This might also be helpful⊠it seems to encompass all the AN suttas with advice for lay followers.
A thematic guide to the anguttara nikaya by Bhikkhu Bodhi
Maintaining a Harmonious Household
Although early Buddhism prescribes a path of self-cultivation leading to the extinction of suffering, the Buddha realized that spiritual development does not occur in a social vacuum but rests upon a healthy and harmonious social order that exemplifies the kind of virtues that nurture the spiritual life. Spiritual influences begin at the top of the social hierarchy and gradually spread downwards, affecting the whole society and even the biological and physical domains (AN 4.70). Thus the Buddha devotes considerable effort to instilling in his followers the lifestyle and sense of social responsibility that conduces to a harmonious society in which people act in accordance with the civic virtues. Among the four NikÄyas, the Aáč
guttaraâalong with the SÄ«galaka Sutta (DN 31)âis probably the richest source of such teachings.
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From the number of discourses on family relationships, it is evident that the Buddha regarded the family as the primary agent of acculturation. Since the head of the family has a particularly powerful impact on his household, the Buddha tried to promote the positive transformation of society by offering householders guidelines to righteous living. He set up a pragmatic but inspiring ideal for the laity, that of the sappurisa or âgood person,â who lives âfor the good, welfare, and happiness of many people,â his parents, his wife and children, the domestic help, his friends, and contemplative renouncers (AN 5.42). When the head of the family sets a good example, those who depend on him grow in all that is worthy: in faith, virtue, learning, generosity, and wisdom (AN 3.48, AN 5.40).
In offering guidance to the family, the Buddha prescribes the duties of children towards their parents (AN 2.33, AN 3.31), advises husbands and wives how to live together (AN 4.53), and even instructs a loving couple how they can be assured of reuniting in future lives (AN 4.55). He distinguishes between wrong livelihood and right livelihood, defines the proper ways of acquiring and utilizing wealth, and prescribes the appropriate means for sustaining cordial relationships: giving, endearing speech, beneficent conduct, and impartiality (AN 4.32). He not only instructed individuals and families, but advised states and rulers. He taught the people of the Vajji confederacy, who maintained a republican form of government, âseven principles of non-declineâ (AN 7.21). For kings he set up the ideal of the "wheel-turning monarchâ (rÄjÄ cakkavati), the righteous king who rules by the Dhamma and provides righteous protection for all in his realm, including the animals and the birds (AN 3.14, AN 5.133).
The Way Leading Upwards
While early Buddhism sees a righteous society as providing the optimal conditions for collective well-being and happiness, its focus is not on social stability as such but on the spiritual development and liberation of the individual. The most congenial conditions for the unhindered pursuit of the final goal are provided by the lifestyle of a renunciant monk or nun, who is free from the constraints and liabilities of household life. But, almost unprecedented for his time, the Buddha also held that householders earning their living by âthe sweat of their armsâ and supporting a family could also advance spiritually and reach three of the four stages of awakening. He thus laid down guideposts to spiritual cultivation for his lay followers that would be compatible with their time-consuming schedules of work and family responsibilities. These would enable the lay disciple to win a higher rebirth and even reach the plane of the noble ones, where final liberation is assured.
Many of the factors that enter into the foundational stage of spiritual development are common to the renunciant and the householder. Thus, though the suttas often describe these qualities in terms of a bhikkhu, they can be understood to pertain to lay disciples as well. The seed of spiritual development is a triad of qualities consisting of faith (saddhÄ), confidence (pasÄda), and reverence (gÄrava). Faith is a faculty and a power, and as such is defined as belief in the enlightenment of the Buddha (AN 5.2, AN 5.14). It is a deep trust in his wisdom and a readiness to comply with his advice. From faith arise the other four powers that inspire and direct the training: moral shame, moral dread, energy, and wisdom. Closely connected with faith is confidence, a feeling of serenity and mental clarity that arises from faith. The disciple has confidence that the Buddha is the best of beings, the Dhamma the best of teachings, and the Saáč
gha of noble ones the best of spiritual communities (AN 4.34). Along with faith and confidence comes reverence, a sense of respect and esteem directed towards the Three Jewels and the training (AN 6.32â33).
For a disciple endowed with faith, spiritual growth is furthered by associating with good friends, people who can give guidance and serve as inspiring models. The Buddhaâs statement to Änanda (SN 45.2) that good friendship is the whole of the spiritual life finds powerful analogues in AN. We read that there is âno single thing that so causes unarisen wholesome qualities to arise and arisen unwholesome qualities to decline as good friendshipâ (AN 1.71). A pair of suttas beautifully enumerates the traits to be sought for in a good friend (AN 7.36â37), and a discourse to a householder advises him to befriend other householders accomplished in faith, virtuous behavior, generosity, and wisdom (AN 8.54 §3).
A large part of the practice for a householder involves engaging in meritorious deeds, activities that generate wholesome kamma conducive to a happy rebirth, good fortune, and spiritual progress. The Buddha even urges the bhikkhus, âDo not be afraid of merit,â and he details the benefits he reaped in a previous life by cultivating a mind of loving-kindness (AN 7.62). The texts enumerate three âbases of meritorious activityâ: giving, virtuous behavior, and meditative development (AN 8.36). They also mention four âstreams of meritâ for a noble disciple: unwavering confidence in the Three Jewels together with virtuous behavior (AN 4.52). The list is expanded to eight streams of merit by combining the Three Refuges with the five precepts (AN 8.39).
Many short texts in AN are concerned with the etiquette of giving and generosity, with the emphasis on providing material support to monks and nuns as well as other ascetics who live in dependence on the lay community. Though the Buddha encouraged his disciples to support renunciants of all convictions, even his rivals (AN 8.12), he also taught that the merit gained by giving is proportional to the spiritual qualities of the recipients, and thus the noble persons, especially arahants, serve as the most fertile field of merit (AN 3.57). Virtuous behavior begins by observing the five training rules: abstinence from taking life, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and use of intoxicants. The code of good conduct can be expanded into the ten courses of wholesome action, which cover not only bodily and verbal behavior but wholesome dispositions and correct views (AN 10.176). A number of texts give specific directives on right speech. I already referred to right livelihood in the previous section.
Of particular value for the earnest lay devotee intent on merit is the uposatha observance adopted on new-moon and full-moon days. On these occasions devout lay followers undertake eight precepts, which emulate the precepts of a novice monk (AN 3.70, AN 8.41â45). They may spend the day practicing meditation, and one text recommends loving-kindness as especially suitable for the uposatha (AN 9.18). Another text recommends five recollections, called means of cleansing the defiled mind (AN 3.70). The Buddha explains that observing the uposatha complete in its eight factors is more beneficial than sovereignty over the continent, for the merit acquired can lead to rebirth in the heavenly worlds.
Kelly notes that the Aáč
guttara has a much stronger emphasis than the other NikÄyas on the two mundane goals as against the attainment of stream-entry or higher stages on the path. However, even in the Aáč
guttara the practice for a lay follower is not exhausted by merit. In several suttas the Buddha mentions four qualities that lead to the superior welfare of a lay follower. The first three are faith, virtue, and generosity, the constituents of merit. But the fourth is wisdom, specifically âthe wisdom that discerns arising and passing away, which is noble and penetrative and leads to the complete destruction of sufferingâ (AN 8.54, AN 8.76). This is the wisdom of insight into impermanence, which leads beyond all spheres of rebirth to the final goal of the Dhamma, the realization of nibbÄna and release from the round of rebirths.
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