Abstract The early discourses present the realization of four levels of awakening as the chief purpose of mindfulness practice. A survey of the opinions of various scholars, alleging these four levels to be a later development, shows that the main arguments proposed in support of this assessment are unconvincing. The testimony provided by a comparative study of the early discourses instead conveys the impression that these four levels of awakening are an integral part of the teachings of early Buddhism in the form in which they have been preserved in the textual records. These four levels depict a gradual purification of the mind which can be achieved through the cultivation of insight based on the practice of mindfulness.
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