Aṇguttara Nikāya
Pañcaka Nipāta
8. Yodhājīva Vagga
Sutta 79
Tatiya Anāgata-Bhaya Suttaṃ
Future Dangers (3)
Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
Proofed against and modified in accordance with the revised edition at dhammatalks.org
For free distribution only.
From That the True Dhamma Might Last a Long Time: Readings Selected by King Asoka, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
[1][pts] Monks, these five future dangers, unarisen at present, will arise in the future.
Be alert to them and, being alert, work to get rid of them.
Which five?
There will be, in the course of the future, monks undeveloped in body,[1] undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in mind,[2] undeveloped in discernment.
They — being undeveloped in body, undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in mind, undeveloped in discernment — will give full ordination to others and will not be able to discipline them in heightened virtue, heightened mind, heightened discernment.
These too will then be undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment.
They — being undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment — will give full ordination to still others and will not be able to discipline them in heightened virtue, heightened mind, heightened discernment.
These too will then be undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment.
Thus from corrupt Dhamma comes corrupt discipline; from corrupt discipline, corrupt Dhamma.
This, monks, is the first future danger, unarisen at present, that will arise in the future.
Be alert to it and, being alert, work to get rid of it.
■
And further, there will be in the course of the future monks undeveloped in body, undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in mind, undeveloped in discernment.
They — being undeveloped in body, undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in mind, undeveloped in discernment — will take on others as students and will not be able to discipline them in heightened virtue, heightened mind, heightened discernment.
These too will then be undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment. They — being undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment — will take on still others as students and will not be able to discipline them in heightened virtue, heightened mind, heightened discernment.
These too will then be undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment.
Thus from corrupt Dhamma comes corrupt discipline; from corrupt discipline, corrupt Dhamma.
This, monks, is the second future danger, unarisen at present, that will arise in the future.
Be alert to it and, being alert, work to get rid of it.
■
And further, there will be in the course of the future monks undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment.
They — being undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment — when giving a talk on higher Dhamma or a talk composed of questions and answers, will fall into dark mental states without being aware of it.
Thus from corrupt Dhamma comes corrupt discipline; from corrupt discipline, corrupt Dhamma.
This, monks, is the third future danger, unarisen at present, that will arise in the future.
Be alert to it and, being alert, work to get rid of it.
■
And further, there will be in the course of the future monks undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment.
They — being undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment — will not listen when discourses that are words of the Tathāgata — deep, profound, transcendent, connected with the Void — are being recited.
They will not lend ear, will not set their hearts on knowing them, will not regard these teachings as worth grasping or mastering.
But they will listen when discourses that are literary works — the works of poets, elegant in sound, elegant in rhetoric, the work of outsiders, words of disciples — are recited.
They will lend ear and set their hearts on knowing them.
They will regard these teachings as worth grasping and mastering.
Thus from corrupt Dhamma comes corrupt discipline; from corrupt discipline, corrupt Dhamma.
This, monks, is the fourth future danger, unarisen at present, that will arise in the future.
Be alert to it and, being alert, work to get rid of it.
■
And further, there will be in the course of the future monks undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment.
They — being undeveloped in body... virtue... mind... discernment — will become elders living in luxury, lethargic, foremost in falling back, shirking the duties of solitude.
They will not make an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized.
They will become an example for later generations, who will become luxurious in their living, lethargic, foremost in falling back, shirking the duties of solitude, and who will not make an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized.
Thus from corrupt Dhamma comes corrupt discipline; from corrupt discipline, corrupt Dhamma.
This, monks, is the fifth future danger, unarisen at present, that will arise in the future.
Be alert to it and, being alert, work to get rid of it.
These, monks, are the five future dangers, unarisen at present, that will arise in the future. Be alert to them and, being alert, work to get rid of them.
[1]According to MN 36 a person developed in body is one whose mind is not invaded by feelings of pleasure, and a person developed in mind is one whose mind is not invaded by feelings of pain.
[2] Again according to MN 36, this means that pain can invade their minds and remain there.
Of Related Interest:
SN 16:13;
SN 20:7;
AN 3:101;
AN 5.77;
AN 5.78;
AN 5.80
AN 7:56
