The Buddha identified the threefold training (; ; or simply ''śikṣā'' or ''sikkhā'') as training in: * higher

virtue A virtue () is a trait of excellence, including traits that may be morality, moral, social, or intellectual. The cultivation and refinement of virtue is held to be the "good of humanity" and thus is Value (ethics), valued as an Telos, end purpos ...

(Pali ''adhisīla-sikkhā'', Skt. ''adhiśīlaśikṣa'') * higher

mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

(Pali ''adhicitta-sikkhā'', Skt. ''samādhiśikṣa'') * higher wisdom (Pali ''adhipaññā-sikkhā'', Skt. ''prajñāśikṣa'')

In the Pali Canon

According to

Theravada ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhi ...

canonical texts, pursuing this training leads to the abandonment of lust, hatred, and delusion. One who is fully accomplished in this training attains nirvana. In the Anguttara Nikaya, training in "higher virtue" includes following the Patimokkha, training in "higher mind" (sometimes simply referred to as "concentration") includes entering and dwelling in the four jhanas, and training in "higher wisdom" includes directly perceiving the

Four Noble Truths In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (; ; "The Four Arya (Buddhism), arya satya") are "the truths of the noble one (the Buddha)," a statement of how things really are (Three marks of existence, the three marks of existence) when they are seen co ...

or knowledge of destruction of the taints. In several canonical discourses, a more "gradual" instruction ('' anupubbikathā'') is provided to receptive lay people (see also, gradual training). This latter instruction culminates in the teaching of the Four Noble Truths which in itself concludes with the

Noble Eightfold Path The Noble Eightfold Path () or Eight Right Paths () is an early summary of the path of Buddhist practices leading to liberation from samsara, the painful cycle of rebirth, in the form of nirvana. The Eightfold Path consists of eight pra ...

, the constituents of which can be mapped to this threefold training (see below).

Similarity to threefold partition of the Noble Eightfold Path

The Buddha's threefold training is similar to the threefold grouping of the

articulated by Bhikkhuni Dhammadinna in Culavedalla Sutta ("The Shorter Set of Questions-And-Answers Discourse," MN 44): virtue (''sīlakkhandha''), concentration (''samādhikkhandha''), wisdom (''paññākkhandha ''). These three-part schemes simplify and organize the Eightfold Path as follows:

Mahayana

The threefold training is also part of the bodhisattva path of the Mahayana. Nagarjuna refers to it in his Letter to a Friend (Suhrllekha), verse 53: "One should always train (shiksha) in superior discipline (adhishila), superior wisdom (adhiprajna) and superior mind (adhicitta)"Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend, Padmakara Translation Group, 2005, p. 47

Notes

Sources

* Nyanaponika Thera and Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans. and ed.) (1999). ''Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya''. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press. . * Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1998a). ''AN 3.88: Sikkha Sutta - Trainings (1).'' Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.088.than.html. * Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1998b). ''AN 3.89: Sikkha Sutta - Trainings (2).'' Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.089.than.html. * Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1998c). ''MN 44: Culavedalla Sutta: The Shorter Set of Questions-and-Answers.'' Available on-line at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.044.than.html.

External links

English translation
an

of the Anguttara Nikaya's Book of Threes' Monk ('' samana'') chapter, including AN 3:82 to 3:92 (metta.lk)
"Threefold Training"
talk by Mahasi Sayadaw. {{Buddhism topics Buddhist philosophical concepts Buddhist meditation Buddhist ethics