Reading guide
A rare gathering of three eminent disciples
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse's own setting brings together Sāriputta (foremost in wisdom), Mahāmoggallāna (foremost in psychic power), and Anuruddha (foremost in clairvoyance and closely associated with mindfulness practice throughout the canon) — a notable convergence of three of the Buddha's own most celebrated disciples in a single scene.
A trainee defined by degree, not by absence
Confirmed by direct reading, Anuruddha's own answer defines “a trainee” not as someone who lacks mindfulness meditation altogether, but as someone who has developed it “padesaṁ” (“partly, to a degree”) — confirming this discourse's own view that the trainee's own practice is genuine but incomplete, a matter of degree rather than presence or absence.
This discourse's own implicit contrast
By defining a trainee through PARTIAL development, this discourse implicitly points toward its own unstated contrast — the arahant, whose development of the same four kinds of mindfulness meditation would be complete rather than partial — though this discourse itself, confirmed by direct reading, does not state this contrast explicitly.
Key terms
The text
§1 — Sāriputta's own questionAt one time the venerables Sāriputta, Mahāmoggallāna, and Anuruddha were staying near Sāketa, in the Thorny Wood. Then in the late afternoon, Sāriputta and Mahāmoggallāna came out of retreat, went to Anuruddha, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, they sat down to one side. Sāriputta said to Anuruddha: “Reverend, they speak of the one called ‘a trainee’. How is a trainee defined?” “Reverends, a trainee is someone who has partly developed the four kinds of mindfulness meditation.
§2 — the fourfold formulaWhat four? It’s when a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of feelings … mind … principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. A trainee is someone who has partly developed the four kinds of mindfulness meditation.”
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