37 aids to awakening

What Are the Four Right Efforts? Prevent, Abandon, Arouse and Maintain

Pāli: cattāro sammappadhānā · Sanskrit: catvāri samyakprahāṇāni · Vietnamese: Tứ chánh cần

The four right efforts (Pāli: sammappadhāna; Vietnamese texts translated from the Chinese canon also call them “Tứ chánh đoạn”) are four kinds of right striving: preventing evil, unwholesome states that have not arisen from arising; abandoning evil, unwholesome states that have arisen; arousing wholesome states that have not yet arisen; and keeping wholesome states that have arisen steady, growing and brought to fulfilment. AN 4.13 in the Numbered Discourses says that each effort involves arousing desire, trying, rousing energy, exerting and holding the mind. The next discourse, AN 4.14, names the four as the effort of restraint, of abandoning, of developing and of protecting. This is the second group of the 37 aids to awakening and, according to SN 45.8, it is also what right effort in the Noble Eightfold Path consists of. The point is not to try harder but to put your strength in the right place: whether now is the moment to prevent, let go, cultivate or protect.

A guide by Inti Foundation · updated 1 October 2026

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From the discourse: the four right efforts (AN 4.13)

Quoted verbatim from the Vietnamese translation by Ven. Thích Minh Châu in the Inti Dharma library (AN 4.13).

Này các Tỷ-kheo, có bốn chánh cần này. Thế nào là bốn? Ở đây, này các Tỷ-kheo, vị Tỷ-kheo với mục đích khiến cho các ác, bất thiện pháp từ trước chưa sanh không được sanh khởi, khởi lên ý muốn, cố gắng, tinh tấn, sách tấn, trì tâm; với mục đích khiến cho các ác, bất thiện pháp đã sanh ra được diệt trừ, khởi lên ý muốn, cố gắng, tinh tấn, sách tâm, trì tâm; với mục đích khiến cho các thiện pháp từ trước chưa sanh được sanh khởi, khởi lên ý muốn, cố gắng, tinh tấn, sách tấn, trì tâm; với mục đích khiến cho các thiện pháp đã được sanh có thể duy trì, không có mù mờ, được tăng trưởng, được quảng đại, được tu tập, được viên mãn, khởi lên ý muốn, cố gắng, tinh tấn, sách tấn, trì tâm; này các Tỷ-kheo, đây là bốn chánh cần.

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Four tasks, two directions: the unwholesome and the wholesome

The four right efforts fall into two directions. With the unwholesome, what has not arisen is prevented and what has arisen is abandoned. With the wholesome, what is not yet present is aroused and what is present is kept and helped to grow. Each task needs its own kind of effort: preventing needs early alertness; abandoning needs firmness without self-punishment; arousing needs the courage to begin, even with something small; keeping needs patience so that the good does not fade after a few keen days. AN 4.13 repeats the same chain for all four — desire, trying, energy, exertion, holding the mind — showing that effort starts from a wholesome wish, and only then come staying power and a steady mind.

The effort of restraint: guarding the six sense doors

According to AN 4.14, restraint means that on seeing a form with the eye one does not grasp at its “general sign” or its “details”, and one guards the eye so that greed, sorrow and unwholesome states do not arise from it; the same holds for the ear, nose, tongue, body and mind. This is guarding the senses: preventing the unwholesome at the door. In daily life it can mean noticing the first pull as your finger is about to scroll to one more unnecessary video. Restraint does not mean turning away from life; it means knowing what you are feeding. You can only restrain what you first see, so this effort relies heavily on mindfulness.

The effort of abandoning: not feeding unwholesome thoughts

AN 4.14 describes abandoning as not tolerating thoughts of sensual desire, ill will or harming once they have arisen, but giving them up, dispelling them and ending them so that they do not continue. For example: riding home, the mind keeps replaying this morning’s argument and drafting replies. Notice that you are feeding that stream of thought, then bring your attention back to the road ahead or the breath. Abandoning does not mean scolding yourself for having been angry or pretending the feeling is not there; seeing clearly and no longer feeding the thought is the most manageable step. If heavy thoughts persist, disturb your sleep or make daily life hard, seek professional support; this practice does not replace it.

The efforts of developing and protecting: growing the good, guarding the good

In AN 4.14, developing means cultivating the seven factors of awakening, from mindfulness and investigation to concentration and equanimity, based on seclusion, dispassion and cessation, maturing in letting go. Protecting means guarding a good object of concentration that has arisen; the discourse gives as examples contemplations of the body’s unattractiveness, such as the perception of a skeleton, traditional meditation subjects best learned with a teacher’s guidance. In daily life the two efforts can be understood more widely: start a wholesome habit that is not yet there, such as a few minutes of sitting still each morning or a heartfelt thank-you, then protect it from being dropped after a busy week. AN 4.13 says that the good which has arisen should be “maintained”, “increased” and brought to “fulfilment”: keeping the good is also an effort.

The four right efforts within the 37 aids to awakening

The four right efforts are the second of the 37 aids to awakening, right after the four foundations of mindfulness in the Longer Discourse with Sakuludāyī (MN 77): mindfulness helps us see, and right effort tells us what to do with what we see. The same energy returns in other groups: the faculty of energy, the power of energy, the awakening factor of energy, and right effort, which SN 45.8 defines with exactly these four tasks. SN 51.13 explains that the “active striving” in each base of spiritual power is also the four right efforts. The opening discourses of the Connected Discourses on the Right Efforts (SN 49) offer a comparison: just as the Ganges slants toward the east, one who develops the four right efforts slants and inclines toward Nibbāna.

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Practice today

1.Choose one “door” through which the mind is easily carried off, such as your phone at lunch break, and practise noticing the first pull before following it.
2.When an angry or craving thought keeps coming back, name it once, then bring your attention to the breath or the task at hand without arguing.
3.Start one very small wholesome act today, and in the evening note one good thing already present that you want to keep tomorrow.

Frequently asked questions

What do the four right efforts consist of?

Four efforts: preventing unarisen unwholesome states, abandoning arisen unwholesome states, arousing unarisen wholesome states and keeping arisen wholesome states. In the names used in AN 4.14, they are the efforts of restraint, abandoning, developing and protecting.

How do the four right efforts differ from the four foundations of mindfulness?

The four foundations of mindfulness are four places to establish mindfulness — body, feelings, mind, phenomena — that help us see clearly what is happening. The four right efforts are four directions of effort toward what has been seen: prevent, abandon, arouse, keep. The two need each other: without mindfulness effort easily becomes blind, and without right effort awareness easily stops at observing.

How are the four right efforts related to the four bases of spiritual power?

Each base of spiritual power is a kind of concentration gained through desire, energy, mind or investigation, accompanied by “active striving”. SN 51.13 explains that this active striving is precisely the four right efforts, so the four right efforts are the effort within the four bases of spiritual power.

Are the four right efforts the same as right effort?

In content, yes: SN 45.8 defines right effort with exactly these four efforts. The difference is the angle: right effort is one factor of the Noble Eightfold Path, alongside right mindfulness and right concentration, while the four right efforts set out the four tasks separately so that each can be practised.

How should a beginner practise the four right efforts?

Choose one very small task for each effort: a habit to prevent, a thought to let go of, a wholesome act to start, a good thing to keep. Practise within your capacity, note it at the end of the day and do not blame yourself when you fall short; steady effort is usually worth more than one burst of overexertion.

Sources for deeper reading

AN 4.13 — Effort (Right Efforts)

A short discourse in the Numbered Discourses that sets out all four right efforts, each made with desire, trying, energy, exertion and a steadied mind.

What are the 37 aids to awakening?What is right effort?What is diligence?What are the four foundations of mindfulness?What are the four bases of spiritual power?What are the seven factors of awakening?What are the five hindrances?