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5. The Chapter on Assemblies 43. “These two, monks, are assemblies. Which two? A shallow assembly and a deep assembly. And which, monks, is a shallow assembly? Here, monks, in which assembly the monks are conceited, are arrogant, are fickle, are talkative, have scattered speech, are forgetful, are not comprehending, are not concentrated, have minds wandering, have senses unrestrained. This, monks, is called a shallow assembly. “And which, monks, is a deep assembly? Here, monks, in which assembly the monks are not conceited, are not arrogant, are not fickle, are not talkative, have not scattered speech, have mindfulness established, are comprehending, are concentrated, have minds unified, have senses restrained. This, monks, is called a deep assembly. These, monks, are the two assemblies. Of these two assemblies, monks, this is the foremost, namely, the deep assembly.” 44. “These two, monks, are assemblies. Which two? A divided assembly and a harmonious assembly. And which, monks, is a divided assembly? Here, monks, in which assembly the monks live having arisen in quarrels, having arisen in disputes, having fallen into contention, piercing one another with the darts of their mouths. This, monks, is called a divided assembly. “And which, monks, is a harmonious assembly? Here, monks, in which assembly the monks live in harmony, delighting, not disputing, mingled like milk and water, regarding one another with loving eyes. This, monks, is called a harmonious assembly. These, monks, are the two assemblies. Of these two assemblies, monks, this is the foremost, namely, the harmonious assembly.” 45. “These two, monks, are assemblies. Which two? An assembly without excellence and an assembly with excellence. And which, monks, is an assembly without excellence? Here, monks, in which assembly the elder monks are given to abundance, are negligent, are foremost in backsliding, have cast off the burden of seclusion, they do not arouse energy for the unreached... for the attainment of the unattained, for the realization of the unrealized. The later generation follows their example. They too become fond of crowds, slothful, foremost in falling away, having cast off the burden of seclusion, they do not arouse energy for the attainment of the unattained, for the realization of the unrealized. This, bhikkhus, is called a community without excellence. "And what, bhikkhus, is a community with excellence? Here, bhikkhus, in a community where the elder bhikkhus are not fond of crowds, are not slothful, have cast off the burden of falling away, are foremost in seclusion, they arouse energy for the attainment of the unattained, for the realization of the unrealized. The later generation follows their example. They too are not fond of crowds, are not slothful, have cast off the burden of falling away, are foremost in seclusion, they arouse energy for the attainment of the unattained, for the realization of the unrealized. This, bhikkhus, is called a community with excellence. These, bhikkhus, are the two communities. Of these two communities, bhikkhus, this is the best, that is, the community with excellence." "These, bhikkhus, are two kinds of communities. Which two? The ignoble community and the noble community. And what, bhikkhus, is the ignoble community? Here, bhikkhus, in a community where the bhikkhus do not understand as it really is: 'This is suffering,' do not understand as it really is: 'This is the origin of suffering,' do not understand as it really is: 'This is the cessation of suffering,' do not understand as it really is: 'This is the path leading to the cessation of suffering.' This, bhikkhus, is called the ignoble community. "And what, bhikkhus, is the noble community? Here, bhikkhus, in a community where the bhikkhus understand as it really is: 'This is suffering,' understand as it really is: 'This is the origin of suffering,' understand as it really is: 'This is the cessation of suffering,' understand as it really is: 'This is the cessation of suffering the path leading to ruin they truly understand. This is called, monks, the noble assembly. These, indeed, monks, are two assemblies. Of these two assemblies, monks, this is the foremost, namely, the noble assembly. 47. These are two, monks, assemblies. Which two? The assembly-chaff and the assembly-cream. And which, monks, is the assembly-chaff? Here, monks, in which assembly monks go by desire, go by hatred, go by delusion, go by fear. This is called, monks, the assembly-chaff. And which, monks, is the assembly-cream? Here, monks, in which assembly monks do not go by desire, do not go by hatred, do not go by delusion, do not go by fear. This is called, monks, the assembly-cream. These, indeed, monks, are two assemblies. Of these two assemblies, monks, this is the foremost, namely, the assembly-cream. 48. These are two, monks, assemblies. Which two? The assembly trained by flattery, not trained by questioning; the assembly trained by questioning, not trained by flattery. And which, monks, is the assembly trained by flattery, not trained by questioning? Here, monks, in which assembly monks, when those discourses spoken by the Tathāgata, are profound, profound in meaning, transcendent, connected with emptiness, are being recited, do not listen, do not lend an ear, do not apply their minds to understanding, and do not consider those teachings as worth learning or mastering. But those discourses that are poetic, composed in verse, with charming words, with charming phrases, external, spoken by disciples— when these are being recited, they listen, they lend an ear, they apply their minds to understanding, they consider those teachings as worth learning or mastering. And having mastered that teaching, they do not question one another, nor do they investigate— 'How is this? What is the meaning of this...?' They do not open what is unopened, and do not make manifest what is unmanifested, and do not dispel doubt in various matters that are grounds for doubt. This, bhikkhus, is called an assembly trained by intimidation, not trained by questioning. And what, bhikkhus, is an assembly trained by questioning, not trained by intimidation? Here, bhikkhus, in an assembly where monks, those discourses that are poetic, composed, with artful words, with artful phrases, external, spoken by disciples, when they are recited, do not listen attentively, do not lend an ear, do not apply their minds to understanding, and do not consider those teachings worth learning or mastering. But those discourses that are spoken by the Tathāgata, profound, profound in meaning, supramundane, connected with emptiness, when they are recited, they listen attentively, lend an ear, apply their minds to understanding, and consider those teachings worth learning or mastering. Having mastered that teaching, they question each other, investigate each other: 'How is this? What is the meaning of this?' They open what is unopened, and make manifest what is unmanifested, and dispel doubt in various matters that are grounds for doubt. This, bhikkhus, is called an assembly trained by questioning, not trained by intimidation. These, bhikkhus, are the two assemblies. Among these two assemblies, bhikkhus, the foremost is the assembly trained by questioning, not trained by intimidation. 49. These, bhikkhus, are two assemblies. Which two? An assembly devoted to material gain, not devoted to the Dhamma; an assembly devoted to the Dhamma, not devoted to material gain. And what, bhikkhus, is an assembly devoted to material gain, not devoted to the Dhamma? Here, bhikkhus, in an assembly where monks, in the presence of white-clad laypeople, speak praise of each other: 'Such-and-such a monk is liberated in both ways, such-and-such is liberated by wisdom, such-and-such is a body-witness, such-and-such has attained right view, such-and-such is liberated by faith, such-and-such is a Dhamma-follower, such-and-such is a faith-follower...' 'So-and-so is virtuous, of good character; so-and-so is immoral, of bad character.' They obtain gain thereby. Having obtained that gain, they are infatuated, obsessed, engrossed, seeing no danger, without wisdom of escape, they consume it. This, bhikkhus, is called a company devoted to material things, not devoted to Dhamma. "And what, bhikkhus, is a company devoted to Dhamma, not devoted to material things? Here, bhikkhus, in a company where bhikkhus do not speak in praise of one another in the presence of householders in white clothes—'So-and-so is liberated in both ways, so-and-so is liberated by wisdom, so-and-so is a body-witness, so-and-so has attained view, so-and-so is liberated by faith, so-and-so is a Dhamma-follower, so-and-so is a faith-follower, so-and-so is virtuous, of good character; so-and-so is immoral, of bad character.' They obtain gain thereby. Having obtained that gain, they are not infatuated, not obsessed, not engrossed, seeing danger, with wisdom of escape, they consume it. This, bhikkhus, is called a company devoted to Dhamma, not devoted to material things. These, bhikkhus, are the two companies. Of these two companies, bhikkhus, this is the foremost, that is to say, the company devoted to Dhamma, not devoted to material things." 50. "There are, bhikkhus, these two companies. Which two? An uneven company and an even company. And what, bhikkhus, is an uneven company? Here, bhikkhus, in a company where unrighteous acts prevail, righteous acts do not prevail; undisciplined acts prevail, disciplined acts do not prevail; unrighteous acts shine forth, righteous acts do not shine forth; undisciplined acts shine forth, disciplined acts do not shine forth. This, bhikkhus, is called an uneven company. "And what, bhikkhus, is an even company? Here, b Monks, in a community where actions according to Dhamma prevail, actions not according to Dhamma do not prevail; where actions according to Vinaya prevail, actions not according to Vinaya do not not prevail;