Reading guide
Four terms, precisely distinguished
Confirmed by direct reading, the discourse builds in careful stages: “psychic power” itself is the array of feats already met at SN 51.11; the “basis” of psychic power is defined simply as “the path and practice that leads to gaining psychic power”; the “development” of that basis is the familiar four-part formula (enthusiasm, energy, mental development, inquiry); and the “practice that leads” to that development is named last of all.
The noble eightfold path, named as the deepest layer
This project's own observation: the discourse's own final and most general term turns out to be the familiar eightfold path — right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right immersion — the same list this project has already translated in full elsewhere in this book, here applied specifically as the foundation beneath the four bases of psychic power.
A structural key to this whole saṃyutta
This project's own cross-reference: this discourse clarifies retroactively what has been implicit throughout SN 51 — the four bases are not a free-standing practice but rest on the eightfold path itself, the same foundational structure this project has already found underlying the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of awakening, and the four right efforts in this book's own earlier saṃyuttas.
Key terms
The text
§1“Mendicants, I will teach you psychic power, the bases of psychic power, the development of the bases of psychic power, and the practice that leads to the development of the bases of psychic power. Listen …
§2And what is psychic power? It’s when a mendicant wields the many kinds of psychic power: multiplying themselves and becoming one again … controlling the body as far as the realm of divinity. This is called psychic power.
§3And what is the basis of psychic power? The path and practice that leads to gaining psychic power. This is called the basis of psychic power.
§4And what is the development of the bases of psychic power? It’s when a mendicant develops the basis of psychic power that has immersion due to enthusiasm … energy … mental development … inquiry, and active effort. This is called the development of the bases of psychic power.
§5And what is the practice that leads to the development of the bases of psychic power? It is simply this noble eightfold path, that is: right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion. This is called the practice that leads to the development of the bases of psychic power.”
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