Trainee View in explorer

13 discourses
A noble disciple who is still in training (sekha; one who trains) toward full awakening—on the path or at a fruition short of arahantship. A trainee is defined as one who trains in higher virtue, higher mind, and higher wisdom.
Also known as: learner, one in training
Pāli: sekha
Supported by
Radical attention

Radical attention

The active, deliberate steering of the mind away from habitual, automated reaction patterns. It is the wise steering of attention based on a theme of the Dhamma.

Also known as: wise steering of attention, root-level attention, attention to the structural source, contextual reflection
Pāli: yonisomanasikāra
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Faith

Faith

Confidence in the Buddha's awakening and the efficacy of the path. It brightens and steadies the mind, removing doubt and inspiring energy toward wholesome practice. True faith rests on clarity and direct experience rather than mere belief.

Also known as: confidence, trust, belief, conviction, self-assurance
Pāli: saddha, pasanna
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Ethical conduct

Ethical conduct

A disciplined way of living grounded in harmlessness and integrity. Ethical conduct restrains the body and speech from harm, purifies behavior, and forms the foundation for collectedness and wisdom.

Also known as: moral integrity, right action, virtue
Pāli: sīla, sammākammanta
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Leads to
Arahant

Arahant

One who has attained full awakening, whose mental defilements are completely eradicated. The arahant is liberated through wisdom and is incapable of falling back into suffering.

Also known as: Accomplished One, Awakened One, Buddha
Pāli: arahant, khīṇāsava
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Ending

Ending

The complete exhaustion and ending of craving, aversion, and delusion—the three roots of suffering. It refers to both the gradual wearing away of defilements through practice and the final cessation that constitutes Nibbāna.

Also known as: cessation, exhaustion, gradual ending, wearing away
Pāli: khaya, khīṇa, nirodha
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Related
Stream Entry

Stream Entry

The first stage of awakening, where one overcomes the fetters of 1.) personal existence view: view of being someone, that one is an embodied being, 2.) doubt or perplexity regarding suffering, its arising, its ending, and the way of practice leading to the end of suffering, and 3.) adherence to rules and observances as a means of liberation. One who has entered the stream is no longer bound for the lower realms, is fixed in destiny, and is bound for full awakening. The four factors of stream-entry are: 1.) association with persons of integrity, 2.) hearing the true teaching, 3.) radical attention, and 4.) practice in accordance with the Dhamma.

Also known as: entering the stream, fruition of stream-entry
Pāli: sotāpatti, sotāpanna
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Featured Discourses

AN 3.85 Sekkha sutta - Trainee⭐️ Define trainee—the three trainings

The Buddha defines a trainee as one who trains in higher virtue, higher mind, and higher wisdom.

AN 3.86 Paṭhamasikkhā sutta - Training (First)Trainings mapped to stages of awakening

The Buddha maps the stages of awakening to fulfilling ethical conduct, collectedness, and wisdom.

SN 48.53 Sekha sutta - Trainee⭐️ How a trainee knows ‘I am a trainee’

The Buddha explains the difference between a trainee still practicing the path and an adept who is fully awakened. While a trainee discerns the Four Noble Truths as they truly are and has unwavering confidence in the Buddha, the adept has fully contacted the culmination of the faculties.

MN 152 Indriyabhāvanā sutta - Development of the Sense FacultiesTrainee on the path versus mastery over the sense bases

When a young brahmin claims that avoiding sights and sounds constitutes development of the sense faculties, the Buddha reveals that true cultivation lies in understanding pleasant and unpleasant experiences as constructed and transient through an examination of the six sense bases. He contrasts the trainee, still swayed by agreeable and disagreeable, with the noble one who has attained mastery over perception.

MN 107 Gaṇakamoggallāna sutta - With GaṇakamoggallānaInstruction for trainees aspiring to the unsurpassed goal

When asked if he teaches a gradual training, gradual practice, and gradual progression, the Buddha details a sequence from virtue and sense restraint to the heights of meditation. Through the analogy of a traveler on the road to a city, he explains that while Nibbāna exists, he is merely one who shows the path. Success depends on the practitioner walking the path provided.

MN 73 Mahāvaccha sutta - Greater Discourse With VacchaFurther Dhamma after trainee knowledge and wisdom

What determines a complete spiritual path? When the wanderer Vacchagotta asks the Buddha to explain wholesome and unwholesome actions, he discovers the remarkable spiritual success spanning the Buddha

ITI 16 Paṭhama sekha sutta - Trainee (First)Wise attention as the chief internal help for a trainee

There is no other single internal factor as helpful as radical attention for a trainee bhikkhu who is aspiring for the highest goal.

ITI 62 Indriya sutta - Mental FacultiesVerses on the faculties for one in training

The Buddha describes the three mental faculties - 1.) the faculty that senses ‘I will know the unknown,’ 2.) the faculty of awakening, and 3.) the faculty of one who is awakened.

ITI 102 Āsavakkhaya sutta - Wearing Away of the TaintsTrainee practicing toward wearing away of the taints

When one knows and sees the four noble truths, there is the wearing away of the taints.

ITI 79 Parihāna sutta - DeclineWhat leads to decline and non-decline for a trainee

The Buddha describes three things that lead to the decline of a trainee bhikkhu and three things that lead to non-decline.

SN 17.23 Ekaputtaka sutta - Only Young SonGains and fame as obstacles for a trainee bhikkhu

A laywoman should wish for her son to become like the foremost lay disciples Citta and Hatthaka, and if he goes forth, wish that acquisitions, respect, and popularity not come upon him while he is still a trainee.

SN 17.24 Ekadhītu sutta - Only DaughterSame theme for a trainee bhikkhunī

A laywoman should wish for her daughter to become like the foremost female lay disciples Khujjuttarā and Nandamātā, and if she goes forth, may acquisitions, respect, and popularity not come upon her while she is still a trainee.

DHP 44–59 Puppha vagga - Chapter 4 - FlowersThe trainee discerns the path among the flowers

DhammaPada verses 44-59 share on the trainee, nature of the body, what happens to one who dwells with an attached mind, how a sage should wander in village, one who speaks on virtue and wisdom though various similes. The fragrance of virtue is compared to the fragrance of flowers, and the virtue of the noble person is said to spread in all directions.

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