9.63. Things That Weaken the Training (AN9.63)

“Monks, these five are things that weaken the training. Which five? The taking of life, stealing, sexual misconduct, the telling of lies, and distilled & fermented beverages that are a cause for heedlessness. These five are things that weaken the training.

“To abandon these five things that weaken the training, one should develop the four frames of reference. Which four? There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body in & of itself—ardent, alert, & mindful—putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world. He remains focused on feelings in & of themselves… mind in & of itself… mental qualities in & of themselves—ardent, alert, & mindful—putting aside greed & distress with reference to the world. To abandon the five things that weaken the training, one should develop these four frames of reference.”

Translated from the Pali by: Thanissaro Bhikkhu.

©1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. The text of this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions. Transcribed from a file provided by the translator.

Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/

Prepared for SuttaCentral by Gabriel Laera and Ayya Vimala.