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SN 14.14PTS SN 2.1541 min read

Inferior Convictions

Hīnādhimuttikasutta

People of poor character associate together, while people of good character associate together.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 14.14Linked Discourses 14.14
  • 0.22. DutiyavaggaChapter Two

0.3HīnādhimuttikasuttaInferior Convictions

1.1Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati.At Sāvatthī.

1.2“Dhātusova, bhikkhave, sattā saṁsandanti samenti.“Mendicants, sentient beings join together and converge because of an element.11.3Hīnādhimuttikā hīnādhimuttikehi saddhiṁ saṁsandanti samenti;Those who have inferior convictions join together and converge with those who have inferior convictions.21.4kalyāṇādhimuttikā kalyāṇādhimuttikehi saddhiṁ saṁsandanti samenti.Those who have good convictions join together and converge with those who have good convictions.

2.1Atītampi kho, bhikkhave, addhānaṁ dhātusova sattā saṁsandiṁsu samiṁsu.In the past, too, sentient beings came together and converged because of an element. …2.2Hīnādhimuttikā hīnādhimuttikehi saddhiṁ saṁsandiṁsu samiṁsu;2.3kalyāṇādhimuttikā kalyāṇādhimuttikehi saddhiṁ saṁsandiṁsu samiṁsu.

3.1Anāgatampi kho, bhikkhave, addhānaṁ dhātusova sattā saṁsandissanti samessanti.In the future, too, sentient beings will join together and converge because of an element. …3.2Hīnādhimuttikā hīnādhimuttikehi saddhiṁ saṁsandissanti samessanti;3.3kalyāṇādhimuttikā kalyāṇādhimuttikehi saddhiṁ saṁsandissanti samessanti.

4.1PTS 2.155Etarahipi kho, bhikkhave, paccuppannaṁ addhānaṁ dhātusova sattā saṁsandanti samenti.At present, too, sentient beings join together and converge because of an element.4.2Hīnādhimuttikā hīnādhimuttikehi saddhiṁ saṁsandanti samenti;Those who have inferior convictions join together and converge with those who have inferior convictions.4.3kalyāṇādhimuttikā kalyāṇādhimuttikehi saddhiṁ saṁsandanti samentī”ti.Those who have good convictions join together and converge with those who have good convictions.”

4.4Catutthaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. Here “element” means something like a “personality trait”.

    ↩ sn14.14:1.2

  2. Adhimuttika appears to be a Buddhist coinage. The key text is the Divine Net Discourse DN 1, where the Buddha’s ability to discern the different “convictions” of beings is illustrated with the examples of Suppiya who criticized the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha, while his student Brahmadatta praised them. This speaks to a difference in faith, a quality closely associated with adhimutta (eg. AN 1.208:1.1). DN 1 goes on to discuss the various views, using the unique term adhimuttipadāni (“hypotheses”, “statements of conviction”), which clearly draws on adhimutti in the introduction.

    ↩ sn14.14:1.3