{"collection":"Khuddaka Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_thag16.10/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_thag16.10","id":"suttacentral_thag16.10","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/thag16.10/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Khuddaka Nikaya"],"text":"This thought came to the ascetic in the forest full of flowers, as he was seated alone meditating in seclusion: \u201cThe behavior of the mendicants these days seems different from when the protector of the world, the best of men, was still here. Their robes were only for covering the private parts, and protection from the cold and wind. They ate in moderation, content with whatever they were offered. Whether food was fine or coarse, a little or a lot, they ate only for sustenance, without greed or gluttony. They weren\u2019t so very eager for the requisites of life, such as tonics and other necessities, as they were for the ending of defilements. In the wilderness, at a tree\u2019s root, in caves and caverns, fostering seclusion, they lived with that as their final goal. They were used to simple things, unburdensome, gentle, not pompous at heart, unsullied, not scurrilous, their thoughts were intent on the goal. That\u2019s why they inspired confidence, in their movements, eating, and practice; their deportment was as smooth as a stream of oil. With the utter ending of all defilements, those senior monks have now been quenched. They were great meditators and great benefactors\u2014 there are few like them today. With the ending of good principles and understanding, the victor\u2019s teaching, full of all excellent qualities, falls apart. This is the season for bad principles and defilements. Those who are ready for seclusion are all that\u2019s left of the true Dhamma. As they grow, the defilements possess most people; they play with fools, it seems to me, like monsters with the mad. Overcome by defilements, they run here and there among the bases for defilement, as if they had declared war on themselves. Having forsaken the true teaching, they argue with each other. Following wrong views they think, \u2018This is better.\u2019 They cut off their wealth, children, and wife to go forth. But then they do what they shouldn\u2019t, for the sake of a measly spoon of almsfood. They eat until their bellies are full, and then they lie to sleep on their backs. When they wake up, they keep on chatting, the kind of talk the Teacher criticized. Valuing all the arts and crafts, they train themselves in them. Not being settled internally, they think, \u2018This is the goal of the ascetic life.\u2019 They provide clay, oil, and talcum powder, water, lodgings, and food for householders, expecting more in return. And in addition, tooth-picks of white fig, flowers, food to eat, well-cooked almsfood, mangoes and myrobalans. In medicine they are like doctors, in business like householders, in makeup like prostitutes, in sovereignty like aristocrats. Cheats, frauds, false witnesses, sly: using multiple plans, they enjoy things of the flesh. Pursuing shams, contrivances, and plans, by such means they accumulate a lot of wealth for the sake of their own livelihood. They assemble the community for business rather than Dhamma. They teach the Dhamma to others for gain, not for the goal. Those barred from the Sa\u1e45gha quarrel over the Sa\u1e45gha\u2019s property. Lacking conscience, they do not care that they live on the earnings of others. Some with shaven head and robe are not devoted to practice, but wish only to be honored, besotted with property and reverence. When things have come to this, it\u2019s not easy these days to realize what has not yet been realized, or to preserve what has been realized. When shoeless on a thorny path, one would walk very mindfully; that\u2019s how a sage should walk in the village. Remembering the meditators of old, and recollecting their conduct, even in the latter days, it\u2019s still possible to realize freedom from death.\u201d That is what the ascetic, whose faculties were fully developed, said in the s\u0101l tree grove. The brahmin, the seer, became fully extinguished, putting an end to all future lives.","title":"P\u0101r\u0101sariya (3rd)","tradition":"Khuddaka Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":639}