10.
The Discourse on the Fortunate One's Discipline
160.
"Whether the Fortunate One is staying in the world or the discipline of the Fortunate One, that would be for the welfare of many people, for the happiness of many people, out of compassion for the world, for the good, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans.
"And what, monks, is the Fortunate One? Here, monks, a Truth-finder arises in the world, a Worthy One, a Perfectly Enlightened One, accomplished in true knowledge and conduct, the Fortunate One, knower of the world, unsurpassed trainer of persons to be tamed, Teacher of gods and humans, the Enlightened One, the Blessed One. This, monks, is the Fortunate One.
"And what, monks, is the discipline of the Fortunate One? He expounds the Teaching, good in the beginning, good in the middle, good in the end, with meaning and with phrasing; he reveals the holy life that is complete in its entirety and pure. This, monks, is the discipline of the Fortunate One. Thus whether the Fortunate One is staying in the world or the discipline of the Fortunate One, that would be for the welfare of many people, for the happiness of many people, out of compassion for the world, for the good, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans."
"There are these four things, monks, that lead to the decay and disappearance of the Good Teaching. Which four? Here, monks, monks learn a discourse that has been misapprehended, with wrongly placed phrasing. For wrongly placed phrasing, monks, the meaning too is wrongly inferred. This, monks, is the first thing that leads to the decay and disappearance of the Good Teaching.
"Furthermore, monks, monks are difficult to admonish, endowed with qualities that make them difficult to admonish, impatient, not receiving instruction respectfully. This, monks, is the second thing that leads to the decay and disappearance of the Good Teaching.
"Furthermore, monks, those monks who are very learned, who have learnt the collections, who are bearers of the Teaching, bearers of the monastic discipline, bearers of the matrices, they do not carefully teach the discourse to others. With their passing away, the discourse becomes cut off at the root, without refuge. This, monks, is the third thing that leads to the decay and disappearance of the Good Teaching.
"Furthermore, monks, the elder monks are luxurious, lax, forerunners in falling away, having laid down the responsibility for solitude, they do not arouse energy for the attainment of the unattained, for the achievement of the unachieved, for the realisation of the unrealised. Their later generation follows the example of what they have seen. They too are luxurious, lax, forerunners in falling away, having laid down the responsibility for solitude, they do not arouse energy for the attainment of the unattained, for the achievement of the unachieved, for the realisation of the unrealised. This, monks, is the fourth thing that leads to the decay and disappearance of the Good Teaching. These, monks, are the four things that lead to the decay and disappearance of the Good Teaching."
"There are these four things, monks, that lead to the presence, non-decay, and non-disappearance of the Good Teaching. Which four? Here, monks, monks learn a discourse that has been rightly taken, with rightly placed phrasing. For rightly placed phrasing, monks, the meaning too is rightly inferred. This, monks, is the first thing that leads to the presence, non-decay, and non-disappearance of the Good Teaching.
"Furthermore, monks, monks are easy to admonish, endowed with qualities that make for being easy to admonish, patient, receiving instruction respectfully. This, monks, is the second thing that leads to the presence, non-decay, and non-disappearance of the Good Teaching.
"Furthermore, monks, those monks who are very learned, who have learnt the collections, who are bearers of the Teaching, bearers of the monastic discipline, bearers of the matrices, they carefully teach the discourses to others. Upon their passing, the discourse is not cut off at the root, it has a refuge. This, monks, is the third factor that leads to the presence, non-decay, and non-disappearance of the Good Teaching.
"Furthermore, monks, the elder monks are not luxurious, not lax, having laid down the responsibility for falling away, forerunners in solitude, they arouse energy for the attainment of the unattained, for the achievement of the unachieved, for the realisation of the unrealised. Their later generation follows the example of what they have seen. They too are not luxurious, not lax, having laid down the responsibility for falling away, forerunners in solitude, they arouse energy for the attainment of the unattained, for the achievement of the unachieved, for the realisation of the unrealised. This, monks, is the fourth factor that leads to the presence, non-decay, and non-disappearance of the Good Teaching. These, monks, are the four factors that lead to the presence, non-decay, and non-disappearance of the Good Teaching." The tenth.