AN10_10: Vijjāsutta

Vijjāsutta - translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi

(1) “Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu may be endowed with faith but he is not virtuous … an.v.13 … (2) … endowed with faith and virtuous, but he is not learned … (3) … learned, but not a speaker on the Dhamma … (4) … a speaker on the Dhamma, but not one who frequents assemblies … (5) … one who frequents assemblies, but not one who confidently teaches the Dhamma to an assembly … (6) … one who confidently teaches the Dhamma to an assembly, but not an expert on the discipline … (7) … an expert on the discipline, but not one who recollects his manifold past abodes, that is, one birth, two births … as in 6:2 §4 … thus he does not recollect his manifold past abodes with their aspects and details … (8) … one who recollects his manifold past abodes … but not one who, with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses the human … as in 6:2 §5 … understands how beings fare in accordance with their kamma … (9) … one who, with the divine eye … understands how beings fare in accordance with their kamma, but not one who, with the destruction of the taints, has realized for himself with direct knowledge, in this very life, the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, and having entered upon it, dwells in it.

“Thus he is incomplete with respect to that factor. He should fulfill that factor, thinking: ‘How can I be endowed with faith … an.v.14 … and also be one who, with the destruction of the taints, has realized for himself with direct knowledge, in this very life, the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, and having entered upon it, dwells in it?’

(10) “But when a bhikkhu is i endowed with faith, ii virtuous, and iii learned; iv a speaker on the Dhamma; v one who frequents assemblies; vi one who confidently teaches the Dhamma to an assembly; vii an expert on the discipline; viii one who recollects his manifold past abodes … with their aspects and details; ix one who, with the divine eye … understands how beings fare in accordance with their kamma; and x one who, with the destruction of the taints, has realized for himself with direct knowledge, in this very life, the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, and having entered upon it, dwells in it, then he is complete with respect to that factor.

“A bhikkhu who possesses these ten qualities is one who inspires confidence in all respects and who is complete in all aspects.” an.v.15

© Bhikkhu Bodhi, The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha (Wisdom Publications, 2012)

This excerpt from The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha by Bhikkhu Bodhi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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