for the eightfold path specifically, extending its own relevance beyond the mendicant audience these discourses usually address without comment.
A structure that repeats each half twice
The discourse states “I don't praise wrong practice” before defining it, then repeats the identical praise-statement after the definition, and does the same for right practice — confirmed by reading the discourse's own structure directly, a bracketing pattern distinct from SN 45.21–23's own simple define-and-close format.
Key terms
The text
Wrong practice: praised for no-one
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, I don’t praise wrong practice for laypeople or renunciates. Because of wrong practice, neither laypeople nor renunciates succeed in the system of the skillful teaching. And what’s the wrong practice? It is wrong view, wrong purpose, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong immersion. This is called the wrong practice. I don’t praise wrong practice for lay people or renunciates. Because of wrong practice, neither laypeople nor renunciates succeed in the system of the skillful teaching.
Right practice: praised for both laypeople and renunciates
§2I praise right practice for laypeople and renunciates. Because of right practice, both laypeople and renunciates succeed in the system of the skillful teaching. And what’s the right practice? It is right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. This is called the right practice. I praise right practice for laypeople and renunciates. Because of right practice, both laypeople and renunciates succeed in the system of the skillful teaching.”
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