The Buddha explains how even small attachments can be strong fetters if not relinquished, using similes of a quail and an elephant, and contrasts between the poor and wealthy. He describes four types of practitioners based on their response to attachment and mindfulness. The discourse also presents gradual refinement of meditative attainments from the first jhāna to the cessation of perception and what is felt.

When the accountant Moggallāna asks if the Dhamma and Vinaya have a gradual training, gradual practice, and gradual progression like seen in many professions including his own, the Buddha describes a step-by-step training guideline starting with virtuous conduct all the way to dwelling in jhānas.

The Buddha details a comprehensive training in mindfulness of the body—from breath and postures to anatomical reflection and charnel-ground contemplations. He explains how this cultivation steadies the mind and leads to ten benefits culminating in the four jhānas and final liberation.

After Prince Jayasena expresses disbelief about the possibility of attaining unification of mind, the Buddha explains why a life of sensual pleasure blinds one to spiritual truths using two vivid similes. He then uses an analogy of taming a wild elephant, showing how training and renunciation lead to true mastery.

When the Buddha fails to achieve reconciliation among quarrelsome bhikkhus at Kosambi, he withdraws into solitude and later encounters an inspiring community of monks devoted to liberation. He teaches them the path of inner purification based on his own practice prior to full awakening—discerning and abandoning eleven subtle impurities of mind, developing collectedness in three ways, and realizing unshakable liberation.

Using the role of food as nutriment that sustains and endures the body, the Buddha describes the nutriments for the arising and growth of the five hindrances and the seven factors of awakening.

The Buddha explains which factors of awakening are suitable to cultivate when the mind is sluggish or restless, using a metaphor of tending a fire.

The Buddha explains how to cultivate recollection of death so that it is of great fruit and great benefit, and leads to the deathless.

The Buddha explains the five lower fetters and the way of practice for abandoning them.

After the lay disciple Nandamātā is visited by the deity Vessavaṇa, she recounts the event to the venerable Sāriputta. She then lists her seven wonderful and marvelous qualities, including profound equanimity in the face of tragedy, her attainment of the four jhānas, and her attainment of non-returning.

Using the simile of an elephant’s footprint, the Buddha illustrates how confidence in him develops gradually through practice. A noble disciple trains in conduct, sense restraint, contentment, and mindfulness, progressing through the jhānas. Unshakable confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha arises through direct knowledge and liberation.

The Buddha finds Anuruddha, Nandiya, and Kimbila living in exemplary harmony—goodwill in body, speech, and mind; shared duties; noble silence; and an all-night Dhamma discussion every fifth day. They can enter the four jhānas and the formless attainments at will, culminating in the exhaustion of the mental defilements from having seen with wisdom.

A series of questions and answers between Venerable Sāriputta and Venerable Mahākoṭṭhika that clarify subtle yet important aspects of the teachings. Topics covered include wisdom, consciousness, felt experience, perception, purified mind-consciousness, right view, existence, first jhāna, the five faculties, vital formations, and the release of the mind.

A series of questions and answers between the lay follower Visākha and bhikkhunī Dhammadinnā that clarify subtle yet important aspects of the teachings. Topics covered include personal existence, Noble Eightfold Path, intentional constructs, attainment of cessation of perception and what is felt, felt experience, underlying tendencies and various counterparts.

The Buddha teaches in detail how to develop mindfulness while breathing in and out through sixteen naturally unfolding steps, showing how their cultivation fulfills the four establishments of mindfulness, which in turn fulfill the seven factors of awakening, culminating in true knowledge and liberation.

The Buddha declares one who dwells negligently and one who dwells diligently through a sequence of arising mental states starting with non-restraint or restraint over the six sense bases.

The Buddha presents a simile of the nāgās, serpent beings, who rely on the Himalayas to nurture their bodies and acquire strength before entering the ocean, as a metaphor for the bhikkhu cultivating the seven factors of awakening to attain greatness and expansiveness of mental qualities.

Venerable Sāriputta explains how he can dwell in any of the seven factors of awakening at will, knowing their qualities and conditions. He likens this mastery to a king or royal minister freely choosing garments from a wardrobe for morning, midday, or evening wear.

When a bhikkhu asks the Buddha why the factors of awakening are called so, the Buddha gives a simple and direct answer, ‘since they lead to awakening.’

When the venerable Mahākassapa falls gravely ill, the Buddha visits him and teaches him about the seven factors of awakening. This inspired the venerable Mahākassapa to a swift recovery from his illness.

The Buddha explains how frequently paying attention to certain things can lead to the arising and expansion of hindrances and awakening factors.

The Buddha describes the nutriments for the sustenance of the five hindrances and the seven factors of awakening.

The Buddha outlines the four right strivings: striving for restraint, striving to abandon, striving to cultivate, and striving to protect.

The Buddha shares the four kinds of persons — those who cultivate the first jhāna, the second jhāna, the third jhāna, and the fourth jhāna while perceiving gratification — and the difference in their rebirths.

The Buddha shares the four kinds of persons — those who cultivate the first jhāna, the second jhāna, the third jhāna, and the fourth jhāna while perceiving drawbacks — and the difference in their rebirths.

The Buddha explains the proximate causes of non-regret, joy, tranquility, and other qualities leading to liberation, contrasting how they are fulfilled in a virtuous person versus an unprincipled person.