English
(16) 1. The Chapter on the True Dhamma 1. The First Discourse on Entering the Path of Rightness 151. "Monks, endowed with five qualities, even when listening to the True Dhamma, one is incapable of entering the path of rightness in wholesome states. Which five? One despises the talk, one despises the speaker, one despises oneself, one listens to the Dhamma with a distracted mind, one attends to it improperly with an unfocused mind. Indeed, monks, endowed with these five qualities, even when listening to the True Dhamma, one is incapable of entering the path of rightness in wholesome states. "Monks, endowed with five qualities, when listening to the True Dhamma, one is capable of entering the path of rightness in wholesome states. Which five? One does not despise the talk, one does not despise the speaker, one does not despise oneself, one listens to the Dhamma with an undistracted mind, one attends to it properly with a focused mind. Indeed, monks, endowed with these five qualities, when listening to the True Dhamma, one is capable of entering the path of rightness in wholesome states." The First. 2. The Second Discourse on Entering the Path of Rightness 152. "Monks, endowed with five qualities, even when listening to the True Dhamma, one is incapable of entering the path of rightness in wholesome states. Which five? One despises the talk, one despises the speaker, one despises oneself, one is dull-witted, stupid, and mute, one considers oneself to know what is unknown. Indeed, monks, endowed with these five qualities, even when listening to the True Dhamma, one is incapable of entering the path of rightness in wholesome states. "Monks, endowed with five qualities, when listening to the True Dhamma, one is capable of entering the path of rightness in wholesome states. Which five? One does not despise the talk, one does not despise the speaker, one does not despise oneself, one is wise, not stupid, not mute, one does not consider oneself to know what is unknown. Indeed, monks, endowed with these five... endowed with these qualities, listening to the True Dhamma, is capable of entering the fixed course of rightness in wholesome states. The Second. 3. The Third Discourse on the Fixed Course of Rightness 153. Endowed with five qualities, monks, even listening to the True Dhamma, one is incapable of entering the fixed course of rightness in wholesome states. Which five? One listens to the Dhamma, full of denigration, overcome by denigration, one listens to the Dhamma with a fault-finding mind, seeking flaws, one's mind is hostile towards the Dhamma teacher, full of resentment, one is dull-witted, stupid, like a dumb animal, one considers oneself to have understood what has not been understood. Endowed with these five qualities, monks, even listening to the True Dhamma, one is incapable of entering the fixed course of rightness in wholesome states. Endowed with five qualities, monks, listening to the True Dhamma, one is capable of entering the fixed course of rightness in wholesome states. Which five? One listens to the Dhamma, not full of denigration, not overcome by denigration, one listens to the Dhamma with a non-fault-finding mind, not seeking flaws, one's mind is not hostile towards the Dhamma teacher, not full of resentment, one is wise, not dull-witted, not like a dumb animal, one does not consider oneself to have understood what has not been understood. Endowed with these five qualities, monks, listening to the True Dhamma, one is capable of entering the fixed course of rightness in wholesome states. The Third. 4. The First Discourse on the Disappearance of the True Dhamma 154. These five qualities, monks, lead to the confusion and disappearance of the True Dhamma. Which five? Here, monks, monastics do not listen to the Dhamma respectfully, do not learn the Dhamma respectfully, do not retain the Dhamma respectfully, do not examine the meaning of the Dhamma they have retained respectfully, do not practice the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma, having understood the meaning and the Dhamma, respectfully. These five qualities, monks, lead to the confusion and disappearance of the True Dhamma. come to be. "These five things, monks, lead to the standing, the non-confusion, the non-disappearance of the True Dhamma. Which five? Here, monks, monks listen to the Dhamma carefully, they learn the Dhamma carefully, they retain the Dhamma carefully, they examine the meaning of the retained Dhamma carefully, they practice the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma having understood the meaning and understood the Dhamma carefully. These five things, monks, lead to the standing, the non-confusion, the non-disappearance of the True Dhamma." The Fourth. 5. The Second Discourse on the Confusion of the True Dhamma "These five things, monks, lead to the confusion, the disappearance of the True Dhamma. Which five? Here, monks, monks do not learn the Dhamma— discourses, mixed prose and verse, expositions, verses, inspired utterances, 'thus-saids', birth stories, extraordinary things, question-and-answer. This, monks, is the first thing that leads to the confusion, the disappearance of the True Dhamma. "Furthermore, monks, monks do not teach the Dhamma as they have heard it, as they have learned it, in detail to others. This, monks, is the second thing that leads to the confusion, the disappearance of the True Dhamma. "Furthermore, monks, monks do not recite the Dhamma as they have heard it, as they have learned it, in detail to others. This, monks, is the third thing that leads to the confusion, the disappearance of the True Dhamma. "Furthermore, monks, monks do not recite the Dhamma as they have heard it, as they have learned it, in detail. This, monks, is the fourth thing that leads to the confusion, the disappearance of the True Dhamma. "Furthermore, monks, monks do not contemplate, do not investigate, do not reflect in their minds on the Dhamma as they have heard it, as they have learned it. This, monks, is the fifth thing that leads to the confusion, the disappearance of the True Dhamma." Leads to. These five things, monks, lead to the confusion, to the disappearance of the True Dhamma. These five things, monks, lead to the stability, to the non-confusion, to the non-disappearance of the True Dhamma. Which five? Here, monks, monks learn the Dhamma – discourses, mixed prose and verse, explanations, verses, inspired utterances, 'Thus-saids', birth stories, wonderful things, question-and-answer. This, monks, is the first thing that leads to the stability, to the non-confusion, to the non-disappearance of the True Dhamma. Further, moreover, monks, monks teach the Dhamma, as heard, as learned, in detail to others. This, monks, is the second thing that leads to the stability, to the non-confusion, to the non-disappearance of the True Dhamma. Further, moreover, monks, monks make others recite the Dhamma, as heard, as learned, in detail. This, monks, is the third thing that leads to the stability, to the non-confusion, to the non-disappearance of the True Dhamma. Further, moreover, monks, monks recite the Dhamma, as heard, as learned, in detail. This, monks, is the fourth thing that leads to the stability, to the non-confusion, to the non-disappearance of the True Dhamma. Further, moreover, monks, monks ponder over the Dhamma, as heard, as learned, they investigate it, they examine it mentally. This, monks, is the fifth thing that leads to the stability, to the non-confusion, to the non-disappearance of the True Dhamma. These five things, indeed, monks, lead to the stability, to the non-confusion, to the non-disappearance of the True Dhamma. The Fifth. 6. The Third Discourse on the Confusion of the True Dhamma These five things, monks, lead to the confusion, to the disappearance of the True Dhamma. Which five? Here, monks, monks learn a discourse badly grasped, with ill-placed words and phrases. Of that ill-placed, monks, word... the meaning of the syllables is hard to understand. This, monks, is the first condition that leads to the confusion and disappearance of the True Dhamma. “Again, further, monks, the monks are difficult to admonish, endowed with qualities that make them difficult to admonish, impatient, not accepting instruction with good grace. This, monks, is the second condition that leads to the confusion and disappearance of the True Dhamma. “Again, further, monks, those monks who are learned, who have mastered the teachings, who uphold the Dhamma, who uphold the Vinaya, who uphold the summaries, they do not earnestly teach the suttas to others. When they pass away, the suttas become rootless, without a refuge. This, monks, is the third condition that leads to the confusion and disappearance of the True Dhamma. “Again, further, monks, the elder monks are given to abundance, are lax, foremost in backsliding, have laid down the burden of seclusion, they do not arouse energy for the attainment of the unobtained, for the realization of the unrealized, for the direct experience of the unexperienced. The later generation follows their example. They too are given to abundance, are lax, foremost in backsliding, have laid down the burden of seclusion, they do not arouse energy for the attainment of the unobtained, for the realization of the unrealized, for the direct experience of the unexperienced. This, monks, is the fourth condition that leads to the confusion and disappearance of the True Dhamma. “Again, further, monks, the Sangha is divided. When the Sangha is divided, monks, there are mutual insults, there are mutual slanders, there are mutual exclusions, there are mutual abandonments. There, those who are not yet confident do not become confident, and some of those who are confident change their minds. This, monks, is the fifth condition that leads to the confusion and disappearance of the True Dhamma. These, monks, are the five conditions