Here, Ānanda, a bhikkhu thinks thus: “This is peaceful, this is sublime, that is, the stilling of all activities, the relinquishing of all acquisitions, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, nibbāna.” In this way, Ānanda, a bhikkhu could obtain such a state of concentration that he would have no I-making, mine-making, and underlying tendency to conceit in regard to this conscious body; he would have no I-making, mine-making, and underlying tendency to conceit in regard to all external objects; and he would enter and dwell in that liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, through which there is no more I-making, mine-making, and underlying tendency to conceit for one who enters and dwells in it.
Ānandasutta: Ānanda (AN 3.32), translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
Our topic today is Nibbāna.
We have the concepts of saṃsāra and Nibbāna. How does the Buddha describe Nibbāna:
Etaṁ santaṁ etaṁ paṇītaṁ yadidaṁ sabbasaṅkhārasamatho sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo taṇhākkhayo virāgo nirodho nibbānan
This is peaceful; this is sublime — that is, the stilling of all activities, the letting go of all attachments, the ending of craving, fading away, cessation, extinguishment.
Saññāsutta: Percipient (AN 11.7), translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Sujato
Etaṃ santaṃ: this is peace.
Etaṃ paṇītaṃ: this is the highest, this is the most pleasant.
Sabbūpadhipaṭinissaggo: ūpadhi means kilesa, defilements of the mind — when all defilements leave.
Sabba saṅkhāra samatho: the calming of all saṅkhārā. Saṅkhārā are everything that arises due to causes, or another meaning is volitional formations of the mind — all our mental work. The calming of all saṅkhārā, when they leave — that is Nibbāna.
And the most important explanation of Nibbāna is taṇhakkhayo, ragakkhayo, dosakkhayo, mohakkhayo.
Taṇhā is craving; raga is passion. When we passionately want or do not want something, or our desire to be, to exist — all this is taṇhā. Taṇhakkhayo: where there is no taṇhā — that is Nibbāna.
Dosa is anger, aversion, hatred. Dosakkhayo: where there is no and cannot arise even the slightest anger or aversion — that is Nibbāna.
Moha is delusion, ignorance. Due to ignorance, we do not know what reality truly is. If a person completely loses ignorance (mohakkhayo) — what remains is Nibbāna.
Virāga is dispassion, nirodha is cessation, and Nibbāna is extinction. This is the description of Nibbāna.
And what is complete understanding? The ending of greed, hate, and delusion. This is called complete understanding.
And what is the person who has completely understood? It should be said: a perfected one, the venerable of such and such name and clan. This is called the person who has completely understood.
Pariññeyyasutta: Should Be Completely Understood (SN 22.106),
translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Sujato
We say that we want to achieve Nibbāna, or when someone says, “I have seen Nibbāna” — what does this mean? Many strive to see Nibbāna in meditation and think that Nibbāna is like some place or something material. They don’t think in such terms, but in their minds, they actually have such an understanding. As if we can go there and exist there, or that Nibbāna can be seen and after that, we will understand it — such an understanding exists among people.
But such an understanding is not described in the Teaching. Once, Venerable Sariputta, one of the two chief disciples of the Buddha, was asked what Nibbāna is. Venerable Sariputta said that Nibbāna is rāgakkhayo, dosakkhayo, mohakkhayo. Nibbāna is where there is no craving, aversion, and ignorance. Therefore, first of all, we must understand that Nibbāna is not a place.
“Reverend Sāriputta, they speak of this thing called ‘extinguishment’. What is extinguishment?”
“Reverend, the ending of greed, hate, and delusion is called extinguishment.”
“Yo kho, āvuso, rāgakkhayo dosakkhayo mohakkhayo — idaṁ vuccati nibbānan”ti.
Nibbānapañhāsutta: A Question About Extinguishment (SN 38.1),
translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Sujato
There is the attainment of Nibbāna during life (sa-upādisesa-nibbāna, i.e., “Nibbāna with residual groups of existence” or simply “Nibbāna with residue”), when a person attains Nibbāna during life and continues to live. Then this person knows two realities — there is saṃsāra, our life, and there is another reality — Nibbāna. The question arises: how and through what can we know Nibbāna? Nibbāna is an object of the mind: with the mind, with wisdom, we know Nibbāna. This is called Nibbāna with residue.
If a person has completely overcome their craving, hatred, and ignorance — they live as a saint in this life, with no evil remaining. Only goodness, compassion, and wholesome qualities remain. And after death, such a person fully attains Nibbāna (an-upādisesa-nibbāna, i.e., “Nibbāna without residual groups of existence”), and for them, there will be no saṃsāra.
What does it mean that there will be no saṃsāra for them? No saṃsāra means no suffering, and the absence of suffering is Nibbāna. After their death, after the death of an arahant, a conqueror of all defilements, they attain Nibbāna, and this is called Nibbāna without residue.
There are, mendicants, these two elements of extinguishment. What two? The element of extinguishment with residue, and the element of extinguishment with no residue.
And what is the element of extinguishment with residue? It’s when a mendicant is a perfected one, with defilements ended, who has completed the spiritual journey, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, achieved their own true goal, utterly ended the fetter of continued existence, and is rightly freed through enlightenment. Their five sense faculties still remain. So long as their senses have not gone they continue to experience the agreeable and disagreeable, to feel pleasure and pain. The ending of greed, hate, and delusion in them is called the element of extinguishment with residue.
And what is the element of extinguishment with no residue? It’s when a mendicant is a perfected one, with defilements ended, who has completed the spiritual journey, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, achieved their own true goal, utterly ended the fetter of continued existence, and is rightly freed through enlightenment. For them, everything that’s felt, being no longer relished, will become cool right here. This is called the element of extinguishment with no residue. These are the two elements of extinguishment.
Nibbānadhātusutta: Elements of Extinguishment (Iti 2.17),
translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Sujato
To overcome defilements, we practice the Path to Nibbāna, the Noble Eightfold Path. To achieve this, all saṅkhārā must be overcome. Sabba saṅkhāra samatho — calming of all sankhārā — is Nibbāna. There are three types of sankhārā: punnabhisaṅkhāra — wholesome thoughts, apunnabhisankhāra — unwholesome thoughts, anenjabhisankhāra — sankhārā of higher levels of samādhi, jhānas. All of them keep a person in existence. When all sankhārā disappear, this is sabba saṅkhāra samatho. However, a person still retains kindness, compassion, and wholesome qualities of the mind.
Many people think that a person will become like a stone, feeling nothing. But in reality, this is not the case, because when we purify our mind from defilements — only the qualities that are naturally present in it remain. By nature, the mind is kind. These qualities arise when we remove defilements. Otherwise, it would be dangerous to meditate — we would become bad beings, but this is not the case. In reality, the nature of our mind is radiant and kind.
After we were born, we began to deteriorate: craving, pride, anger, envy — all of this came later. In fact, we started to deteriorate already in our mother’s womb. Therefore, we have the understanding that a child can be educated even when they are still in the womb: practicing kindness, morality, and developing wholesome qualities of the mind — all of this will be education for the child. But in the very beginning, before the child develops all the other sense organs, their mind is the purest, the brightest, without defilements. Then, with the development of the other sense organs, their mind becomes defiled.
The same goes for a person who is freed from all defilements: they return to a pure mind. But the difference between a child and an arahant is that an arahant has wisdom, while a child simply has not yet manifested ignorance.
For a young tender infant lying prone does not even have the notion “identity,” so how could identity view arise in him? Yet the underlying tendency to identity view lies within him. A young tender infant lying prone does not even have the notion “teachings,” so how could doubt about the teachings arise in him? Yet the underlying tendency to doubt lies within him. A young tender infant lying prone does not even have the notion “rules,” so how could adherence to rules and observances arise in him? Yet the underlying tendency to adhere to rules and observances lies within him. A young tender infant lying prone does not even have the notion “sensual pleasures,” so how could sensual desire arise in him? Yet the underlying tendency to sensual lust lies within him. A young tender infant lying prone does not even have the notion “beings,” so how could ill will towards beings arise in him? Yet the underlying tendency to ill will lies within him.
Mahāmālukyasutta: The Greater Discourse to Mālunkyāputta (MN 64),
translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
There is a meditation called upasamānussati, upasama means tranquility, peace, Nibbāna. If a person thinks about Nibbāna, this is one of the 40 types of meditation described in the Teaching. But if a person has not attained Nibbāna, how can they contemplate this? Even those who have attained Nibbāna describe it very briefly: there are no words, no feelings, sensations, or emotions. The Buddha says: etaṃ santaṃ, etaṃ paṇītaṃ. It is very peaceful, it is very pleasant, there are no saṅkhārā, no defilements, no craving, hatred, or ignorance.
At one time Venerable Sāriputta was staying near Rājagaha, in the Bamboo Grove, the squirrels’ feeding ground.
There he addressed the mendicants: “Reverends, extinguishment is bliss! Extinguishment is bliss!” When he said this, Venerable Udāyī said to him, “But Reverend Sāriputta, what’s blissful about it, since nothing is felt?”
“The fact that nothing is felt is precisely what’s blissful about it.”
Nibbānasukhasutta: Extinguishment is Bliss (AN 9.34),
translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Sujato
This is how Nibbāna is described. But how can we contemplate this?
I think about it this way: we discussed that Nibbāna is the opposite of saṃsāra; what exists in saṃsāra does not exist in Nibbāna. Therefore, if a person understands what is in saṃsāra and its absence, then they can somewhat understand (but not attain) what Nibbāna is. If we think correctly about Nibbāna, it will not be frightening: the mind will be happy and calm.
I remember my teacher conducted a three-day retreat, and I was helping him. During those days, I had a severe headache, I could hardly do anything, I couldn’t sit, I couldn’t meditate. I thought about the headache and then thought about Nibbāna: in Nibbāna, there is no head, which means there is no headache, and there never will be. And not only is there no head, but there is also no body. So let’s imagine: in Nibbāna, there is no body. What does this mean? It means there is no need to get up in the morning, no need to brush your teeth, go to the toilet, or have breakfast. If you don’t need to have breakfast, it means no need to cook, no need to wash dishes. If you truly look at it this way, we don’t need to carry our body around! We don’t need a bed, table, or chairs. And that means we don’t need a house. If we don’t need a house, then there’s no need to pay utilities, take out loans, pay a mortgage. No need to sweep, clean, maintain, or repair it — all of this requires effort. Even when a person goes far away on vacation, they take their home with them. They have thoughts, and each thought about the house requires effort — this is saṅkhāra. If a person has no saṅkhārā at all, then we can say that their saṅkhāra samatho: they have no arising saṅkhārā. This is true happiness.
There is no body, so we don’t need to change our posture. Why do we change our posture? Otherwise, the body hurts, and we suffer from it. Since there is no body, this won’t happen there. And without a body, there will be no diseases. We are always sick, our organs get sick, our bones ache, all sorts of viruses and disorders affect us. If a person thinks, “I am not sick and will never get sick”, it means they simply do not know what diseases are. The Buddha says that when we want to drink, eat, go to the toilet — these are all diseases. The body’s states change, and we need to do something about it. We are used to this, but in reality, these are diseases of the body, and all of this is suffering; every moment we suffer.
But when there is no body, the suffering from the body also does not exist. This means you will never have a headache, a toothache, you will never feel cold, never feel hot, never have back pain. In reality — this is happiness. And this is the absolute attainment of Nibbāna.
If we look at how many problems and limitations there are in the world — none of this exists there. There are countries in the world. So many cultures, languages, religions. It seems to us that this is good, but it is only good when there are problems to solve. But if there are no problems, we don’t need any of this.
It seems to us that money, houses, possessions — these are all happiness, but we need all of this only to solve some of our issues. But if there is no issue, we don’t need any of it.
Every time we think like this, for example, that there is no school, we need to imagine what a school is. How children go there, how they study, whether they want to go there, and why they do it. These are not complex doctrinal reflections, quite the opposite. Otherwise, we can very quickly explain: in Nibbāna, there is no mind and matter, no nāmarūpa, and that’s the end of the discussion. But this does not give the mind any understanding, does not help us in any way, and it will not be meditation. Therefore, we think very simply and consistently, explaining to the mind.
There is no police, no judges. There are no buses and cars. No friends. If there are no friends, then there are no enemies either. No relatives, which means no strangers either. There is no Sri Lanka, Russia, America, Europe, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Hindu.
When we start thinking this way, we understand that there is freedom, there is liberation. And when we think this way, we think about the world, and we realize that it is not there, it is not in Nibbāna.
Suppose there is no monastery. What does this mean? No need to go for alms in the morning, no need to clean it, no need to wash dishes. There are no cīvara (robes), so there is no need to mend or wash them. There is no sun, so there will be no discussions about whether it is hot or cold, just as there will be no heat or cold. There are no religions, which means there will be no my religion and others’ religion, no right and wrong views. Even such subtle thoughts actually bring us suffering. Even when we think that our teaching is true and this is good, such thoughts bring us some suffering. We need to think this way, and then we can slightly imagine what the Buddha was trying to explain to us.
For example, food is considered happiness. But if we look at it — why do we need food? Food is needed because there is hunger. I have a monk friend from Armenia, and he gave me this example. If a person was offered a choice: either the ability to instantly get any food they desire or the ability to never feel hunger again and not need food, what would people choose? Almost all people would choose the first option. People eat not only because of hunger but also because of taste, smell, and pleasure. But in reality, food is needed to sustain the body, and if this need disappears — that would be happiness. To eat, you need to cook; for this, you need to buy food; for this, you need to earn money; for this, you need to get an education. It all starts from kindergarten. Therefore, if you look at it realistically — the more craving (taṇhā) there is, the more suffering there is.
There are two Buddhist concepts: mahicchatā (having many desires) and appicchatā (having few desires). A person practicing the Teaching should have few desires because when there are few desires, there are few problems. But we need to understand well that this does not necessarily correlate with what a person has in this life. There can be a person with very little money and possessions but with many cravings, and vice versa. We need to learn to be happy with what we have. Then it will always be enough for us, and it will be easy for us. It will be easy to provide for ourselves, and it will be easy to satisfy ourselves.
How much money is needed to become rich? The Buddha says that even if it rains gold, people’s craving will not disappear. A person is rich when they have enough and when they are happy with it. If a person is always thinking about what they don’t have, then they are a poor person. In their world, there is always a lack, they always have too little, they are always missing something — so they cannot be happy.
We are now discussing Nibbāna to at least understand it a little because even the smallest understanding of Nibbāna frees us from some level of our suffering. If a person approaches Nibbāna, their suffering decreases, their mental defilements decrease, and their wholesome, kind qualities of mind increase. Therefore, we need to understand where we are going and what it is.
Let’s take an example: the children have grown up and moved out of the house, and the mother misses them and suffers. We cannot tell the mother that she needs to free herself from attachment to her children to avoid suffering. This will not help her in any way; she cannot stop loving her children. As long as she thinks “these are my children”, she cannot free herself from this. Every time we say “this is mine”, it means we have some attachments. Therefore, if a person conquers themselves, completely overcomes their greed, they will have nothing of their own. What does this mean? Take a monk, for example: he has his own monastery, his teachers, his religion, his alms bowl, his robe, his country, his language — so many things. And he may remember his relatives, his parents — how much the monk has! What does it mean when we say that an arahant has nothing, owns nothing? It means he has no clinging. The things that, as we think, exist around us and our clinging to them are different things. Attachment is a defilement. If we look at it realistically, a person’s needs are very small: clothing, shelter, food, and medicine. Everything else is connected to craving.
Let’s return to the example of the mother: how can she overcome her suffering? The only way for her not to love her children would be if she never had children, but they already exist. Attachment goes away only when a person gains wisdom, or in other words, when ignorance disappears. If there is ignorance, clinging cannot be overcome. Therefore, the Teaching explains how we can overcome our ignorance.
Ignorance has two functions: it covers reality, and we see something else instead of reality; we see an illusion. It is like if a person is lost in the desert, tormented by thirst, and sees a mirage in the distance. Ignorance hides reality from them: they do not see that there is actually no water there. And it seems to them that there is water. Therefore, they strive towards it.
When we have ignorance, we wander in this world, thinking: this body is mine, this house is mine, this is my country, my property, my children, and so on. We accumulate many things, many possessions. But if we look at it in reality, this body belongs to no one, it doesn’t belong to anyone. The body is a piece of earth, and it will become earth again. The body arose in the mother’s womb: a cell appeared, and it developed thanks to the nourishment it received from the mother. And then we began to nourish ourselves. This is all food, and food belongs to the earth; therefore, our body came from food, and the body is also earth, and one day we will become earth. If a person thinks correctly, they will have less suffering from the body. Because they understand that this body is not mine, not me, this body will have to be left behind. And this “I” itself appears in the mind, it appears where there is ignorance.
How does ignorance arise? It arises from misunderstanding, from incorrect information. We do not understand what is actually happening right now. Because of this, each person has their own level of ignorance.
How does ignorance arise? The eye actually perceives only colors. Without colors, the eye cannot exist. The eye, colors, and eye-consciousness arise together and disappear together. This is the reality of seeing. This means that when I say I see you, in reality, I see nothing in the world because seeing happens in my mind, not in the world. It is like looking at a screen and thinking that someone is there. But when we look at the screen, we understand that there are just some colors lit up, and from this, seeing occurs, but there is no one in the screen.
I heard that in the very beginning, when cinemas first appeared, people were scared when they saw a train coming on the screen because they thought it would actually run them over. This was also a certain level of ignorance, but now we don’t have this ignorance, and we are not afraid.
Similarly, we need to understand that seeing occurs in the mind, so when I say that there is a person there, it is the mind telling me this, not the eye. Two organs are at work, two spheres of perception: one perceives colors, and the other perceives thoughts, concepts, objects, representations. When I say that there is a person there, it is already the work of the mind, not the work of the eye. When I touch something, what am I touching? The mind says: what you see is what you touch. For example, a cup. But what is in reality? In reality, I am only touching warmth, hardness, pressure — this is another reality: there are no colors, no cup, no beauty. This is what it means to live — our sense organs are at work: the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. And it can be said that the mind is in the middle: it connects all the organs and wants to understand what the world is.
“Reverend, these five faculties have different scopes and different ranges, and don’t experience each others’ scope and range. That is, Again, apparently general questions are in fact laying the groundwork for a discussion on subtle sates of meditation.the faculties of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body. What do these five faculties, with their different scopes and ranges, have recourse to? What experiences their scopes and ranges?”
“These five faculties, with their different scopes and ranges, have recourse to the mind. And the mind experiences their scopes and ranges.”
Mahāvedallasutta: The Great Elaboration (MN 43),
translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Sujato
Just like a child at the very beginning of their life: they cannot focus their vision on a specific object, so their world is scattered into colors. Then the child starts to focus their eyes on a particular shape. And then they touch, and think that what they see is what they touch — and external objects immediately appear, attachments appear. This is how ignorance manifests, the belief that such people, beings, things exist, and some of them are mine. This is how we learned, and this is how our craving and attachments began. And we do not know what reality truly is. Reality is the work of our sense organs. Besides our six sense organs and their objects, there is nothing else.
The eye and objects of the eye, the ear and objects of the ear, the nose and objects of the nose, the tongue and objects of the tongue, the body and objects of the body, the mind and objects of the mind. What else is there? There may be two answers: Nibbāna exists, and nothing else exists. But actually, when we say that Nibbāna exists, Nibbāna is an object of the mind. But when a person has no craving, when they don’t need to exist — they won’t have saṃsāra. What is saṃsāra? It is precisely the āyatanā, the spheres of perception.
We need to deeply understand the Teaching. There is no need to imagine Nibbāna somewhere. Just think, as the Buddha said: Nibbāna is where there is no craving, no hatred, no ignorance, no defilements.
If you need to imagine Nibbāna, you can simply imagine saṃsāra and think that in Nibbāna, this doesn’t exist. Then no fear arises in the mind due to craving: what is there, what will be there. When we ask “what will be there?” — this is our craving. When we think “that means I won’t be there and why would I need that?” — this is our craving speaking, our ignorance. Even now, there is no “me”, but there is ignorance, and through ignorance, the “I” appears.
When we suffer, we can imagine this peace, this happiness. Here we suffer, and when a person suffers — they can see their clinging, and that when there is no clinging — there is peace. This peace needs to be seen.
Many people think that saṃsāra is bad, but somewhere else there is another place where we can exist eternally, live forever, and always be happy. But people do not understand that this is again our taṇhā, our craving, our ignorance, and it will not bring us happiness.
The shortest description of Nibbāna is that it is where there is no craving, no ignorance, no anger, no hatred. Some things are difficult to understand, and in fact, Nibbāna cannot be explained otherwise, because it is another reality, there are no words, and words are insufficient to explain Nibbāna. If words are saṃsāra, then Nibbāna is not words, there are no words, it is another reality. But we must understand that there is no saṃsāra there.
If a person understands how ignorance actually creates the world, then they can overcome ignorance. Ignorance can be overcome through understanding the spheres of perception (through understanding one’s sense organs). For this, it is necessary to develop morality, concentration, calmness, mental composure, and wisdom. This is a long process, but if a person practices this Path, their suffering will inevitably decrease, because we are moving towards the absence of suffering. Where there is no suffering — that is Nibbāna.
“The straight way” that path is called, and “fearless” is its destination.
Accharāsutta: Nymphs (SN 1.46), translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
I think that when a person becomes an arahant, all attachments disappear, both to themselves and to other beings, but compassion does not disappear because there is absolute reality and relative reality. Only fully enlightened beings see absolute reality, the reality we are discussing now. For them, there are no beings, no ignorance. But people live in relative reality, and there they see other beings. An arahant understands that others still have ignorance, and for them saṃsāra continues, so compassion remains. These are just different kinds of understanding.
For example, there are cats living in the monastery, but for the cats, there is no monastery — they don’t have such concepts. But for the monks, the cats exist, and we take care of them. And again, these are human pure qualities: kindness, compassion — that is why they remain.
We exist in saṃsāra because of ignorance, and with ignorance, other defilements arise. Therefore, we have the desire to exist, the thirst to be — this is our thirst, we ourselves want it. If it completely goes away — what will remain? As long as the mind is active, we will live, but beyond that, existence cannot be. The Buddha explained that existence originates from ignorance.
Suppose an oil lamp depended on oil and a wick to burn. As the oil and the wick are used up, it would be extinguished due to lack of fuel. In the same way, feeling the end of the body approaching, they understand: “I feel the end of the body approaching.” Feeling the end of life approaching, they understand: “I feel the end of life approaching.” They understand: “When my body breaks up and my life has come to an end, everything that’s felt, since I no longer take pleasure in it, will become cool right here.”
Padīpopamasutta: The Simile of the Lamp (SN 54.8),
translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Sujato
I have practiced upasamānussati as I told you, and I practice vipassanā. I haven’t actually read about this exact practice anywhere, but actually, the entire Teaching of the Buddha is about this. The Teaching tells us that everything that exists in the world does not exist in Nibbāna, and it can be attained here, in this very life. I want to overcome my craving and my ignorance, and I see my current level of craving and ignorance, and I practice. And when the craving gradually decreases, I understand where I am going.
People think that Nibbāna is some place, but in reality, we need to fight our ignorance and overcome it. We need to realize Nibbāna, but what we need to be aware of is not Nibbāna; we need to be aware of saṃsāra, our suffering. If we understand that we have a problem, and understand the problem itself, then we can solve it. But if a person thinks that everything is fine with them, and they have no problems, then the Teaching will not be useful to such a person. The Teaching is only needed for those who see the problem, who see the suffering. This is how I think about Nibbāna, how I understand it.
I wish you the development of your morality, generosity, and wisdom; may the merits from studying the Dhamma help you realize Nibbāna!
Bhikkhus, there are these four foremost kinds of confidence. What four?(1)To whatever extent there are beings, whether footless or with two feet, four feet, or many feet, whether having form or formless, whether percipient or non-percipient, or neither percipient nor non-percipient, the Tathāgata, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One is declared the foremost among them. Those who have confidence in the Buddha have confidence in the foremost, and for those who have confidence in the foremost, the result is foremost.(2)To whatever extent there are phenomena that are conditioned, the Noble Eightfold Path is declared the foremost among them. Those who have confidence in the noble eightfold path have confidence in the foremost, and for those who have confidence in the foremost, the result is foremost.(3)To whatever extent there are phenomena conditioned or unconditioned, dispassion is declared the foremost among them, that is, the crushing of pride, the removal of thirst, the uprooting of attachment, the termination of the round, the destruction of craving, dispassion, cessation, nibbāna. Those who have confidence in the Dhamma have confidence in the foremost, and for those who have confidence in the foremost, the result is foremost.(4)To whatever extent there are Saṅghas or groups, the Saṅgha of the Tathāgata’s disciples is declared the foremost among them, that is, the four pairs of persons, the eight types of individuals — this Saṅgha of the Blessed One’s disciples is worthy of gifts, worthy of hospitality, worthy of offerings, worthy of reverential salutation, the unsurpassed field of merit for the world. Those who have confidence in the Saṅgha have confidence in the foremost, and for those who have confidence in the foremost, the result is foremost.
These are the four foremost kinds of confidence.
Aggappasādasutta: Confidence (AN 4.34), translation by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
RU 
EN