One should always be mindful
of the differences between
learning, practising, realising and sharing the Dharma,
and actualise the above as much as possible.— Stonepeace | Get Book
‘It is not easy, Ananda, to teach the Dhamma to others. To teach the Dhamma to others one should set up in oneself five standards for doing so. What five?
(1) ‘”I shall give a gradual discourse”:
in that way should the Dharma be taught to others.
(2) ‘”I shall give a well-reasoned discourse”:
in that way should the Dhamma be taught to others.
(3) ‘”Moved by sympathy I shall speak”:
in that way should the Dhamma be taught to others.
(4) ‘”Not for the sake of worldly advantage I shall speak”:
in that way should the Dhamma be taught to others.
(5) ‘”Without alluding to myself or others I shall speak”:
in that way should the Dhamma be taught to others.
Notes: (1) That is, one should speak in a way that leads to successively deeper and more exalted topics, or one should teach the Dhamma in a manner that is suited to the mental dispositions of the listeners. (3) Anguttara Atthakatha: ‘Moved by the wish: “I shall set free from their plight those beings who are in great distress.”‘ (5) Anguttara Atthakatha: ‘One should speak without extolling oneself and disparaging others.’ (V,159)
Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya
Translated & Edited by Nyanaponika Thera & Bhikkhu Bodhi
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