The Noble Giving (First Discourse)

The Noble Disciple, Householder, who possesses four things is a Stream-Enterer, no longer bound to the nether world, fixed in destination, with Enlightenment as his destination.

What four?

Here Householders,

(1) A Noble Disciple possesses confirmed confidence in The Buddha thus: The Perfectly Enlightened One is an Arahant, perfectly Enlightened, accomplished in true wisdom and conduct, fortunate, knower of the worlds, unsurpassed leader of persons to be tamed, Teacher of heavenly beings and humans, The Enlightened One, The Fortunate One.

(2) He possesses confirmed confidence in The Teachings thus: The Teachings are well expounded by The Perfectly Enlightened One, directly visible, immediate, inviting one to come and see, applicable, to be personally experienced by the wise.

(3) He possesses confirmed confidence in The Community thus: The Community of The Perfectly Enlightened One’s disciples is practicing the wholesome way, practicing the straight way, practicing the true way, practicing the proper way; that is, the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals - this Community of The Perfectly Enlightened One’s disciples is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respectful salutation, the unsurpassed field of merit for the world.

(4) He resides at home with a mind free of the stain of selfishness, freely generous, open-handed, joyful in letting go, one devoted to charity, joyful in giving and sharing.

A Noble Disciple who possesses these four things is a Stream-Enterer, no longer bound to the nether world, fixed in destination, with Enlightenment as his destination.

(Reference: SN 55.6)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares expanded Teachings to explain that a Practitioner who has attained the first Stage of Enlightenment will have confidence in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community while also “resides at home with a mind free of the stain of stinginess, freely generous, open-handed, joyful in letting go, one devoted to charity, joyful in giving and sharing”.

(1) Here, Monks, a Noble Disciple possesses confirmed confidence in The Buddha thus: The Perfectly Enlightened One is an Arahant, perfectly Enlightened, accomplished in true wisdom and conduct, fortunate, knower of the worlds, unsurpassed leader of persons to be tamed, Teacher of heavenly beings and humans, The Enlightened One, The Fortunate One.

The Buddha is explaining that his mind is “perfectly Enlightened” which is how we refer to a Buddha. Because a Buddha attains Enlightenment through their own independent journey to Enlightenment, their mind is described as “perfectly Enlightened”. Their mind is uninfluenced by any outside source and is a main reason why they have deep “true wisdom” to guide countless beings to Enlightenment. Their moral conduct is exceptional in that they are deeply practicing The Teachings they share making them an “unsurpassed leader of persons to be tamed” or in other words, trained.

A Buddha would be a “knower of the worlds” which is referring to The Five Realms of Existence. A Buddha would know these realms in detail through observation of their past lives and existence in those realms in prior lives.

A Buddha is a “Teacher of heavenly beings and humans” as these are the beings who can attain Enlightenment. Beings in the lower realms of hell, animal, and afflicted spirits are unable to attain Enlightenment and will need to experience an improved rebirth into the human or heavenly realms to attain Enlightenment.

A Buddha is “fortunate” in that they are “auspicious and favorable”. A Buddha is fortunate to have been born with a mind capable of attaining Enlightenment through their own independent journey to Enlightenment.

Auspicious: conducive to success; characterized by success.

Favorable: to the advantage of someone or something.

A Buddha is very rare in the world as the last Buddha currently known to the world existed over 2,500 years ago.

(2) He possesses confirmed confidence in The Teachings thus: The Teachings are well expounded by The Perfectly Enlightened One, directly visible, immediate, inviting one to come and see, applicable, to be personally experienced by the wise.

The Teachings of a Buddha are “directly visible” able to be seen “immediately” by a Practitioner who chooses to investigate his Teachings.

The Teachings are “inviting one to come and see” meaning that they are meant to be investigated and practiced to be able to see the truth for yourself without belief. There is no belief in these Teachings and it is only through determined, dedicated, and diligent learning, reflection, and practicing of these Teachings that a Practitioner will come to understand the truth to acquire wisdom liberating the mind from discontentedness.

A Buddha’s Teachings are “applicable” being able to be applied to daily life to improve the condition of one’s mind and life. His Teachings need “to be personally experienced by the wise” as one can observe for themselves that through personal experience these Teachings lead to liberation of the mind through a gradual diminishing and eventual elimination of 100% of all discontentedness from the mind.

(3) He possesses confirmed confidence in The Community thus: The Community of The Perfectly Enlightened One’s disciples is practicing the wholesome way, practicing the straight way, practicing the true way, practicing the proper way; that is, the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals - this Community of The Perfectly Enlightened One’s disciples is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respectful salutation, the unsurpassed field of merit for the world.

During the lifetime of The Buddha, there were many different Teachers who claimed it was their teachings that lead to Enlightenment. There were multiple communities of Students all being led by a different Teacher and progressing towards what they thought was Enlightenment. We know now that it was The Buddha’s Teachings that are The Path to Enlightenment but during his lifetime, this was not so obvious to the average individual who was not learning and practicing his Teachings.

The Buddha knew it was his Teachings that were the truth and those that lead to Enlightenment because he was experiencing the complete elimination of all discontentedness. But, this mental state cannot be easily understood or observed by an unEnlightened being. There are no outward characteristics that identify one who has attained Enlightenment or identify a Buddha. A Buddha does not perform countless miracles to convince people that he is a Buddha but instead, guides people in learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings so that the Practitioner can experience the mind awakening to Enlightenment. In this way, Students understand that what they are learning and practicing is the truth as the mind gradually eliminates 100% of all discontentedness through their progression towards Enlightenment. The Student can see the truth for themselves that the condition of their mind and their life is improving.

A Buddha is not concerned with convincing people that he is a Buddha but instead, applies energy, effort, and dedication towards sharing The Teachings that lead to Enlightenment making himself available to all those who choose to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings to experience the results. The way Students would know he is a Buddha is that he attained Enlightenment on his own and The Teachings he shares led them towards Enlightenment. A Buddha is not interested in fame or fortune but instead, is willing to help others attain Enlightenment through their independently discovered Teachings. A Buddha’s ability to help others is not contingent upon everyone knowing he is a Buddha. A Buddha can function much better by others not knowing he is a Buddha because then he can observe the condition of his Student’s mind without being tainted by any admiration. A Buddha will be able to more easily observe the condition of the Student’s mind providing guidance towards the attainment of Enlightenment through objective observation.

A Buddha is extremely rare and a Practitioner’s confidence in a Buddha and his Teachings will only build as they deeply learn and practice The Teachings to experience improved results in the condition of the mind and their life.

The Buddha taught Practitioners to not only have confidence in him and his Teachings but also in The Community of Practitioners learning and practicing his Teachings because they are able to support and encourage others along The Path to Enlightenment. While a Buddha is the leader of The Community, it is the entire Community of Practitioners who are all supporting and encouraging each other which will help each of them to progress towards Enlightenment.

A Buddha can share The Teachings but it is each individual in The Community who has determination, dedication, and diligence to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings that each individual will experience results. A vibrant Community of Practitioners will actively learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings while providing support and encouragement for others who seek understanding. Through a Community of Practitioners actively investigating The Teachings and discussing them amongst themselves, they will be better equipped to progress towards Enlightenment and help others attain Enlightenment after a Buddha’s death.

An Enlightened being will not only be learning, reflecting, and practicing The Teachings but ultimately be able to discuss them with ease as they are questioned by others about The Teachings or if other members of The Community are interested in discussion about The Teachings to progress in their understanding and development of their practice.

It is The Community of The Buddha, The Perfectly Enlightened One, who “is practicing the wholesome way, practicing the straight way, practicing the true way, practicing the proper way”. It was not the other communities led by other Teachers. Those communities that existed during the lifetime of The Buddha mostly evaporated and no longer exist. It is The Teachings of The Buddha that have stood the test of time existing for over 2,500 years until today.

A large community of people who are dedicated to learning and practicing these Teachings will be able to sustain The Teachings in the world through providing each other examples and be role models to one another for how to progress along The Path to Enlightenment and practice The Teachings in daily life.

The Buddha explains “the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals” in other parts of his Teachings that will be shared in this book series as you progress in your learning. Essentially these are Practitioners who have attained one of the four Stages of Enlightenment or practicing to progress from one Stage of Enlightenment to another. The Buddha explains that it is these individuals who are “worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of respectful salutation”.

Practitioners who have progressed into one of The Four Stages of Enlightenment have a well developed life practice and are highly dedicated to the attainment of Enlightenment. One would not attain any of The Four Stages of Enlightenment by accident but instead, through consistent dedication towards improving their life practice. They are also the Teachers who will be able to provide guidance to all other beings to progress towards Enlightenment. Therefore, The Buddha encourages Students to make offerings to these Practitioners to support and sustain The Community helping these Teachings to continue to flourish in the world for all beings to liberate the mind attaining Enlightenment.

Practitioners who choose to make offerings to these individuals will be creating merit. Merit is a unique type of wholesome Kamma created through generous offerings to The Community of Practitioners who are in one of The Four Stages of Enlightenment. The Buddha explains that making offerings to these individuals provides an “unsurpassed field of merit for the world”.

Practitioners who have attained one of The Four Stages of Enlightenment is beneficial for their own practice but also highly beneficial for the world in that Students can make offerings to these individuals providing support for The Teachings to continue but also bringing Students into contact with Practitioners who deeply understand The Teachings and can help the Student progress towards the attainment of Enlightenment.

The following Teaching from The Buddha explains “the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals” in detail.

An Unsurpassed Field of Merit for the World

Monks, these eight persons are worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, an unsurpassed field of merit for the world.

What eight?

The Stream-Enterer, the one practicing for realization of the fruit of Stream Entry;

the Once-Returner, the one practicing for realization of the fruit of Once Returning;

the Non-Returner, the one practicing for realization of the fruit of Non-Returning;

the Arahant, the one practicing for realization of the fruit of Arahantship.

These eight persons, Monks, are worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, an unsurpassed field of merit for the world.

The four practicing the way

and the four established in the fruit;

this is the upright Community -

composed in wisdom and virtuous behavior.

For people intent on sacrifice,

for living beings seeking merit,

making merit that ripens in the acquisitions,

what is given to The Community bears great fruit.

(Gotama Buddha)

(Reference:AN 8.59)

Detailed explanation of “What is Merit?” is available in this same book series found in Chapter 10 of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).

(4) He resides at home with a mind free of the stain of selfishness, freely generous, open-handed, joyful in letting go, one devoted to charity, joyful in giving and sharing.

To progress on The Path to Enlightenment a Practitioner will need to develop a practice of generosity where the mind is working towards eliminating “the stain of selfishness”.

As long as the mind is holding on only pursuing its own selfish desires, it will be unliberated from the craving/desire/attachment to its selfish desires and pursuit of material gain. Practicing generosity is a significant aspect of developing one’s practice towards the attainment of Enlightenment to eliminate the unwholesome quality of selfishness being able to recognize the interconnectivity between all beings and be willing to apply time, effort, energy, and resources towards the benefit of others without any expectation of anything in return.

This is not the only Teaching that is needed to determine if one is a Stream-Enterer. There are multiple Teachings a Practitioner would need to learn and practice to attain the first Stage of Enlightenment as a Stream-Enterer.

Detailed explanation of The First Stage of Enlightenment is available in this same book series found in the book “The First Stage of Enlightenment (Stream-Enterer)” (Volume 5).