The Foundations of Buddhism

Four Truths

trying to make their behaviour conform to the prescriptions of

the path, but simply of how they are in all they think, say, and

do. We are talking of an inner transformation at the deepest

levels of one's being.

Alongside the eightfold path, Buddhist texts present'the path

that ends in the cessation of suffering as a gradual and cumu-

lative process involving a hierarchical progression of practice,

beginning with generosity (dana), moving on to good conduct

(sllalfila), and ending in meditation (bhiivanii); alternatively we

find the sequence: good conduct (szlalslla), meditative concen-

tration (samiidhi), and wisdom (prajiia!pafiiiii). According to this

kind of scheme, the early stages of the practice of the path are.

more concerned with establishing good conduct on the basis of

the ethical precepts; these provide the firm foundation for the

development of concentration, which in turn prepares for the per-

fection of understanding and wisdom. This outlook is the basis

of the important notion of 'the gradual path' which finds its earli-

est and most succinct expression as 'the step by step discourse'

(anupurvikii kathii/anupubbi-kathii) of the Nikayas/Agamas:

Then the Blessed One gave instruction step by step ... namely talk on

giving, talk on good conduct, and talk on heaven; he proclaimed the
danger, elimination and impurity of sense desires, and the benefit of desire-
lessness. When the Blessed One knew that the mind [of his listener] was
ready, open, without hindrances, inspired, and confident, then he gave
the instruction in Dharma that is special to buddhas: suffering, its ori-
gin, its cessation, the path.^36

The psychological understanding that underlies this is not hard

to see. In order to see the four truths, the mind must be clear

and still; in order to be still, the mind must be content; in order
to be content, the mind must be free from remorse and guilt; in
order to be free from guilt, one needs a clear conscience; the bases
of a clear conscience are generosity and good conduct.
The eight items of the eightfold path can also be analysed in

terms of the three categories of good conduct, concentration,

and wisdom: the first two items of the path (view and intention)
are encompassed by the third category, wisdom; the next three