AN 6:31 · Decline (Parihāna Sutta)
“Monks, six qualities lead to the decline of a monk in training.1 Which six? Delighting in work, delighting in talking, delighting in sleeping, delighting in entanglement, not guarding the sense faculties, not knowing moderation in food. These six qualities lead to the decline of a monk in training.
“Monks, six qualities lead to the non-decline of a monk in training. Which six? Not delighting in work, not delighting in talking, not delighting in sleeping, not delighting in entanglement, guarding the sense faculties, and knowing moderation in food. These six qualities lead to the non-decline of a monk in training.”
Note
1. A monk who has attained at least stream-entry, but who has yet to achieve arahantship. Of course, the qualities listed here would also lead to the decline of a monk who has not yet reached stream-entry.
See also: SN 55:40; AN 8:30; Iti 16–17
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. © 2014 / rev. 2017 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu — released under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 licence, for free distribution only. Source: dhammatalks.org (Metta Forest Monastery).
