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 or knowledge of destruction of the taints. [4]
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 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 Noble Eightfold Path articulated by Bhikkhuni Dhammadinna in Culavedalla Sutta ("The Shorter Set of Questions-And-Answers Discourse," MN 44): virtue (sīlakkhandha), concentration (samādhikkhandha), wisdom (paññākkhandha ).[5] These three-part schemes simplify and organize the Eightfold Path as follows:
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)"[6]
Notes
^See the Anguttara Nikaya Book of Threes' (Tikanipata) Monks chapter (Samanavagga). This chapter's suttas are alternately identified as AN 3:82 to 3:92. Of these suttas, the two most widely translated into English are AN 3:88 and 3:89, respectively referred to as "Sikkha (1)" and "Sikkha (2)" by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, and as "Dutiyasikkhasuttam" and "Tatiyasikkhasuttam" in the Sinhalese canon. English translations of these latter two suttas can be found in: Nyanaponika & Bodhi (1999), pp. 69-71; Thanissaro (1998a); and, Thanissaro (1998b).
Also see, e.g., DN 16.4.3 (PTS D ii.123) (boldface added for emphasis):
"Sīlaṃ samādhi paññā ca,
vimutti ca anuttarā;
Anubuddhā ime dhammā,
gotamena yasassinā.
"Virtue, concentration, wisdom, and emancipation unsurpassed —
These are the principles realized by Gotama the renowned;
And, knowing them, he, the Buddha, to his monks has taught the Dhamma.
He, the destroyer of suffering, the Master, the Seer, is at peace."
^Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend, Padmakara Translation Group, 2005, p. 47
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. ISBN0-7425-0405-0.
