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Buddhism

AN 3.120 · Sagacity (Moneyya Sutta)

AN 3.120 · Sagacity (Moneyya Sutta)

Monks, there are these three forms of sagacity. Which three? Bodily sagacity, verbal sagacity, and mental sagacity.

And what is bodily sagacity? There is the case where a monk abstains from taking life, abstains from theft, abstains from unchastity. This is called bodily sagacity.

And what is verbal sagacity? There is the case where a monk abstains from lying, abstains from divisive tale-bearing, abstains from harsh language, abstains from idle chatter. This is called verbal sagacity.

And what is mental sagacity? There is the case where a monk who — with the wasting away of the mental fermentations — remains in the fermentation-free awareness-release and discernment-release, having known and made them manifest for himself right in the here and now. This is called mental sagacity.

These, monks, are the three forms of sagacity.

A sage in body, a sage in speech, A sage in mind, without fermentation: a sage consummate in sagacity is said to have abandoned everything. — the All.

Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. From Access to Insight (BCBS Edition). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) — for free distribution only. Never sold.

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