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I am looking for the sutta that explicitly ranks the practice that benefits oneself but not others as better than the practice that benefits others and not oneself. I found things that are close but not quite there, like
But none of these are quite like what I recall reading somewhere.
âMendicants, these four people are found in the world. What four?
- One who practices to benefit neither themselves nor others;
- one who practices to benefit others, but not themselves;
- one who practices to benefit themselves, but not others; and
- one who practices to benefit both themselves and others.
Suppose there was a firebrand for lighting a funeral pyre, burning at both ends, and smeared with dung in the middle. It couldnât be used as timber either in the village or the wilderness. The person who practices to benefit neither themselves nor others is like this, I say.
The person who practices to benefit others, but not themselves, is better than that. The person who practices to benefit themselves, but not others, is better than both of those. But the person who practices to benefit both themselves and others is the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest of the four.
From a cow comes milk, from milk comes curds, from curds come butter, from butter comes ghee, and from ghee comes cream of ghee. And the cream of ghee is said to be the best of these. In the same way, the person who practices to benefit both themselves and others is the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest of the four. These are the four people found in the world.â
The reason why it is better to benefit only oneself as opposed to only others should be clear from the following sutta:
And how does a person practice to benefit themselves, but not others? Itâs when a person practices to remove their own greed, hate, and delusion, but doesnât encourage others to do the same. Thatâs how a person practices to benefit themselves, but not others.
And how does a person practice to benefit others, but not themselves? Itâs when a person doesnât practice to remove their own greed, hate, and delusion, but encourages others to remove theirs. Thatâs how a person practices to benefit others, but not themselves.
And how does a person practice to benefit neither themselves nor others? Itâs when a person doesnât practice to remove their own greed, hate, and delusion, nor do they encourage others to remove theirs. Thatâs how a person practices to benefit neither themselves nor others.
And how does a person practice to benefit both themselves and others? Itâs when a person practices to remove their own greed, hate, and delusion, and encourages others to remove theirs. Thatâs how a person practices to benefit both themselves and others. These are the four people found in the world.â - AN 4.96
Who is the superior person, the drunk guy under the bridge telling teenagers they shouldnât drink, or the guy in Alcoholics Anonymous minding his own business?
So practicing to benefit oneself but not others does not mean buying yourself a Maserati instead of donating to charity and buying a used Prius. Skipping the sports car and giving generously helps those in need (at least materially speaking), purifies your own mind, and builds up treasure in heaven (aka good kamma). In fact, being generous but not encouraging others to do so would fall under the category of benefitting oneself but not others from a dhamma perspective.
Thank you so much. I wanted to select both responses as solutions, but the software wonât let me do that. I had a feeling it was in AN4, because of the âfour types of peopleâ. And here are two, adjacent, giving a simile and an explanation.
I feel this is such an important point because it is surprising and confusing to most Westerners when stated without explanation.
A similar Western confusion arises in MN5 Unblemished.
2.1âMendicants, these four people are found in the world
It took me a few listens to figure this one out as wellâŚ
Sallekha Sutta