an.4.27 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

Contentment

“Bhikkhus, there are these four trifles, easily gained and blameless. What four?

(1) “A rag-robe is a trifle among robes, easily gained and blameless. (2) A lump of almsfood is a trifle among meals, easily gained and blameless. (3) The foot of a tree is a trifle among lodgings, easily gained and blameless. (4) Putrid urine is a trifle among medicines, easily gained and blameless.

“These are the four trifles, easily gained and blameless. When a bhikkhu is satisfied with what is trifling and easily gained, I say that he has one of the factors of the ascetic life.”

When one is content with what is blameless,
trifling and easily gained;
when one’s mind is not distressed
because of a lodging,
robe, drink, and food,
one is not hindered anywhere.

These qualities, rightly said
to conform to the ascetic life,
are acquired by a bhikkhu
who is content and heedful.

- Translator: Bhikkhu Bodhi

- Editor: Blake Walsh

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Contentment

“Mendicants, these four trifles are easy to find and are blameless.
What four?
Rag-robes …
A lump of almsfood …
Lodgings at the root of a tree …
Fermented urine as medicine …
These four trifles are easy to find and are blameless.
When a mendicant is content with trifles that are easy to find, they have one of the factors of the ascetic life, I say.
When you’re content with what’s blameless,
trifling, and easy to find,
you don’t get upset
about lodgings, robes,
food, and drink,
and you’re not obstructed anywhere.
These qualities are said to be
integral to the ascetic life.
They’re mastered by one who trains,
content and diligent.”