Section outline
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Lesson 3.4.5 Upālisuttaṃ, Part One – How to Conduct Oneself Correctly in Right Speech
Even during the Buddha's time, solitary forest dwelling and meditating wasn't advised for anyone. The Buddha, for instance, didn't permit Thera Upāli—who would later become an Arahant, chair the first council, and preside over the compilation of the Vinaya—to retire to the woodlands. Ven. Upāli, praised by the Buddha as the foremost expert in monastic discipline (vinayadharāna) for Bhikkhus, has an entire section of regulations addressed to him in the Aṅguttaranikāyo. The current Upālisutta, also quoted in parts from the Aṅguttaranikāyo, details the constituents of noble speech, beginning with the abstinence from wrong speech. Commentarial explanations provide further insights into the effects of unwholesome volition and the utterance of false speech.