Section outline
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Lesson 1.3.1 Saṅgāravasuttaṃ - The Questions of Saṅgāravo
Saṅgārava was a curious and devoted Brāhmin who regularly placed his questions before the Buddha. In the current lesson he asks what would lead a being to the other shore: the pārimaṃ tīraṃ. The Buddha answers that the Noble Eightfold Path is the means to go beyond and not remain on the ‘hither shore’ (orimaṃ tīraṃ). Saṅgārava was a member of the Brāhmin caste — who felt themselves superior to the other casts — which is indicated in his addressing the Buddha as bho. The Buddha makes it clear that there cannot be any supremacy in regards to the membership of any sect; it is solely the actions of wholesomeness and the development in Dhamma that makes one superior.