Take another brahmin who says: ‘All sensual pleasures are impermanent, suffering, and perishable.’ Saying this, a brahmin speaks the truth, not lies. But they don’t think of themselves as an ‘ascetic’ or ‘brahmin’ because of that. Nor do they think ‘I’m better’ or ‘I’m equal’ or ‘I’m worse’. Rather, they simply practice for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding sensual pleasures, having had insight into the truth of that.
Take another brahmin who says: ‘All states of existence are impermanent, suffering, and perishable.’ … They simply practice for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding future lives, having had insight into the truth of that.
Take another brahmin who says: ‘I don’t belong to anyone anywhere. And nothing belongs to me anywhere.’ In speaking like this, a brahmin speaks the truth, not lies. But they don’t think of themselves as an ‘ascetic’ or ‘brahmin’ because of that. Nor do they think ‘I’m better’ or ‘I’m equal’ or ‘I’m worse’. Rather, they simply practice the path of nothingness, having had insight into the truth of that. These are the four truths of the brahmins that I declare, having realized them with my own insight.”
Numbered Discourses 4.186 19. Brahmins Approach