Four Powers: wisdom, energy, life, kindness

Nyanaponika Thera, Numerical Discourses (ATI); Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Buddha like a Hindu deity, namely Shiva, lotus altar, Kong Meng San (pohchai1983/flickr)

.

[The Buddha taught:] "Meditators, there are four powers:

1. the power of wisdom,
2. the power of energy,
3. the power of an unblemished life, and
4. the power of benevolence.

Buddha statue, India (Erikonwanderlust/flickr)

"And what, meditators, is the power of wisdom? As for those things which are good and held to be good, bad and held to be so, blameless and blameworthy and held to be so, dark and bright and held to be so, fit or unfit to be practiced and held to be so, which are worthy and unworthy of noble ones and are held to be so -- to see all these things clearly and to consider them well, this is called the power of wisdom.

 
"And what, meditators, is the power of energy? As for those things that are bad, blameworthy, dark, unfit to be practiced, unworthy of noble ones, and which are held to be so -- to rouse one's will, to make an effort, and stir up one's energy for giving up all of these things.

"And as for those things that are good, blameless, bright, fit to be practiced, worthy of noble ones, and which are held to be so -- to rouse one's will, to make an effort and stir up one's energy for gaining all these things -- this is called the power of energy.
 

In peaceful seclusion (Sasin Tipchai/Bugphai)

"And what, meditators, is the power of an unblemished life? Herein [within this Dharma and Discipline], meditators, a noble disciple (see endnote) is unblemished in deeds, unblemished in words, unblemished in thoughts. This is called the power of an unblemished life.
 

"And what, meditators, is the power of benevolence? There are four ways of benevolence: by giving gifts, by friendly speech, by helpful acts, and by being impartial.

• This is the best of gifts: the gift of Dharma.
• And this is the best of friendly speech: to teach again and again Dharma to those who wish for it and who listen attentively.
• And this is the best of helpful acts: to arouse, instill, and strengthen confidence in the unbeliever; to arouse, instill, and strengthen virtue in the immoral; to arouse, instill, and strengthen generosity in the stingy; to arouse, instill, and strengthen wisdom in the unwise.
• And this is the best bestowal of equity: if a stream-winner (stream enterer) becomes equal to a stream-winner; a once-returner equal to a once-returner; a non-returner equal to a non-returner; and an arhat equal to an arhat.

This, meditators, is called the power of benevolence."

 

"And this (concludes) the four powers.
 
"Now, meditators, a noble disciple endowed with these four powers has left behind five fears:

1. the fear for one's livelihood,
2. the fear of disrepute,
3. the fear of embarrassment in assemblies,
4. the fear of death, and
5. the fear of an unhappy future [rebirth] destiny.

Laotian novice (Conde Pyruslav/flickr)

"A noble disciple (thus endowed) will think: 'No fear do I have for my livelihood. Why should I have fear about it? Have I not the four powers of wisdom, energy, unblemished life, and benevolence?

"'It is one who is foolish and lazy, of blameworthy conduct in deeds, words, and thoughts, and who has no benevolence -- such a one might be in fear for his or her livelihood.
 
"'No fear do I have about disrepute or about embarrassment in assemblies, nor have I fear of death or of an unhappy future destiny. Why should I have these fears? Have I not the four powers of wisdom, energy, unblemished life, and benevolence? It is one who is foolish and lazy, of blameworthy conduct in deeds, words, and thoughts, and who has no benevolence -- such a one might have all these fears.'
 

"Thus it should be understood, meditators, that a noble disciple endowed with the four powers has left behind five fears" (AN 9.5). More

ENDNOTE: Noble disciple: a stream-winner or any of the three further stages of enlightenment, for only from stream-entry onwards is moral conduct able to be perfect although, as evidenced by the Ratana Sutra, the "Jewel Discourse," virtue is not inviolable until arhatship. Until then one is still able to do harm: 

Excerpt of the Ratana Sutra: ...9. "Those who realized the Noble Truths well taught by (the Buddha) who is profound in wisdom, even though they may be exceedingly heedless, they will not take an eighth rebirth (in the sense sphere realm or kama loka)."

[The reason it is stated that there will be no eighth rebirth for a person who has attained stream entry, the first stage of enlightenment, is that such a being can be reborn at most only seven times in the sense sphere realm. This is according to Ven. Piyadassi, and it is not clear why he inserts this caveat or proviso because it is otherwise universally accepted within the Theravada school, at least as translated into English, that a stream enterer can only be reborn up to seven more times anywhere.]

"This precious jewel is the Sangha. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness. 10. "With the gaining of insight one abandons three states of mind, namely, self-illusion, doubt, and clinging to [the pursuit of any] meaningless rites and rituals [drawn by the wrong belief that they could ever result in enlightenment], should there be any. One is also fully freed from the four states of [subhuman] woe and is therefore incapable of committing any of the six major wrongdoings.

[These actions would result in rebirth in those worlds, i.e., i. matricide, ii. patricide, iii. the murder of an arhat (fully enlightened person), iv. the shedding of the Buddha's blood, v. causing a schism in the Sangha, or vi. clinging to pernicious false beliefs (niyata micca ditthi, obstinate wrong views such as doubting the efficacy of karma).]

"This precious jewel is the Sangha. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness. 11. "Any evil action one may still do by deed, word, or thought [this sentence shows that one may still engage in unwholesome karma], one is incapable of concealing it because it has been proclaimed that such concealing is impossible for one who has seen the Path (to nirvana). [When one becomes a stream enterer, part of this attainment is a change of lineage from ordinary worldling to a "noble" person because one has directly glimpsed or experienced the reality of nirvana here and now, which causes a radical and permanent change in view and intention though not necessarily one in personality and habits.] This precious jewel is the Sangha. By this (asseveration of the) truth may there be happiness."