Exploring the Path - Pāli Course

“O’ Bhikkhus, do not entertain yourselves with low talk of diverse nature, such as: talk about kings, robbers, great ministers, armies, dangers, war, food, drink, clothes, beds, garlands, perfumes, relatives, vehicles, villages, towns and cities, countries, women, heroes, gossip at street-corners and at the well, ghost-stories, desultory talk, speculation about the world and oceans, talk of being and non-being and such like.

What is the reason for this? Such kind of talk, O’ Bhikkhus, is not connected with the goal, does not affect the holy life, and does not lead to weariness of the world, to dispassion, to cessation, to tranquillity, to universal knowledge, to full enlightenment, to nibbāna.

O’ Bhikkhus, when you speak, you talk about ‘This is suffering’; you talk about ‘This is the origination of suffering’; you talk about ‘This is the eradication of suffering’; you talk about ‘This is the path leading to the eradication of suffering.’

“What is the reason for this? “Such kind of talk, O’Bhikkhus, is connected with the goal, is related to the holy life, and leads to weariness of the world, to dispassion, to cessation, to tranquillity, to universal knowledge, to full enlightenment, to nibbāna.

Therefore, O’Bhikkhus, make it your obligation to practice: ‘This is suffering’. Make it your obligation to practice: ‘This is the origination of suffering’. Make it your obligation to practice: ‘This is the eradication of suffering’. Make it your obligation to practice: ‘This is the path leading to the eradication of suffering’”

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* Tiracchānakathāsuttaṃ: Tiracchāna + kathā + suttaṃ: animal + talk + sutta