[Note: This sutta is sometimes recited daily by monastics.]
“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 observant 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 actions [kamma], heir to actions, born of actions, related through actions, and have 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 companions 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.”
Read this translation of Aṅguttara Nikāya 10.48 Dasa Dhamma Sutta. Ten Things by Bhikkhu Ṭhanissaro on DhammaTalks.org. Or read a different translation on SuttaCentral.net or AccessToInsight.org. Or listen on SC-Voice.net. Or explore the Pali on DigitalPaliReader.online.
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