Linked Discourses 46.44

1. A Wheel-Turning Monarch

Witless

Then a mendicant went up to the Buddha … and asked him,

“Sir, they speak of ‘a witless idiot’.

How is a witless idiot defined?”

“Mendicant, they’re called a witless idiot because they haven’t developed and cultivated the seven awakening factors.

What seven?

The awakening factors of mindfulness, investigation of principles, energy, rapture, tranquility, immersion, and equanimity.

They’re called a witless idiot because they haven’t developed and cultivated these seven awakening factors.”