“These four individuals are found in the world. What four? One sunk low who sinks lower, one sunk low who rises high, one risen high who sinks low, and one risen high who rises higher. … These are the four individuals found in the world.”

Numbered Discourses 4.87 9. Confirmed The Son

“Mendicants, these four individuals are found in the world. What four? The confirmed ascetic, the white lotus ascetic, the pink lotus ascetic, and the delicate ascetic of ascetics.

And how is an individual a confirmed ascetic? It’s when a mendicant is a practicing trainee, who lives aspiring to the supreme sanctuary from the yoke. It’s like the eldest son of an anointed aristocratic king. He has not yet been anointed, but is eligible, and has been confirmed in the succession. In the same way, a mendicant is a practicing trainee, who lives aspiring to the supreme sanctuary from the yoke. That’s how an individual is a confirmed ascetic.