Reading guide
A named circle of relationships
Confirmed by direct reading, the discourse names its own intended recipients specifically: those one has “sympathy for,” those “worth listening to,” and by category — “friends and colleagues, relatives and family” — a concrete social circle rather than an abstract “others.”
Three active verbs, not passive teaching
Confirmed by direct reading, the mendicants are instructed to “encourage, support, and establish” (samādapetabbā, nivesetabbā) others in the four factors — active, ongoing verbs rather than a single act of instruction.
Key terms
The text
§1“Mendicants, those who you have sympathy for, and those worth listening to—friends and colleagues, relatives and family—should be encouraged, supported, and established by you in the four factors of stream-entry. What four? Experiential confidence in the Buddha … the teaching … the Saṅgha … And the ethical conduct loved by the noble ones … leading to immersion. Those who you have sympathy for, and those worth listening to—friends and colleagues, relatives and family—should be encouraged, supported, and established by you in these four factors of stream-entry.”
Self-check quiz
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