"There are these ten things that a person gone-forth should reflect on often. Which ten?
"'I have become casteless': a person gone forth should often reflect on this.
"'My life is dependent on others'...
"'My behavior should be different [from that of householders]'...
"'Can I fault myself with regard to my virtue?'...
"'Can my knowledgeable fellows in the holy life, on close examination, fault me with regard to my virtue?'...
"'I will grow different, separate from all that is dear & appealing to me'...
"'I am the owner of my actions (kamma), heir to my actions, born of my actions, related through my actions, and have my actions as my arbitrator. Whatever I do, for good or for evil, to that will I fall heir'...
"'What am I becoming as the days & nights fly past?'...
"'Do I delight in an empty dwelling?'...
"'Have I attained a superior human attainment, a truly noble distinction of knowledge & vision, such that — when my fellows in the holy life question me in the last days of my life — I won't feel abashed?': a person gone forth should often reflect on this.
"These are the ten things that a person gone-forth should reflect on often."
From the Dasadhamma Sutta: Ten Things (AN 10.48)
What does he mean by gone forth?
ReplyDelete"Gone forth" refers to someone who has given up the life of a lay follower and has joined the Sangha; someone who has become a monk or nun.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the Buddha is speaking about the monastic community in this sutta, these 10 reflections are valuable as well for lay followers.