At the beginning of the Mahāparinibbāna-suttanta and its parallels (hereafter MPS), the Buddha expounds the Vajjī’s Seven Conditions for Non-decline (Satta aparihāniyā dhammā) and the bhikkhus’ Seven Conditions for Non-decline of groups of six to eight. The various “seven sets related to practice” found therein have only been vaguely understood as something added later, and have so far hardly been researched. However, analyzing them in detail, we can see they are arranged from the initial stage of concentration (jhāna) to profound concentration. Moreover, when referring to other parts of MPS, we find that these sets are implicitly based on the path of practice, namely, the thirty-seven bodhipakkhiyā dhammā.
