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an.7.23 Aṅguttara Nikāya (Numbered Discourses)

Conditions for No Decline Among the Monks

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying in Rajagaha, on Vulture Peak Mountain. There he addressed the monks: “Monks, I will teach you the seven conditions that lead to no decline. Listen & pay close attention. I will speak.”

“Yes, lord,” the monks responded.

The Blessed One said: “And which seven are the conditions that lead to no decline?

[1] “As long as the monks meet often, meet a great deal, their growth can be expected, not their decline.

[2] “As long as the monks meet in harmony, adjourn from their meetings in harmony, and conduct Sangha business in harmony, their growth can be expected, not their decline.

[3] “As long as the monks neither decree what has been undecreed nor repeal what has been decreed, but practice undertaking the training rules as they have been decreed, their growth can be expected, not their decline.

[4] “As long as the monks honor, respect, venerate, and do homage to the elder monks—those with seniority who have long been ordained, the fathers of the Sangha, leaders of the Sangha—regarding them as worth listening to, their growth can be expected, not their decline.

[5] “As long as the monks do not submit to the power of any arisen craving that leads to further becoming, their growth can be expected, not their decline.

[6] “As long as the monks see their own benefit in wilderness dwellings, their growth can be expected, not their decline.

[7] “As long as the monks each keep firmly in mind: ‘If there are any well-behaved fellow followers of the chaste life who have yet to come, may they come; and may the well-behaved fellow-followers of the chaste life who have come live in comfort,’ their growth can be expected, not their decline.

“As long as the monks remain steadfast in these seven conditions, and as long as these seven conditions endure among the monks, the monks’ growth can be expected, not their decline.”

- Translator: Thanissaro Bhikkhu

- Editor: Gabriel Laera

Non-Decline for Mendicants (1st)

So I have heard.
At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha, on the Vulture’s Peak Mountain.
There the Buddha addressed the mendicants:
“Mendicants, I will teach you these seven principles that prevent decline.
Listen and pay close attention, I will speak.”
“Yes, sir,” they replied.
The Buddha said this:
“What are the seven principles that prevent decline?
As long as the mendicants meet frequently and have many meetings, they can expect growth, not decline.
As long as the mendicants meet in harmony, leave in harmony, and carry on their business in harmony, they can expect growth, not decline.
As long as the mendicants don’t make new decrees or abolish existing decrees, but undertake and follow the training rules as they have been decreed, they can expect growth, not decline.
As long as the mendicants honor, respect, esteem, and venerate the senior mendicants—of long standing, long gone forth, fathers and leaders of the Saṅgha—and think them worth listening to, they can expect growth, not decline.
As long as the mendicants don’t fall under the sway of arisen craving for future lives, they can expect growth, not decline.
As long as the mendicants take care to live in wilderness lodgings, they can expect growth, not decline.
As long as the mendicants individually establish mindfulness, so that more good-hearted spiritual companions might come, and those that have already come may live comfortably, they can expect growth, not decline.
As long as these seven principles that prevent decline last among the mendicants, and as long as the mendicants are seen following them, they can expect growth, not decline.”