Source:: [SuttaCentral.net](https://suttacentral.net/mn107/en/sujato?layout=sidebyside&script=latin) # MN107 Gaṇakamoggallānasutta Tags:: [[Jhana]], [[Nivarana|5 Hindrances]], #dhamma/practice/map ## Summary The [Gaṇakamoggallānasutta](https://suttacentral.net/mn107/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=linebyline&reference=none&notes=none&highlight=false&script=latin) describes the Buddha’s "gradual training" (_anupubbasikkhā_), likening it to an accountant teaching a student or a horse trainer breaking in a thoroughbred. Here are the progressive steps as laid out in the text: - **Ethics and Restraint (_Sīla_):** The practitioner starts by being ethical, restrained by the monastic code, and seeing danger in the slightest faults. - **Guarding the Sense Doors (_Indriyasaṁvara_):** One learns not to get caught up in the "features and details" of what is seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched, or thought, preventing unskillful qualities like covetousness from taking hold. - **Moderation in Eating (_Bhojane Mattaññutā_):** Reflecting rationally on food—consuming it not for fun or looks, but simply to sustain the body for spiritual practice. - **Commitment to Wakefulness (_Jāgariya_):** Purifying the mind through walking and sitting meditation during the day and most of the night, practicing the "lion's posture" during the middle watch of sleep. - **Mindfulness and Situational Awareness (_Satisampajañña_):** Maintaining clear awareness during all physical activities, from looking and stretching to eating and using the toilet. - **Abandoning the Hindrances:** Retreating to a secluded place to cleanse the mind of the five hindrances: covetousness, ill will, dullness/drowsiness, restlessness/remorse, and doubt. - **The Four Absorptions (_Jhānas_):** Entering and remaining in the four stages of deep meditative immersion, leading to internal clarity and equanimity. The Buddha concludes by noting that while he "shows the way," the final result—Extinguishment (_Nibbāna_)—depends on the individual's own application, much as a traveler must actually walk the road to reach a destination. ## Notes > [!NOTE] In Gaṇakamoggallānasutta ([MN107](https://suttacentral.net/mn107/en/sujato)) > What is the cause, brahmin, what is the reason why, though Rājagaha is present, the path leading to Rājagaha is present, and you are there to encourage them, > _Ko nu kho, brāhmaṇa, hetu ko paccayo yaṁ tiṭṭhateva rājagahaṁ, tiṭṭhati rājagahagāmī maggo, tiṭṭhasi tvaṁ samādapetā;_ > > one person takes the wrong path and heads west, while another arrives safely at Rājagaha?” > _atha ca pana tayā evaṁ ovadīyamāno evaṁ anusāsīyamāno eko puriso ummaggaṁ gahetvā pacchāmukho gaccheyya, eko sotthinā rājagahaṁ gaccheyyā”ti?_ > > --- > “What can I do about that, worthy Gotama? > _“Ettha kyāhaṁ, bho gotama, karomi?_ > > I am the one who shows the way.” > _Maggakkhāyīhaṁ, bho gotamā”ti._ > > --- > “In the same way, though extinguishment is present, the path leading to extinguishment is present, and I am present to encourage them, > _“Evameva kho, brāhmaṇa, tiṭṭhateva nibbānaṁ, tiṭṭhati nibbānagāmī maggo, tiṭṭhāmahaṁ samādapetā;_ > > still some of my disciples, instructed and advised like this, achieve the ultimate goal, extinguishment, while some of them fail. > _atha ca pana mama sāvakā mayā evaṁ ovadīyamānā evaṁ anusāsīyamānā appekacce accantaṁ niṭṭhaṁ nibbānaṁ ārādhenti, ekacce nārādhenti._ > > What can I do about that, brahmin? > _Ettha kyāhaṁ, brāhmaṇa, karomi?_ > > The Realized One is the one who shows the way.” > _Maggakkhāyīhaṁ, brāhmaṇa, tathāgato”ti._ ^3bpvz2 ## Sutta (Translation by Bhikkhu Sujato)