The Buddha's Teachings on Social and Communal Harmony: An Anthology of Discourses From the Pali Canon by Bhikkhu Bodhi

Author:Bhikkhu Bodhi
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Faith, Buddhism, Philosophy, Religion, Non-Fiction
ISBN: 9781614293552
Publisher: Wisdom Publications
Published: 2016-12-13T00:00:00+00:00

VII. The Intentional Community

1. KINDS OF COMMUNITIES

(1) The Shallow and the Deep

“Monks, there are these two kinds of communities. What two? The shallow community and the deep community.

“And what is the shallow community? The community in which the monks are restless, puffed up, vain, talkative, rambling in their talk, with muddled mindfulness, lacking in clear comprehension, unconcentrated, with wandering minds, with loose sense faculties: this is called the shallow community.

“And what is the deep community? The community in which the monks are not restless, puffed up, vain, talkative, and rambling in their talk, but have established mindfulness, clearly comprehend, are concentrated, with one-pointed minds and restrained sense faculties: this is called the deep community.

“These are the two kinds of communities. Of these two kinds of communities, the deep community is foremost.”

(AN 2:42, NDB 161)

(2) The Divided and the Harmonious

“Monks, there are these two kinds of communities. What two? The divided community and the harmonious community.

“And what is the divided community? The community in which the monks take to arguing and quarreling and fall into disputes, stabbing each other with piercing words: this is called the divided community.

“And what is the harmonious community? The community in which the monks dwell in concord, harmoniously, without disputes, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with eyes of affection: this is called the harmonious community.

“These are the two kinds of communities. Of these two kinds of communities, the harmonious community is foremost.”

(AN 2:43, NDB 161)

(3) The Inferior and the Superior

“Monks, there are these two kinds of communities. What two? The community of the inferior and the community of the superior.

“And what is the community of the inferior? Here, in this kind of community the elder monks are luxurious and lax, leaders in backsliding, discarding the duty of solitude; they do not arouse energy for the attainment of the as-yet-unattained, for the achievement of the as-yet-unachieved, for the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. Those in the next generation follow their example. They too become luxurious and lax, leaders in backsliding, discarding the duty of solitude; they too do not arouse energy for the attainment of the as-yet-unattained, for the achievement of the as-yet-unachieved, for the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. This is called the community of the inferior.

“And what is the community of the superior? Here, in this kind of community the elder monks are not luxurious and lax but discard backsliding and take the lead in solitude; they arouse energy for the attainment of the as-yet-unattained, for the achievement of the as-yet-unachieved, for the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. Those in the next generation follow their example. They too do not become luxurious and lax but discard backsliding and take the lead in solitude; they too arouse energy for the attainment of the as-yet-unattained, for the achievement of the as-yet-unachieved, for the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. This is called the community of the foremost.

“These are the two kinds of communities. Of these two kinds of communities, the community of the superior is foremost.”

(AN 2:44, NDB 161–62)

(4) The Ignoble and the Noble

“Monks, there are these two kinds of communities.

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