The One Well-gone
Sugata Sutta  (AN 4:160)

“Monks, when the One Well-gone or the discipline of the One Well-gone is established in the world, that is for the benefit & happiness of many, out of sympathy for the world, for the welfare, benefit, & happiness of devas & human beings.

“And who is the One Well-gone? There is the case where a Tathāgata appears in the world, worthy & rightly self-awakened, consummate in clear-knowing & conduct, well-gone, an expert with regard to the cosmos, unexcelled trainer of people fit to be tamed, teacher of devas & human beings, awakened, blessed. This, monks, is the One Well-gone.

“And what is the discipline of the One Well-gone? He teaches the Dhamma admirable in the beginning, admirable in the middle, admirable in the end; he expounds the holy life both in its particulars & in its meaning, entirely perfect, surpassingly pure. This, monks, is the discipline of the One Well-gone.

“When the One Well-gone or the discipline of the One Well-gone is thus established in the world, that is for the benefit & happiness of many, out of sympathy for the world, for the welfare, benefit, & happiness of devas & human beings.

“Monks, these four things lead to the confusion & disappearance of the True Dhamma. Which four?

“There is the case where monks learn suttas that have been poorly memorized, with words & phrases poorly placed. When the words & phrases are poorly placed, the meaning is wrongly inferred. This, monks, is the first thing that leads to the confusion & disappearance of the True Dhamma.

“Further, the monks are hard to correct and are endowed with qualities that make them hard to correct. They lack endurance and don’t take instruction respectfully. This, monks, is the second thing that leads to the confusion & disappearance of the True Dhamma.

“Further, those monks who are learned, to whom the tradition has come down, who have memorized the suttas, memorized the discipline, memorized the mātikas,1 do not attentively teach the discourses to others. When they have passed away, the discourses are cut off at the root, left without an arbitrator. This, monks, is the third thing that leads to the confusion & disappearance of the True Dhamma.

“Further, the elder monks are luxurious & lax, in the vanguard of backsliding, shirking the duties of solitude. They don’t make an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. Later generations follow their example. They, too, are luxurious & lax, in the vanguard of backsliding, shirking the duties of solitude. They don’t make an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. This, monks, is the fourth thing that leads to the confusion & disappearance of the True Dhamma.

“These, monks, are four things lead to the confusion & disappearance of the True Dhamma.

“But these four things lead to the stability, non-confusion, & non-disappearance of the True Dhamma. Which four?

“There is the case where monks learn suttas that have been well memorized, with words & phrases well placed. When the words & phrases are well placed, the meaning is rightly inferred. This, monks, is the first thing that leads to the stability, non-confusion, & non-disappearance of the True Dhamma.

“Further, the monks are easy to correct and are endowed with qualities that make them easy to correct. They show endurance and take instruction respectfully. This, monks, is the second thing that leads to the stability, non-confusion, & non-disappearance of the True Dhamma.

“Further, those monks who are learned, to whom the tradition has come down, who have memorized the suttas, memorized the discipline, memorized the mātikas, attentively teach the discourses to others. When they have passed away, the discourses are not cut off at the root and are left with an arbitrator. This, monks, is the third thing that leads to the stability, non-confusion, & non-disappearance of the True Dhamma.

“Further, the elder monks are not luxurious or lax. They toss away backsliding and are in the vanguard of solitude. They make an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. Later generations follow their example. They, too, are not luxurious or lax. They toss away backsliding and are in the vanguard of solitude. They make an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. This, monks, is the fourth thing that leads to the stability, non-confusion, & non-disappearance of the True Dhamma.

“These, monks, are four things lead to the stability, non-confusion, & non-disappearance of the True Dhamma.”

See also: MN 109; SN 16:13; SN 20:7; SN 47:25; AN 1:140–141; AN 5:79–80; AN 7:21; AN 7:56

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