The steps for a disciple in training, as taught by Venerable Ananda at the Buddha’s request, are divided into two main categories: Conduct (caraṇa) and Knowledge (vijjā).
1. The Foundation of Conduct (Caraṇa)
The training begins with developing a strong foundation in behavior and mental discipline:
Accomplishment in Virtue: The disciple lives restrained by the moral codes (Patimokkha) and sees danger in even the slightest faults.
Guarding the Sense Doors: When experiencing forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, or thoughts, the disciple does not grasp at their signs or features. This prevents unwholesome states like covetousness and displeasure from invading the mind.
Moderation in Eating: The disciple eats mindfully, not for amusement or physical beautification, but strictly to maintain the body, ease discomfort, and support the holy life.
Dedication to Wakefulness: The disciple spends the day, as well as the first and last watches of the night, purifying the mind through walking and sitting meditation. In the middle of the night, they rest mindfully in the “lion’s posture”.
Developing Seven Wholesome Qualities: The disciple cultivates faith in the Buddha’s awakening, conscience (shame regarding misconduct), prudence (fear of wrongdoing), broad learning and retention of the teachings, vigorous energy to abandon unwholesome states, strict mindfulness, and wisdom regarding the arising and passing away of phenomena.
Attaining the Four Jhanas: Through this foundation, the disciple is able to effortlessly enter and dwell in the four deep states of meditative absorption (jhanas).
2. The Three Breakthroughs and Release from Samsara (Vijjā)
Ananda compares a disciple who has perfected this conduct to a fully incubated egg, perfectly ready to break out of its shell. With a highly concentrated mind, the disciple achieves three realizations (knowledges) that culminate in ultimate liberation:
Recollecting Past Lives: The disciple remembers their many past lives in detail. This is described as their first breakthrough, comparable to a chick piercing its eggshell.
The Divine Eye: The disciple gains the ability to see beings passing away and being reborn according to their karma, distinguishing between favorable and unfavorable destinations. This is the second breakthrough.
Destruction of the Taints (Release from Samsara): The third and final breakthrough is the complete destruction of mental taints or defilements (āsavas). The disciple directly realizes the taintless liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom in this very life.
By successfully completing these steps, the disciple breaks free from ignorance and the cycle of rebirth, ultimately becoming fully accomplished in both knowledge and conduct (vijjācaraṇasampanno).
Let’s dig further into the seven qualities that needs to be possessed.
The seven wholesome qualities (saddhammā) cultivated by a disciple in training are detailed as follows:
Faith: The disciple has faith in the awakening of the Tathagata, recognizing the Buddha as fully awakened, perfectly accomplished in knowledge and conduct, the knower of the world, and the unsurpassed teacher of gods and humans.
Conscience (Shame): The disciple feels a sense of shame regarding misconduct committed through body, speech, and mind, and is deeply ashamed to engage in evil, unwholesome states.
Prudence (Fear of Wrongdoing): The disciple fears the consequences of misconduct in body, speech, and mind, and is afraid of falling into evil, unwholesome states.
Broad Learning: The disciple learns, retains, and accumulates the teachings that are good in the beginning, middle, and end, declaring the perfectly pure holy life. They memorize these teachings, reflect on them thoroughly with the mind, and penetrate them deeply with right view.
Vigorous Energy: The disciple arouses strong, unwavering energy to abandon unwholesome qualities and cultivate wholesome ones, remaining steadfast, firm in their advance, and not shirking the burden of spiritual practice.
Mindfulness: The disciple possesses supreme mindfulness and alertness, giving them the ability to remember and recall even things that were done or spoken long ago.
Wisdom: The disciple is equipped with penetrative wisdom regarding the arising and passing away of phenomena, which is noble and leads directly to the complete destruction of suffering.
The Practice for One in Training
