17/08/2026
Most spiritual friends are well aware of three kinds of training that are helpful for entering the noble path: dana (generosity), sila (morality) and bhavana (wise reflection), but not in-depth. The ordinary Sangha explains them, but they need to be elaborated in depth as follows.
Dana or generosity:
Dana is of two kinds: offering material offerings to the Buddha, arahants, anagamis, sakadagamis, and sotapannas in order to experience Sotapanna (stream entry) and beyond.
Offering gratitude and the inner self to the Buddha and Dhamma (and noble Sanghas) by letting go of self-view and other fetters within you as dana.
Sila has two kinds: external and internal.
External sila means shaping external actions and words (body and speech), regardless of intentions.
Internal sila means shaping intentions (that can be developed across four stages of nibbana).
Bavana, or wise reflection, has two kinds: external and internal.
External refers to paying attention to sensations, thoughts, and breath and the like.
Internal reflection means understanding the meaninglessness of suffering with what causes suffering with wisdom or “nissarana", and letting go of suffering through investigation of one’s own mind, to letting go of self-view and other fetters.
Entering universal emptiness or cessation requires you to constantly engage in letting go of the first three fetters in the mind while enhancing wholesomeness through inner generosity (gratitude, a mind state) and inner precepts (intentions or the noble view, a mind state), and combining them.
"Friends, when one thing is developed and cultivated, it leads exclusively to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, enlightenment, and Nibbana.
What one thing? Recollection of the Buddha. (Universal Dhamma, universal Sanghas..)..
-AN 1.296-298
Infants do not understand what to eat or drink and what they like. Yet once they grow up, adults know what is what. In the same way, to grow on the noble path, it is beneficial to know what is what and know precisely to experience cessation from suffering with stability in nature’s way, that is Buddha’s universal path.
The aspects of generosity (dana) include gratitude and responsibility, To do wholesome and to shape thinking, doing, and acting, you initially need to know what is what, and this can be elaborated as follows.
Teachers must be cared for and appreciated because they have taught students new things and various things. Good parents should be respected because they have done much for children. Even those who contribute to society in many ways, including doctors, cleaners and plumbers, should be respected and appreciated because they have taken on difficult jobs that help others. The homeless, those without caste, the severely ill either physically or mentally, and the severely disabled should be cared for and respected for who they are and their circumstances. Ordinary monks, householders, and meditators should be respected for sharing the basics of practices related to letting go of suffering, and noble Sanghas should be respected for revealing how you can link existing practices to the noble path, which supports you to experience stages of nibbana. When you respect all beings, you can't hurt anyone.
An infant may eat a dress that is meant to be worn. In the same way, when it comes to follow the noble path, someone can respect and appreciate something that is not directly contributing to experiencing nibbana. The universe has a natural order and law, and that’s why Buddha has explained the nature’s law to you. For example, if you were to respect your mother for the reason you respect a teacher, that is not appropriate, as you have a different reason to respect and care for your parents within your capacity. If you were to respect Sangha who hold the Devadatta-like views or non-noble views, that would not help you experience nibbana, but it would help you engage in other practices you may choose to pursue. What to practice and what not to practice is an individual choice but knowing what the noble path is and what is not is helpful, as it refines the noble view through which you can enter the universal training path.
Even after someone has experienced the four stages of nibbana, they are still grateful to teachers, parents, friends, those who helped in many ways, those who contribute to society, and to all beings for merely being. However, if someone wants to experience universal Dhamma across stages, they have to follow the universal laws, appreciate and be grateful to those who share the universal path; it is through the path one can experience nibbana. Thus , to discover the universal training path, you may investigate the mind and explore reasons for your intentions, cause and effect. In doing so, when you respect all, you can't hurt your self or another.
https://youtu.be/xf5xKpIG2XI
https://youtu.be/DY3ugOAP2Hk
“Don’t say that, Ānanda, don’t say that! This dependent origination is deep and appears deep.”
-Mahānidānasutta, DN 15
Homage to the supremely enlightened Buddha🙏🙏🙏