'gradual instruction', progressive sermon; given by the Buddha when it was necessary to prepare first the listener's mind before speaking to him on the advanced teaching of the Four Noble Truths. The stock passage (e.g. D. 3; D 14; M. 56) runs as follows:
"Then the Blessed One gave him a gradual instruction - that is to say, he spoke on liberality ('giving', da^na, q.v.), on moral conduct (si^la) and on the heaven (sagga); he explained the peril, the vanity and the depravity of sensual pleasures, and the advantage
of renunciation. When the Blessed One perceived that the listener's mind was prepared, pliant, free from obstacles, elevated and lucid; then he explained to him that exalted teaching particular to the Buddhas (buddha^nam sa^mukkamsika^ desana^), that is: suffering, its cause, its ceasing, and the path."
出自：南传佛教英文辞典
