The definition of the four quadrants

"Control your mouth and move your legs" aligns with the **four quadrants** of practice, which follow the progression of spiritual cultivation: 

1. **"Avoid all evil" (First Quadrant - Human and Heavenly Beings)**: In this stage, practitioners focus on refraining from harmful actions and speech, laying a moral foundation. This is the first step out of the three lower paths (hell, hungry ghosts, animals), where one starts rising from ignorance and suffering.

  

2. **"Cultivate all good" (Second Quadrant - Two Vehicles)**: Here, practitioners actively engage in virtuous actions, benefiting others and reinforcing moral habits. This aligns with the paths of the **Śrāvakas** (listeners) and **Pratyekabuddhas** (solitary realizers), who practice self-discipline and wisdom to transcend samsara.

3. **"Purify one’s mind" (Third Quadrant - Bodhisattvas)**: Moving deeper into practice, the Bodhisattva vows emerge, focusing on cleansing the mind of defilements, transforming the self to help all beings. This quadrant emphasizes mindfulness, compassion, and inner purity.

4. **"This is the teaching of all Buddhas" (Fourth Quadrant - Complete Awakening)**: This final stage represents the ultimate realization of Buddhahood. The practitioner transcends all dualities, fully integrating wisdom and compassion into perfect enlightenment.

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From the starting point of the **three evil paths (hell, hungry ghosts, animals)** outside these four quadrants, beings begin their ascent, striving with determination and diligence toward complete awakening. This journey is marked by **vigorous progress**, transcending suffering and illusion, until the practitioner achieves **complete and total enlightenment**.

In this framework, spiritual cultivation is a transformative path that moves from external discipline to internal awakening, ultimately leading to the realization of the Buddha's wisdom.