Liable to Decline (SN35.96)

Linked Discourses 35.96

10. The Sixes

Liable to Decline

“Mendicants, I will teach you who is liable to decline, who is not liable to decline, and the six fields of mastery.¹

Listen …

And how is someone liable to decline?

When a mendicant sees a sight with their eyes, bad, unskillful phenomena arise: memories and thoughts that tighten the fetters.

Suppose that mendicant tolerates them and doesn’t give them up, dispel them, eliminate them, and obliterate them. They should understand:

‘My skillful qualities are declining.

For this is what the Buddha calls decline.’

Furthermore, when a mendicant hears a sound … smells an odor … tastes a flavor … encounters a touch …

knows an idea with their mind, bad, unskillful phenomena arise: memories and thoughts that tighten the fetters.

If that mendicant tolerates them and doesn’t give them up, dispel them, eliminate them, and obliterate them, they should understand:

‘My skillful qualities are declining.

For this is what the Buddha calls decline.’

That’s how someone is liable to decline.

And how is someone not liable to decline?

When a mendicant sees a sight with their eyes, bad, unskillful phenomena arise: memories and thoughts that tighten the fetters.

Suppose that mendicant doesn’t tolerate them but gives them up, dispels them, eliminates them, and obliterates them. They should understand:

‘My skillful qualities are not declining.

For this is what the Buddha calls non-decline.’

Furthermore, when a mendicant hears a sound … smells an odor … tastes a flavor … encounters a touch …

knows an idea with their mind, bad, unskillful phenomena arise: memories and thoughts that tighten the fetters.

Suppose that mendicant doesn’t tolerate them but gives them up, dispels them, eliminates them, and obliterates them. They should understand:

‘My skillful qualities are not declining.

For this is what the Buddha calls non-decline.’

That’s how someone is not liable to decline.

And what are the six fields of mastery?

When a mendicant sees a sight with their eyes, bad, unskillful phenomena don’t arise: memories and thoughts that tighten the fetters.

They should understand:

‘This sense field has been mastered.

For this is what the Buddha calls a field of mastery.’ …

Furthermore, when a mendicant knows an idea with their mind, bad, unskillful phenomena don’t arise: memories and thoughts that tighten the fetters.

They should understand:

‘This sense field has been mastered.

For this is what the Buddha calls a field of mastery.’

These are the six fields of mastery.”