an.10.61 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

Ignorance

“Bhikkhus, this is said: ‘A first point of ignorance, bhikkhus, is not seen such that before this there was no ignorance and afterward it came into being.’ Still, ignorance is seen to have a specific condition.

“I say, bhikkhus, that ignorance has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for ignorance? It should be said: the five hindrances. The five hindrances, too, I say, have a nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for the five hindrances? It should be said: the three kinds of misconduct. The three kinds of misconduct, too, I say, have a nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for the three kinds of misconduct? It should be said: non-restraint of the sense faculties. Non-restraint of the sense faculties, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for non-restraint of the sense faculties? It should be said: lack of mindfulness and clear comprehension. Lack of mindfulness and clear comprehension, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for lack of mindfulness and clear comprehension? It should be said: careless attention. Careless attention, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for careless attention? It should be said: lack of faith. Lack of faith, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for lack of faith? It should be said: not hearing the good Dhamma. Not hearing the good Dhamma, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for not hearing the good Dhamma? It should be said: not associating with good persons.

“Thus not associating with good persons, becoming full, fills up not hearing the good Dhamma. Not hearing the good Dhamma, becoming full, fills up lack of faith. Lack of faith, becoming full, fills up careless attention. Careless attention, becoming full, fills up lack of mindfulness and clear comprehension. Lack of mindfulness and clear comprehension, becoming full, fills up non-restraint of the sense faculties. Non-restraint of the sense faculties, becoming full, fills up the three kinds of misconduct. The three kinds of misconduct, becoming full, fill up the five hindrances. The five hindrances, becoming full, fill up ignorance. Thus there is nutriment for ignorance, and in this way it becomes full.

“Just as, when it is raining and the rain pours down in thick droplets on a mountaintop, the water flows down along the slope and fills the clefts, gullies, and creeks; these, becoming full, fill up the pools; these, becoming full, fill up the lakes; these, becoming full, fill up the streams; these, becoming full, fill up the rivers; and these, becoming full, fill up the great ocean; thus there is nutriment for the great ocean, and in this way it becomes full. So too, not associating with good persons, becoming full, fills up not hearing the good Dhamma…. The five hindrances, becoming full, fill up ignorance. Thus there is nutriment for ignorance, and in this way it becomes full.

“I say, bhikkhus, that (1) true knowledge and liberation have a nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for true knowledge and liberation? It should be said: (2) the seven factors of enlightenment. The seven factors of enlightenment, too, I say, have a nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for the seven factors of enlightenment? It should be said: (3) the four establishments of mindfulness. The four establishments of mindfulness, too, I say, have a nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for the four establishments of mindfulness? It should be said: (4) the three kinds of good conduct. The three kinds of good conduct, too, I say, have a nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for the three kinds of good conduct? It should be said: (5) restraint of the sense faculties. Restraint of the sense faculties, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for restraint of the sense faculties? It should be said: (6) mindfulness and clear comprehension. Mindfulness and clear comprehension, too, I say, have a nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for mindfulness and clear comprehension? It should be said: (7) careful attention. Careful attention, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for careful attention? It should be said: (8) faith. Faith, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for faith? It should be said: (9) hearing the good Dhamma. Hearing the good Dhamma, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for hearing the good Dhamma? It should be said: (10) associating with good persons.

“Thus associating with good persons, becoming full, fills up hearing the good Dhamma. Hearing the good Dhamma, becoming full, fills up faith. Faith, becoming full, fills up careful attention. Careful attention, becoming full, fills up mindfulness and clear comprehension. Mindfulness and clear comprehension, becoming full, fill up restraint of the sense faculties. Restraint of the sense faculties, becoming full, fills up the three kinds of good conduct. The three kinds of good conduct, becoming full, fill up the four establishments of mindfulness. The four establishments of mindfulness, becoming full, fill up the seven factors of enlightenment. The seven factors of enlightenment, becoming full, fill up true knowledge and liberation. Thus there is nutriment for true knowledge and liberation, and in this way they become full.

“Just as, when it is raining and the rain pours down in thick droplets on a mountaintop, the water flows down along the slope and fills the clefts, gullies, and creeks; these, becoming full, fill up the pools; these, becoming full, fill up the lakes; these, becoming full, fill up the streams; these, becoming full, fill up the rivers; and these, becoming full, fill up the great ocean; thus there is nutriment for the great ocean, and in this way it becomes full. So too, associating with good persons, becoming full, fills up hearing the good Dhamma…. The seven factors of enlightenment, becoming full, fill up true knowledge and liberation. Thus there is nutriment for true knowledge and liberation, and in this way they become full.”

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

Ignorance

“Mendicants, it is said that no first point of ignorance is evident, before which there was no ignorance, and afterwards it came to be.
And yet it is evident that there is a specific condition for ignorance.
I say that ignorance is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for ignorance?
You should say: ‘The five hindrances.’
I say that the five hindrances are fueled by something, they’re not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for the five hindrances?
You should say: ‘The three kinds of misconduct.’
I say that the three kinds of misconduct are fueled by something, they’re not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for the three kinds of misconduct?
You should say: ‘Lack of sense restraint.’
I say that lack of sense restraint is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for lack of sense restraint?
You should say: ‘Lack of mindfulness and situational awareness.’
I say that lack of mindfulness and situational awareness is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for lack of mindfulness and situational awareness?
You should say: ‘Improper attention.’
I say that improper attention is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for improper attention?
You should say: ‘Lack of faith.’
I say that lack of faith is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for lack of faith?
You should say: ‘Listening to an untrue teaching.’
I say that listening to an untrue teaching is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for listening to an untrue teaching?
You should say: ‘Associating with bad people.’
In this way, when the factor of associating with bad people is fulfilled, it fulfills the factor of listening to an untrue teaching. When the factor of listening to an untrue teaching is fulfilled, it fulfills the factor of lack of faith … improper attention … lack of mindfulness and situational awareness … lack of sense restraint …the three kinds of misconduct … the five hindrances. When the five hindrances are fulfilled, they fulfill ignorance.
That’s the fuel for ignorance, and that’s how it’s fulfilled.
It’s like when the rain pours down on a mountain top, and the water flows downhill to fill the hollows, crevices, and creeks. As they become full, they fill up the pools. The pools fill up the lakes, the lakes fill up the streams, and the streams fill up the rivers. And as the rivers become full, they fill up the ocean.
That’s the fuel for the ocean, and that’s how it’s filled up.
In the same way, when the factor of associating with bad people is fulfilled, it fulfills the factor of listening to an untrue teaching. When the factor of listening to an untrue teaching is fulfilled, it fulfills the factor of lack of faith … improper attention … lack of mindfulness and situational awareness … lack of sense restraint …the three kinds of misconduct … the five hindrances. When the five hindrances are fulfilled, they fulfill ignorance.
That’s the fuel for ignorance, and that’s how it’s fulfilled.
I say that knowledge and freedom are fueled by something, they’re not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for knowledge and freedom?
You should say: ‘The seven awakening factors.’
I say that the seven awakening factors are fueled by something, they’re not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for the seven awakening factors?
You should say: ‘The four kinds of mindfulness meditation.’
I say that the four kinds of mindfulness meditation are fueled by something, they’re not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for the four kinds of mindfulness meditation?
You should say: ‘The three kinds of good conduct.’
I say that the three kinds of good conduct are fueled by something, they’re not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for the three kinds of good conduct?
You should say: ‘Sense restraint.’
I say that sense restraint is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for sense restraint?
You should say: ‘Mindfulness and situational awareness.’
I say that mindfulness and situational awareness is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for mindfulness and situational awareness?
You should say: ‘Proper attention.’
I say that proper attention is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for proper attention?
You should say: ‘Faith.’
I say that faith is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for faith?
You should say: ‘Listening to the true teaching.’
I say that listening to the true teaching is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled.
And what is the fuel for listening to the true teaching?
You should say: ‘Associating with good people.’
In this way, when the factor of associating with good people is fulfilled, it fulfills the factor of listening to the true teaching. When the factor of listening to the true teaching is fulfilled, it fulfills the factor of faith … proper attention … mindfulness and situational awareness … sense restraint …the three kinds of good conduct … the four kinds of mindfulness meditation … the seven awakening factors. When the seven awakening factors are fulfilled, they fulfill knowledge and freedom.
That’s the fuel for knowledge and freedom, and that’s how it’s fulfilled.
It’s like when it rains heavily on a mountain top, and the water flows downhill to fill the hollows, crevices, and creeks. As they become full, they fill up the pools. The pools fill up the lakes, the lakes fill up the streams, and the streams fill up the rivers. And as the rivers become full, they fill up the ocean.
That’s the fuel for the ocean, and that’s how it’s filled up.
In the same way, when the factor of associating with good people is fulfilled, it fulfills the factor of listening to the true teaching. When the factor of listening to the true teaching is fulfilled, it fulfills the factor of faith … proper attention … mindfulness and situational awareness … sense restraint …the three kinds of good conduct … the four kinds of mindfulness meditation … the seven awakening factors. When the seven awakening factors are fulfilled, they fulfill knowledge and freedom.
That’s the fuel for knowledge and freedom, and that’s how it’s fulfilled.”