Gradual training

The Buddha sometimes described the practice (patipatti) of his teaching as the gradual training (Pali: anupubbasikkhā) because the eightfold path involves a process of mind-body transformation that unfolds over a sometimes lengthy period.
The emphasis on gradual training may be understood by the fact that just as the human habits which give rise to suffering have been built up over a long period of time those same habits similarly take a long time to undo requiring a sustained effort achievable only with a genuine commitment to training.
The gradual approach to teaching and training was a hallmark of the Buddha's method of instruction. Whenever he felt that a person to whom the Dhamma had not yet been revealed was in a suitably receptive frame of mind he would deliver a 'graduated discourse' (Pali: ānupubbī-kathā) Variously translated "Gradual discourse" (Walshe 1995, p. 215); "gradual instruction," (Nyanatiloka, 1980), entry for "ānupubbī-kathā" at http://www.budsas.org/ebud/bud-dict/dic3_a.htm; "progressive instruction," & Bodhi (2001), p. 485. and "step-by-step talk" (Thanissaro 1998). — which took a certain form.
# Generosity (dāna)
# Virtue (sīla)
# Heaven (sagga)
# Danger of sensual pleasure ( ādīnava)
# Renunciation (nekkhamma)
# The Four Noble Truths (cattāri ariya-saccāni)See, for instance, Bullitt (2005). 
==See also==
* Four Noble Truths
* Threefold Training
==Notes==
==Bibliography==
* Bullitt, John T. (2005). Dhamma. Retrieved 2007-11-08 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/index.html.
* , Bhikkhu (trans.) & Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed.) (2001). The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-072-X. 
* Nyanatiloka (1980). Buddhist Dictionary: Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 955-24-0019-8. Retrieved 2007-11-10 from "BuddhaSasana" at http://www.budsas.org/ebud/bud-dict/dic_idx.htm.
* Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.) (1998). Kutthi Sutta: The Leper (Ud. 5.3). Retrieved 2007-11-12 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/ud/ud.5.03.than.html. 
* Walshe, Maurice (1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.
Category:Buddhist terms