Ten Things
Dasa Dhamma Sutta (AN 10:48)
“There are these ten things that a person gone forth should reflect on often. Which ten?
“‘I have become casteless’: A person gone forth should often reflect on this.
“‘My life is dependent on others’ …
“‘My behavior should be different (from that of householders)’ …
“‘Can I fault myself with regard to my virtue?’…
“‘Can my observant fellows in the holy life, on close examination, fault me with regard to my virtue?’ …
“‘I will grow different, separate from all that is dear & appealing to me’ …
“‘I am the owner of actions [kamma], heir to actions, born of actions, related through actions, and have actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir’ …
“‘What am I becoming as the days & nights fly past?’ …
“‘Do I delight in an empty dwelling?’ …
“‘Have I attained a superior human attainment, a truly noble distinction of knowledge & vision, such that—when my companions in the holy life question me in the last days of my life—I won’t feel abashed?’: A person gone forth should often reflect on this.
“These are the ten things that a person gone forth should reflect on often.”
See also: SN 35:97; SN 55:40; AN 5:57; AN 5:77—80; AN 5:114
