Gradual Instructions to Enlightenment, Pt. 1

"Gradual Training" (accesstoinsight.org); Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Gandhara Buddha (ArunHaridharshan/flickr.com)

The Buddha's Teaching, the Dharma, was taught in an incremental way. This method of "gradual instruction," or ānupubbī-kathā, appears in countless sutras.

It always follows the same arc: As a skillful teacher, a "master physician," the Buddha guides hearers (savakas) from first principles to progressively more advanced teachings, all the way to the fulfillment of the Four Noble Truths, which is the full realization of nirvana.

Perceiving those capable of understanding the liberating message, regardless of their appearance or caste or social standing, he taught them in this way. There is the example of the leper:

Having encompassed the knowing of the entire assembly with his knowing, the Blessed One asked himself, "Who here is capable of understanding the Dharma?"

He then noticed Suppabuddha the leper sitting in the assembly, and the thought occurred to him, "This person is capable of understanding the Dharma."

Turning his attention to Suppabuddha the leper, he gave a step-by-step discourse, that is, a talk on 

• generosity,
• a talk on virtue,
• a talk on heavens.
• He declared the drawbacks, degradation, and danger of sensual attachments and the rewards of renunciation, of letting go, of freedom.

Then when he perceived that Suppabuddha the leper's mind/heart was ready, malleable, free from the hindrances, joyful, bright, and temporarily purified (released), he gave a talk on the Dharma unique to enlightened ones (who have realized it for themselves):

1. suffering
2. origination
3. cessation
4. the path leading to its cessation (to complete liberation).

And just as a cloth freed of stains would properly absorb a dye, as Suppabuddha the leper was sitting in that very seat, the "stainless eye of the Dharma" arose in him: "Whatever is subject to arising is also subject to cessation" (Verses of Uplift, Udana 5.3).

This "gradual instruction" pattern of a sutra (a suture, a thread that ties them together) progressing through stages was utilized by the Buddha to prepare listeners' hearts/minds before speaking on the more advanced teaching of the Four Noble Truths.

The stock passage (e.g., DN 3, DN 14, MN 56), according to Ven, Nyanatiloka (Buddhist Dictionary), runs as follows:

"Then the Blessed One gave a gradual instruction -- that is to say, speaking on giving (letting go), virtuous conduct (sila), and the heavens (sagga), then explaining the peril, the folly, and the depravity of [craving and addiction to] sensual pleasures and, moreover, the advantages of renouncing.

"When the Blessed One perceived that the listener's mind was prepared, pliant, freed of obstacles [hindrances], elevated and lucid, he explained that exalted teaching particular to the buddhas (buddhānam sāmukkamsikā desanā), that is: suffering, its cause, its undoing, and the path [to its undoing]" (BD).