THE FOUR NUTRIMENTS & THE FOUR WRONG WAYS - Part 1 Overview

Welcome back to the Sutta Meditation Series Podcast.

It's stated that "all sentient beings are sustained by nutriment" (sabbe sattā āhāraṭṭhitikā) in the Saṅgīti Sutta (DN 33).

We will examine what this means, why it is important to learn about the four nutriments, how we go the four wrong ways when we crave the four nutriments, and how to meditate or contemplate these insight or knowledge pathways.

As we know from the Buddha's teachings on the Four Noble Truths, craving (tanha) is the origin or arising of suffering (dukkha). When we take the four nutriments in these wrong ways this is known as the Four Unprofitable Directions. All four unprofitable directions lead us to future existence in samsara.

In this Part 1 session we:

• — get an overview of the framework and process map of the Four Nutriments and how it leads to the Four Wrong Ways
• — familiarise ourselves with pali terms and their meanings to make the learning process easier (e.g vipallāsa = perversion or corruption; upādāna = clinging and so on...)
• — go through a simplified version of the framework to enable a "bird's eye" view of the Buddha's teaching, using a few examples.

Subsequent sessions will look at each of the Unprofitable Directions in greater detail, including how to meditate on them.

Most of the suttas that are directly or indirectly referred to in this session:

• — Āhāra Sutta (SN 12.11)
• — Puttamaṁsa Sutta (SN 12.63)
• — Suttavebhaṅgiya (Pe 9)
• — Vipallāsa Sutta (AN 4.49)
• — Upādāna Sutta (SN 45.173)
• — Yoga Sutta (SN 45.172)
• — Gantha Sutta (SN 45.174)
• — Ānantarikasamādhiñāṇaniddesa (Ps 1.1.32)
• — Ogha Sutta (SN 45.171)
• — Paṭhamaagati Sutta (AN 4.17)
• — Saṅgīti Sutta (DN 33)

Bohoma pin to the person that requested this talk.

A VIDEO of this segment has been published to the Sutta Meditation Series YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuPRbbNtPgE AND on Spotify as a video podcast

An electronic copy of the chart or process map of the Four Unprofitable Directions has been published to the Sutta Meditation Telegram channel.

Blessings of the Triple Gem. Theruwan saranai