Numbered Discourses 4.163

17. Practice

Ugly

“Bhikkhus, there are four ways of practice. What four?

Painful practice with slow insight,

painful practice with swift insight,

pleasant practice with slow insight, and

pleasant practice with swift insight.

And what’s the painful practice with slow insight? It’s when a bhikkhu meditates watching, again and again, the ugliness of the body, perceives the repulsiveness of food, perceives non-obsession with the whole world, observes the impermanence of all conditions, and has well established the perception of their own death. They rely on these five powers of a trainee: faith, conscience, prudence, energy, and wisdom. But these five faculties manifest in them weakly: faith, energy, mindfulness, samādhi, and wisdom. Because of this, they only slowly attain the conditions for ending the defilements in the present life. This is called the painful practice with slow insight.

And what’s the painful practice with swift insight? It’s when a bhikkhu meditates watching, again and again, the ugliness of the body, perceives the repulsiveness of food, perceives non-obsession with the whole world, observes the impermanence of all conditions, and has well established the perception of their own death. They rely on these five powers of a trainee: faith, conscience, prudence, energy, and wisdom. And these five faculties manifest in them strongly: faith, energy, mindfulness, samādhi, and wisdom. Because of this, they swiftly attain the conditions for ending the defilements in the present life. This is called the painful practice with swift insight.

And what’s the pleasant practice with slow insight? It’s when a bhikkhu, quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskillful qualities, enters and remains in the first jhāna, which has the (mental) joy and (bodily) pleasure born of seclusion, while thougths are being born and sustained analysis is going on. As the thougths being born and the sustained analysis going on are stilled, they enter and remain in the second jhāna, which has the (mental) joy and (bodily) pleasure born of samādhi, with internal clarity and mind at one, without thougths being born and without sustained analysis going on. And with the fading away of (mental) joy, they enter and remain in the third jhāna, where they meditate with equanimity, mindful and aware, personally feeling deeply the (bodily) pleasure of which the noble ones declare, ‘Equanimous and mindful, a pleasure is to meditate.’ Giving up pleasure and pain, and ending former happiness and sadness, they enter and remain in the fourth jhāna, without pleasure or pain, with pure equanimity and mindfulness. They rely on these five powers of a trainee: faith, conscience, prudence, energy, and wisdom. But these five faculties manifest in them weakly: faith, energy, mindfulness, samādhi, and wisdom. Because of this, they only slowly attain the conditions for ending the defilements in the present life. This is called the pleasant practice with slow insight.

And what’s the pleasant practice with swift insight? It’s when a bhikkhu … enters and remains in the first jhāna … second jhāna … third jhāna … fourth jhāna … They rely on these five powers of a trainee: faith, conscience, prudence, energy, and wisdom. And these five faculties manifest in them strongly: faith, energy, mindfulness, samādhi, and wisdom. Because of this, they swiftly attain the conditions for ending the defilements in the present life. This is called the pleasant practice with swift insight.

These are the four ways of practice.”