Anupubbikathā

In Theravada Buddhism, anupubbikathā or ānupubbikathā (Pali) – variously translated as "gradual discourse," "gradual instruction," "progressive instruction," and "step-by-step talk" – is a method by which the Buddha taught the Dhamma to suitably receptive lay people. In this approach, the Four Noble Truths are the consummate teaching. The common formula is:
 * 1) Generosity (dāna)
 * 2) Virtue (sīla)
 * 3) Heaven (sagga)
 * 4) Danger of sensual pleasure (kāma ādīnava)
 * 5) Renunciation (nekkhamma)
 * 6) The Four Noble Truths (cattāri ariya-saccāni)

From the Pali Canon
In the Pali Canon, the title for this training, its general intent and outline are provided in the following narrative formula (in English and Pali) which is found in multiple discourses: According to Nyanatiloka (1980), three discourses that include this formula are DN 3, DN 14 and MN 56 (see Nyanatiloka, 1980, entry for "ānupubbī-kathā" at http://www.budsas.org/ebud/bud-dict/dic3_a.htm).

A search of the on-line La Trobe University (n.d.) database reveals that the compound term ' (see http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/dcd/pitikaresults.php?title=&start=0&to=10&searchstring=ānupubbīkathaṃ ) can be found ten times in the Vinaya Pitaka and eight times in the Sutta Pitaka including: DN 3 (D.i.110), DN 5 (D.i.148), MN 56 (M.i.379), MN 91 (M.ii.145), AN 8.12 (A.iv.186, 8.1.2.2), AN 8.20 (A.iv.209, 8.1.3.1), AN 8.21 (A.iv.213, 8.1.3.2), and KN's Ud. 5.3 (Ud. 48) (see Thanissaro, 1998). Additionally, a search of the La Trobe University database for ' (see http://www.chaf.lib.latrobe.edu.au/dcd/pitikaresults.php?title=&start=0&to=10&searchstring=ānupubbiṃ%20kathaṃ ) results in two instances of the formula being found in DN 14 (D.ii.41, D.ii.44).

In DN 14, the identified formulaic statement is not stated by Gautama Buddha (who, according to the Pali canon, is the 28th Buddha) but by Buddha Vipassī (the 22nd Buddha), thus reinforcing that the Four Noble Truths are "the teaching special to the Buddhas," that is, Buddhas in addition to this age's self-awakened one, Gautama Buddha (see Walshe, 1995, pp. 215-16).

"Then the Blessed One gave the householder ... progressive instruction, that is, talk on giving, talk on virtue, talk on the heavens; he explained the danger, degradation, and defilement in sensual pleasures and the blessing of renunciation. When he knew that the householder['s] ... mind was ready, receptive, free from hindrances, elated, and confident, he expounded to him the teaching special to the Buddhas: suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path."



Details for this training are provided in DN 2 and, to a lesser degree, in MN 27 and MN 51.