an.4.99 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

Training Rules

“Mendicants, these four people are found in the world.
What four?
One who practices to benefit themselves, but not others;
one who practices to benefit others, but not themselves;
one who practices to benefit neither themselves nor others; and
one who practices to benefit both themselves and others.
And how does a person practice to benefit themselves, but not others?
It’s when a person doesn’t kill living creatures, steal, commit sexual misconduct, lie, or use alcoholic drinks that cause negligence. But they don’t encourage others to do the same.




That’s how a person practices to benefit themselves, but not others.
And how does a person practice to benefit others, but not themselves?
It’s when a person kills living creatures, steals, commits sexual misconduct, lies, and uses alcoholic drinks that cause negligence. But they encourage others to not do these things.




That’s how a person practices to benefit others, but not themselves.
And how does a person practice to benefit neither themselves nor others?
It’s when a person kills, etc. … and doesn’t encourage others to not do these things.
That’s how a person practices to benefit neither themselves nor others.
And how does a person practice to benefit both themselves and others?
It’s when a person doesn’t kill, etc. … and encourages others to do the same.
That’s how a person practices to benefit both themselves and others.
These are the four people found in the world.”