AN 4.1 - AN 4:1 Understanding | Anubuddha Sutta
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN4_1.html
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Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017
License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Publisher references (not part of the sutta): See also: DN 16
Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded.
Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed.

Fours

Understanding
 Anubuddha Sutta (AN 4:1)

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying among the Vajjians at Bhaṇḍa Village. There he addressed the monks, “Monks!”

“Yes, lord,” the monks responded to him.

The Blessed One said: “It’s because of not understanding and not penetrating four things that we have transmigrated & wandered on for such a long, long time, you & I. Which four?

“It’s because of not understanding and not penetrating noble virtue that we have transmigrated & wandered on for such a long, long time, you & I.

“It’s because of not understanding and not penetrating noble concentration that we have transmigrated & wandered on for such a long, long time, you & I.

“It’s because of not understanding and not penetrating noble discernment that we have transmigrated & wandered on for such a long, long time, you & I.

“It’s because of not understanding and not penetrating noble release that we have transmigrated & wandered on for such a long, long time, you & I.

“But now that noble virtue is understood & penetrated, noble concentration… noble discernment… noble release is understood & penetrated, craving for becoming is destroyed, the guide to becoming [craving] is ended, there is now no further becoming.”

That is what the Blessed One said. When the One Well-Gone had said that, he—the Teacher—said further:

Unexcelled virtue, concentration,
    discernment, & release
have been understood
by Gotama of glorious stature.
Having known them directly,
he taught the Dhamma to the monks—
    he, the Awakened One
    the Teacher who has put an end
        to suffering & stress,
    the One with vision
      totally unbound.