{"collection":"Anguttara Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_an4.180/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_an4.180","id":"suttacentral_an4.180","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/an4.180/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Anguttara Nikaya","Early Buddhist Texts"],"text":"At one time the Buddha was staying near the Bhoga City, at the \u0100nanda Shrine. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, \u201cMendicants!\u201d \u201cVenerable sir,\u201d they replied. The Buddha said this: \u201cMendicants, I will teach you the four great references. Listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.\u201d \u201cYes, sir,\u201d they replied. The Buddha said this: \u201cMendicants, what are the four great references? Take a mendicant who says: \u2018Reverend, I have heard and learned this in the presence of the Buddha: this is the teaching, this is the training, this is the Teacher\u2019s instruction.\u2019 You should neither approve nor reject that mendicant\u2019s statement. Instead, having carefully memorized those words and phrases, you should make sure they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training. If they do not fit in the discourse and are not exhibited in the training, you should draw the conclusion: \u2018Clearly this is not the word of the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. It has been incorrectly memorized by that mendicant.\u2019 And so you should discard it. Take another mendicant who says: \u2018Reverend, I have heard and learned this in the presence of the Buddha: this is the teaching, this is the training, this is the Teacher\u2019s instruction.\u2019 You should neither approve nor reject that mendicant\u2019s statement. Instead, having carefully memorized those words and phrases, you should make sure they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training. If they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training, you should draw the conclusion: \u2018Clearly this is the word of the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. It has been correctly memorized by that mendicant.\u2019 You should remember it. This is the first great reference. Take another mendicant who says: \u2018In such-and-such monastery lives a Sa\u1e45gha with seniors and leaders. I\u2019ve heard and learned this in the presence of that Sa\u1e45gha: this is the teaching, this is the training, this is the Teacher\u2019s instruction.\u2019 You should neither approve nor reject that mendicant\u2019s statement. Instead, having carefully memorized those words and phrases, you should make sure they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training. If they do not fit in the discourse and are not exhibited in the training, you should draw the conclusion: \u2018Clearly this is not the word of the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. It has been incorrectly memorized by that Sa\u1e45gha.\u2019 And so you should discard it. Take another mendicant who says: \u2018In such-and-such monastery lives a Sa\u1e45gha with seniors and leaders. I\u2019ve heard and learned this in the presence of that Sa\u1e45gha: this is the teaching, this is the training, this is the Teacher\u2019s instruction.\u2019 You should neither approve nor reject that mendicant\u2019s statement. Instead, having carefully memorized those words and phrases, you should make sure they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training. If they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training, you should draw the conclusion: \u2018Clearly this is the word of the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. It has been correctly memorized by that Sa\u1e45gha.\u2019 You should remember it. This is the second great reference. Take another mendicant who says: \u2018In such-and-such monastery there are several senior mendicants who are very learned, inheritors of the heritage, who remember the teachings, the monastic law, and the outlines. I\u2019ve heard and learned this in the presence of those senior mendicants: this is the teaching, this is the training, this is the Teacher\u2019s instruction.\u2019 You should neither approve nor reject that mendicant\u2019s statement. Instead, having carefully memorized those words and phrases, you should make sure they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training. If they do not fit in the discourse and are not exhibited in the training, you should draw the conclusion: \u2018Clearly this is not the word of the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. It has been incorrectly memorized by those senior mendicants.\u2019 And so you should discard it. Take another mendicant who says: \u2018In such-and-such monastery there are several senior mendicants who are very learned, inheritors of the heritage, who remember the teachings, the monastic law, and the outlines. I\u2019ve heard and learned this in the presence of those senior mendicants: this is the teaching, this is the training, this is the Teacher\u2019s instruction.\u2019 You should neither approve nor reject that mendicant\u2019s statement. Instead, having carefully memorized those words and phrases, you should make sure they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training. If they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training, you should draw the conclusion: \u2018Clearly this is the word of the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. It has been correctly memorized by those senior mendicants.\u2019 You should remember it. This is the third great reference. Take another mendicant who says: \u2018In such-and-such monastery there is a single senior mendicant who is very learned, an inheritor of the heritage, who has memorized the teachings, the monastic law, and the outlines. I\u2019ve heard and learned this in the presence of that senior mendicant: this is the teaching, this is the training, this is the Teacher\u2019s instruction.\u2019 You should neither approve nor reject that mendicant\u2019s statement. Instead, having carefully memorized those words and phrases, you should make sure they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training. If they do not fit in the discourse and are not exhibited in the training, you should draw the conclusion: \u2018Clearly this is not the word of the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. It has been incorrectly memorized by that senior mendicant.\u2019 And so you should discard it. Take another mendicant who says: \u2018In such-and-such monastery there is a single senior mendicant who is very learned, an inheritor of the heritage, who has memorized the teachings, the monastic law, and the outlines. I\u2019ve heard and learned this in the presence of that senior mendicant: this is the teaching, this is the training, this is the Teacher\u2019s instruction.\u2019 You should neither approve nor reject that mendicant\u2019s statement. Instead, having carefully memorized those words and phrases, you should make sure they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training. If they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training, you should draw the conclusion: \u2018Clearly this is the word of the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. It has been correctly memorized by that senior mendicant.\u2019 You should remember it. This is the fourth great reference. These are the four great references.\u201d","title":"The Four Great References","tradition":"Anguttara Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":1107}