ABSTRACT
The Maṅgala Sutta, or Discourse on Blessings, is one of the most popular texts in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, often recited on ceremonial occasions as a source of good fortune and protection. The sutta enumerates 38 maṅgala, “auspicious signs” or blessings. Although at first sight the 38 blessings seem to be thrown together at random, when considered closely they can be seen to fall into distinct stages that constitute a comprehensive map of the good life: the life that is beneficial both to oneself and to the wider social circles in which one is enmeshed. Different ways of adopting these blessings are possible, varying according to whether one adopts the life of a monastic or of a householder. The scheme of blessings is applicable to both ways of life. This chapter uses this ground plan to show how the virtues and practices emphasized in Early Buddhism fit together into an integral, ascending vision of the good life, constituting the stepping stones of a journey that culminates in the ultimate goal of the Buddhist path, nibbāna.
