Encourage, Settle, and Establish in The Four Factors of Stream-Entry

Monks, those for whom you have compassion and who think you should be heeded — whether friends or colleagues, relatives or kinsmen — these you should encourage, settle, and establish in The Four Factors of Stream-Entry.

What four?

1. You should encourage, settle, and establish them in 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. You should encourage, settle, and establish them in 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. You should encourage, settle, and establish them in 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. You should encourage, settle, and establish them in confirmed confidence in the virtues dear to the Noble Ones, unbroken, untorn, unblemished, unblotched, liberating, praised by the wise, not misunderstood, and leading to concentration.

Those for whom you have compassion and who think you should be heeded— whether friends or colleagues, relatives or kinsmen — these you should encourage, settle, and establish in these four factors of Stream-Entry. 

(Reference: SN 55.16)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares The Four Factors of attaining the first Stage of Enlightenment as a Stream-Enterer. The Buddha shares that anyone who you have compassion for that you feel would be interested to understand these Teachings, “whether friends or colleagues, relatives or kinsmen — these you should encourage, settle, and establish in these four factors of Stream-Entry”.

The Buddha is not suggesting that we should attempt to force others to learn these Teachings that lead to liberation of mind and the end of discontentedness. Instead, those who express an interest and are willing to understand, we should not hide these Teachings from them but instead, make them available through pointing them in the direction of learning and practicing these Teachings with a Teacher who can help them.

As one learns, reflects, and practices The Path to Enlightenment, the mind and your life will become more and more peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy where the mind will completely eliminate all discontent feelings upon the attainment of Enlightenment.

Having made the breakthrough to The Four Noble Truths and progressing towards Enlightenment, you will observe how much discontentedness is in the world and beings roam around unaware of the suffering they are experiencing and causing for themselves.

You may find beings, whether in personal or professional relationships with you, who might listen to your suggestions that you can encourage them to seek guidance in pursuing The Path to Enlightenment, so they can help themselves eliminate all discontentedness in the mind. Because as you observe the life changing improvements to the condition of the mind and your life, would you really choose to leave those who are closest to you struggling with discontentedness or would you instead choose to skillfully introduce them to the option of gaining access to these Teachings?

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares that anyone who is close to us whom we feel would listen to our suggestions we might decide to help them to gain access to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings on The Path to Enlightenment.

If you choose to introduce the ability for those close to you to learn and practice these Teachings, you may need to consider skillful ways to suggest one learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings as you should not be forceful or pushy in your practice of loving-kindness and compassion to recommending one consider The Path to Enlightenment as a solution to their discontent mind. 

1.) Loving-kindness (Pāli: mettā): is active goodwill towards all beings without judgment. A genuine interest in seeing all beings be well.

2.) Compassion (Pāli: karuṇā): is concern for the misfortunes of others.

Those who are not familiar with The Path to Enlightenment and have no exposure to The Buddha’s Teachings, or those who are learning through other traditions of Buddhist Teachings may be uninterested or offended in the recommendation to explore options to improve the condition of their mind and their life. If you choose to be forceful or pushy, this would be due to your own craving/desire/attachment or expectations for a certain outcome and will not result in a wholesome outcome.

Instead, if you are going to present the option for someone to consider these Teachings for their life, it is important that you politely, kindly, friendly, and respectfully find a way to suggest that a person close to you read a book, listen to an audiobook, watch a video, listen to a podcast, attend a class, and/or seek personal guidance with a Teacher who can help them learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings to liberate the mind to Enlightenment.

(1) - (4) of this Chapter is explained in Chapter 2 of this book.

Now that you have completed reading (Volume 6) of this book series and may decide to read this book multiple times, I would like to take a moment to personally “thank you” for your determination, dedication, and diligence to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings of The Buddha on The Path to Enlightenment.

The time, effort, energy, and resources that you devote to this path are serving to help you and countless other beings. As you choose to learn and practice these Teachings, you will significantly reduce then eliminate any harm that you are putting into the world through your unknowing of true reality. The unEnlightened mind does not understand what it does not understand.

You are now applying time, effort, energy, and resources to improving the condition of the mind, the condition of your life, and, thus, the condition of the world through investigating The Teachings to acquire wisdom. The world becomes a better place when we each individually choose to improve our own life practice taking responsibility for our own intentions, speech, actions, and livelihood while improving our wisdom and mental discipline.

I admire individuals who choose to walk towards harmlessness. I admire individuals who choose to realize there is a better way of life and create that better way of life for themselves through seeking guidance. And, I admire individuals who do not shrink back from the struggle to move the mind towards Enlightenment when the natural tendency might be to remain complacent.

Why have I chosen to share these Teachings with you? 

“That it may be for the benefit and peacefulness of the multitude (many people), out of compassion for the world, for the benefit and peacefulness of heavenly beings and humans”. (Gotama Buddha)

“Because if they understand even a single sentence, that will lead to their welfare and peacefulness for a long time”. (Gotama Buddha)

May you discover the freedom associated with a mind that is peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy permanently - the Enlightened mind.

As you need help to learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings, you are welcome to seek guidance which is available openly and freely to “all beings”.