A Conversation About Buddhism
Author: Anup Poudyal
Publisher: The Middle Way Publications
Edition: Authorised Machine-Accessible Edition
Section: Chapter 26
Chapter Title: Thirty-Seven Aids to Awakening
Pāli Title: Sattatiṃsa Bodhipakkhiyā Dhammā
Copyright: © 2026 Anup Poudyal. All rights reserved.

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CHAPTER TEXT

Chapter 26: Thirty-Seven Aids to Awakening Sattatiṁsa Bodhipakkhiyā Dhammā

Up to this point, our focus has been on clearing the ground. We have seen how suffering operates, where it is felt, how it renews itself, and what obstructs clear seeing. We have learned to guard the senses, to recognise hindrances as they arise, and to meet experience with greater understanding. In this way, the mind is gradually steadied and prepared.

The structure of this book follows the same order the Buddha repeatedly emphasised: first purify the foundation, then cultivate strength. Even subtle unwholesome tendencies can obstruct wisdom, as the Buddha warned Rāhula. Ethical conduct, sense restraint, and the abandonment of hindrances are meant to come first, because they provide the stable ground from which deeper concentration and insight can develop. When this order is reversed, progress can become fragile or distorted, and the very qualities that should support liberation may instead reinforce ambition, conceit, or confusion. Strength without purification cannot carry the mind to freedom.

Now that the ground is more stable, attention shifts toward what is to be actively cultivated. From restraint to fulfilment, from removing obstacles to nurturing awakening factors, the path’s tone becomes brighter.

A new question appears: what naturally grows in a mind that is less entangled? Here, the Buddha shifts the training from restraint to cultivation. Not only preventing craving and confusion from returning, but planting and protecting the conditions that lead toward ease, stability, and wisdom. Taken together, these qualities are known as the thirty-seven aids to awakening.

Just as a healthy body tends to recover when properly nourished, a well-trained mind inclines toward awakening when wholesome qualities are supported. Nothing needs to be forced. These factors emerge, strengthen, and

mature together, guiding practice from strain toward steadiness. From this point onward, the path becomes less about refraining from harm and more about nurturing what liberates.

I am personally enthusiastic about this stage of training. The importance of purifying conduct, reducing defilements, and guarding the senses cannot be overstated. That groundwork matters. Yet it is human nature that the heart responds to cultivating joy, tranquillity, and the wholesome strengths that directly nourish the mind. Building strength often feels more inviting than restriction, even when both are essential.

This joy is not a distraction from the path. It is part of the path. The Buddha described progress unfolding through gladness, joy, and tranquillity:

‘From a glad mind comes joy. From joy comes tranquillity. With tranquillity, the body becomes at ease. When the body is at ease, the mind becomes concentrated.’

These qualities are not rewards that appear only at the end of practice. They are part of the engine that carries practice forward. Each moment, agitation fades, and balance appears, even slightly; the mind tastes a freedom that encourages further freedom.

This is why the thirty-seven aids to awakening form the natural next step. They nourish the mind, stabilise insight, and support liberation through qualities that are genuinely wholesome to cultivate. From here on, the path shifts from learning to stop feeding suffering to learning to nurture the conditions for awakening.

In Part Three, We Will Explore These Aids Under the Following Headings:

1. Four Foundations of Mindfulness 2. Four Right Efforts

3. Four Bases of Spiritual Power

4. Five Spiritual Faculties

5. Five Spiritual Powers

6. Seven Factors of Enlightenment

7. The Noble Eightfold Path Let us proceed.