1.
The Discourse on the Truth-finder
139.
At Sāvatthī.
"As far as there are beings, monks, whether footless or two-footed or four-footed or many-footed, whether material or immaterial, whether percipient or non-percipient or neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient, the Truth-finder is declared the foremost among them, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One;
so too, monks, whatever wholesome mental states there are, all of them are rooted in diligence, converge in diligence;
diligence is declared the foremost among those mental states.
For a diligent monk, monks, this is to be expected -
he will develop the noble eightfold path, he will cultivate the noble eightfold path.
And how, monks, does a diligent monk develop the noble eightfold path, cultivate the noble eightfold path?
Here, monks, a monk develops right view, based upon seclusion, based upon dispassion, based upon cessation, maturing in release, etc.
he develops right concentration, based upon seclusion, based upon dispassion, based upon cessation, maturing in release.
Thus, monks, a diligent monk develops the noble eightfold path, cultivates the noble eightfold path."
"As far as there are beings, monks, whether footless or two-footed or four-footed or many-footed, whether material or immaterial, whether percipient or non-percipient or neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient, the Truth-finder is declared the foremost among them, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One; so too, monks, whatever wholesome mental states there are, all of them are rooted in diligence, converge in diligence; diligence is declared the foremost among those mental states. For a diligent monk, monks, this is to be expected - he will develop the noble eightfold path, he will cultivate the noble eightfold path. And how, monks, does a diligent monk develop the noble eightfold path, cultivate the noble eightfold path? Here, monks, a monk develops right view, with the removal of lust as its final goal, with the removal of hate as its final goal, with the removal of delusion as its final goal, etc. he develops right concentration, with the removal of lust as its final goal, with the removal of hate as its final goal, with the removal of delusion as its final goal. Thus, monks, a diligent monk develops the noble eightfold path, cultivates the noble eightfold path."
"As far as there are beings, monks, whether footless or two-footed or four-footed or many-footed, whether material or immaterial, whether percipient or non-percipient or neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient, the Truth-finder is declared the foremost among them, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One; so too, monks, whatever wholesome mental states there are, all of them are rooted in diligence, converge in diligence; diligence is declared the foremost among those mental states. For a diligent monk, monks, this is to be expected - he will develop the noble eightfold path, he will cultivate the noble eightfold path. And how, monks, does a diligent monk develop the noble eightfold path, cultivate the noble eightfold path? Here, monks, a monk develops right view, grounded upon the Deathless, heading for the Deathless, with the Deathless as its final goal, etc. he develops right concentration, grounded upon the Deathless, heading for the Deathless, with the Deathless as its final goal. Thus, monks, a diligent monk develops the noble eightfold path, cultivates the noble eightfold path."
"As far as there are beings, monks, whether footless or two-footed or four-footed or many-footed, whether material or immaterial, whether percipient or non-percipient or neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient, the Truth-finder is declared the foremost among them, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One; so too, monks, whatever wholesome mental states there are, all of them are rooted in diligence, converge in diligence; diligence is declared the foremost among those mental states. For a diligent monk, monks, this is to be expected - he will develop the noble eightfold path, he will cultivate the noble eightfold path. And how, monks, does a diligent monk develop the noble eightfold path, cultivate the noble eightfold path? Here, monks, a monk develops right view, slanting towards Nibbāna, sloping towards Nibbāna, inclining towards Nibbāna, etc. he develops right concentration, slanting towards Nibbāna, sloping towards Nibbāna, inclining towards Nibbāna. Thus, monks, a diligent monk develops the noble eightfold path, cultivates the noble eightfold path." The first.