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he sat down to one side. Seated to one side, Venerable Sāriputta said this to Venerable Ānanda – "By the abandoning of how many qualities, friend Ānanda, and by being endowed with how many qualities, is this community declared by the Blessed One as stream-enterers, not subject to falling, certain, bound for full enlightenment?" "By the abandoning of four qualities, friend, and by being endowed with four qualities, is this community declared by the Blessed One as stream-enterers, not subject to falling, certain, bound for full enlightenment." "Which four? The kind of lack of faith in the Buddha, friend, with which one is endowed, an uninstructed ordinary person, at the breaking up of the body, after death, reappears in a state of deprivation, a bad destination, a lower realm, hell; such a lack of faith in the Buddha does not exist for them. And the kind of unwavering faith in the Buddha, friend, with which one is endowed, an instructed noble disciple, at the breaking up of the body, after death, reappears in a good destination, a heavenly world; such an unwavering faith in the Buddha exists for them – 'Indeed, that Blessed One... teacher of gods and humans, the Buddha, the Blessed One'." "And the kind of lack of faith in the Dhamma, friend, An uninstructed ordinary person, endowed with confidence, with the breaking up of the body, after death, is reborn in a state of deprivation, a bad destination, a lower realm, hell; and in such a Dhamma, there is no lack of confidence. And, friends, an instructed noble disciple, endowed with unwavering confidence in such a Dhamma, with the breaking up of the body, after death, is reborn in a good destination, a heavenly world. In such a Dhamma, there is unwavering confidence – "Well-proclaimed is the Dhamma by the Blessed One, visible here and now, timeless, inviting inspection, onward-leading, to be personally experienced by the wise." And, friends, an uninstructed ordinary person, endowed with lack of confidence in such a Sangha, with the breaking up of the body, after death, is reborn in a state of deprivation, a bad destination, a lower realm, hell; and in such a Sangha, there is no lack of confidence. And, friends, an instructed noble disciple, endowed with unwavering confidence in such a Sangha, with the breaking up of the body, after death, is reborn in a good destination, a heavenly world. In such a Sangha, there is unwavering confidence – "The Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples is practicing well, practicing uprightly, practicing for the sake of Nibbāna, practicing with integrity; that is, the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals – this Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, the unsurpassed field of merit for the world." And, friends, an uninstructed ordinary person, endowed with bad conduct, with the breaking up of the body, after death, is reborn in a state of deprivation, a bad destination, a lower realm, hell; and in such bad conduct, there is no bad conduct. And, friends, an instructed noble disciple, endowed with noble, beloved virtues, with the breaking up of the body, after death, is reborn in a good destination, a heavenly world. Such noble, beloved virtues are unbroken, untorn, unblemished, unblotched, freeing, praised by the wise, ungrasped, conducive to concentration. Friends, because of the abandonment of these four qualities, and the endowment with these four qualities, this generation has been declared by the Blessed One as stream-enterers, not subject to falling into lower realms, assured, bound for full enlightenment. The Third. 4. Discourse on the Fear of Bad Destinations "Monks, an instructed noble disciple, endowed with four qualities, has overcome all fear of bad destinations. Which four? Here, monks, a noble disciple is endowed with unwavering confidence in the Buddha, Indeed, that Blessed One is Arahant, perfectly enlightened, endowed with knowledge and conduct, well-gone, knower of the worlds, unsurpassed leader of persons to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, the Buddha, the Blessed One. The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One, directly visible, immediate, inviting one to come and see, applicable, to be personally experienced by the wise. The Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples is practicing well, practicing uprightly, practicing wisely, practicing dutifully; that is, the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals. This Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, an unsurpassed field of merit for the world. He is endowed with the virtues dear to the noble ones, unbroken, untorn, unblemished, unblotted, freeing, praised by the wise, ungrasped, conducive to concentration. Indeed, monks, a noble disciple endowed with these four qualities overcomes all fear of bad destinations. The Fourth. 5. Discourse on the Fear of Bad Destinations and States of Woe 1011. Monks, a noble disciple endowed with four qualities overcomes all fear of bad destinations and states of woe. With which four? Here, monks, a noble disciple is endowed with unwavering faith in the Buddha: Indeed, that Blessed One is Arahant, perfectly enlightened, endowed with knowledge and conduct, well-gone, knower of the worlds, unsurpassed leader of persons to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, the Buddha, the Blessed One. In the Dhamma: The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One, directly visible, immediate, inviting one to come and see, applicable, to be personally experienced by the wise. In the Sangha: The Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples is practicing well, practicing uprightly, practicing wisely, practicing dutifully; that is, the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals. This Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, an unsurpassed field of merit for the world. He is endowed with the virtues dear to the noble ones, unbroken, untorn, unblemished, unblotted, freeing, praised by the wise, ungrasped, conducive to concentration. Indeed, monks, a noble disciple endowed with these four qualities overcomes all fear of bad destinations and states of woe. The Fifth. 6. First Discourse on Friends and Associates 1012. Monks, those whom you would pity, and those who would think it worth listening— whether friends or associates, relatives or blood-relations— they, monks, should be encouraged, established, and settled in the four factors of stream-entry. In which four? They should be encouraged, established, and settled in unwavering faith in the Buddha: Indeed, that Blessed One is Arahant, perfectly enlightened, endowed with knowledge and conduct, well-gone, knower of the worlds, unsurpassed leader of persons to be tamed, teacher of gods and humans, the Buddha, the Blessed One. In the Dhamma: The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One, directly visible, immediate, inviting one to come and see, applicable, to be personally experienced by the wise. In the Sangha: The Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples is practicing well, practicing uprightly, practicing wisely, practicing dutifully; that is, the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals. This Sangha of the Blessed One's disciples is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, an unsurpassed field of merit for the world. They should be encouraged, established, and settled in the virtues dear to the noble ones, unbroken, untorn, unblemished, unblotted, freeing, praised by the wise, ungrasped, conducive to concentration. Monks, those whom you would pity, and those who would think it worth listening— whether friends or associates, relatives or blood-relations— they, monks, should be encouraged, established, and settled in these four factors of stream-entry. The Sixth. 7. Second Discourse on Friends and Associates 1013. Monks, those whom you would pity, and those who would think it worth listening— whether friends or associates, or relatives or blood relatives— these, monks, should be established, settled, and grounded in the four factors of stream-entry. In which four? They should be established, settled, and grounded in unwavering faith in the Buddha— ‘Indeed, that Blessed One is… …teacher of gods and humans, the Awakened One, the Blessed One.’ It is possible, monks, for the four great elements to be otherwise— the earth element, the water element, the fire element, the air element— but not for an noble disciple endowed with unwavering faith in the Buddha to be otherwise. This is that otherwise: ‘Indeed, that noble disciple, endowed with unwavering faith in the Buddha, will be reborn in hell, or in the animal realm, or in the realm of hungry ghosts’— this is not possible. In the Dhamma… …in the Saṅgha… …in the noble, beloved virtues they should be established, settled, and grounded— in the unbroken… …conducive to concentration. It is possible, monks, for the four great elements to be otherwise— the earth element, the water element, the fire element, the air element— but not for an noble disciple endowed with the noble, beloved virtues to be otherwise. This is that otherwise: ‘Indeed, that noble disciple, endowed with the noble, beloved virtues, will be reborn in hell, or in the animal realm, or in the realm of hungry ghosts’— this is not possible. Those whom you would pity, monks, and those who would listen— friends or companions, relatives or blood relatives— these, monks, should be established, settled, and grounded in these four factors of stream-entry. The Seventh. 8. The First Discourse on a Divine Journey 1014. Occasion at Sāvatthī. Then the Venerable Mahāmoggallāna— just as a strong man might extend his bent arm, or bend his extended arm— vanished from Jetavana and appeared among the Tāvatiṃsa devas.