EA11.7: Alms

From the Ekottarika Āgama, translated from the Chinese by Charles Patton.

Thus I have heard: One time, the Buddha was staying at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove of Śrāvastī.

It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, “There was a person thinking in this assembly, and I fully knew it. Afterward, it wasn’t possible for this person to eat their meal, for they had spoken falsely in the great assembly. On some other occasion, I examined this person, and they had become obsessed with thoughts about valuable things. Then, they spoke falsely to the great assembly. Why was that? Monks, obsessions with valuable things are very difficult to abandon. They cause people to fall to the three bad destinations and not reach the unconditioned state.

“Therefore, monks, one must abandon these thoughts that have arisen. If they have yet to arise, then don’t create anymore thoughts that are obsessed with valuable things. Thus, monks, you should train yourselves.”

When the monks heard what the Buddha taught, they rejoiced and approved.

Translated from the Chinese by Charles Patton for Dharma Pearls, released under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Source text via SuttaCentral.