True , but without ordaining there can be no making an end to suffering . In Snp 2 . 14 the Buddha declares that it is impossible for one involved in the household life to realize the complete Dhamma . In MN 71 The Blessed One tells Vacchagota that there has never been a householder who has made an end to suffering that hasn ' t not immediately gone forth or passed away . Miln 65 ? repeats the same clarifying that going forth means ordaining and immediately mean that very day . It is very clear from the suttas that the Buddha taught lay followers differently than he did the ordained . There are a little over three hundred discourses directed to the laity out of the roughly 8 , 200 discourses in the Sutta Pitaka . Of these nearly thirty percent are about perfecting virtue . No other topic comes even close . Meditation is way , way , way down on the list . There are a few instances of exceptional individuals receiving instruction Anathapinika is one . Sariputta instructed him on his death bed . Anathapinika ' s final request was that meditation be taught to those lay followers with little dust in their eyes . In looking through the rest of the canon it appears that these are few and far between .