![[info icon]](./../../../img/question_16.gif "Summary: The Buddha explains the difference between staying \"on course\" and straying \"off course\" in one's Dhamma practice.")
"There are these four ways of going off course. Which four? One goes off course through desire. One goes off course through aversion. One goes off course through delusion. One goes off course through fear. These are the four ways of going off course."
If you —
through desire,
aversion,
delusion,
fear —
transgress the Dhamma,
your honor wanes,
as in the dark fortnight,
the moon.
"There are these four ways of not going off course. Which four? One does not go off course through desire. One does not go off course through aversion. One does not go off course through delusion. One does not go off course through fear. These are the four ways of not going off course."
If you don't —
through desire,
aversion,
delusion,
fear —
transgress the Dhamma,
your honor waxes,
as in the bright fortnight,
the moon.
©1998 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
The text of this page ("Agati Sutta: Off Course", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. Documents linked from this page may be subject to other restrictions.
Transcribed from a file provided by the translator. Last revised for Access to Insight on 3 July 2010.
How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Agati Sutta: Off Course" (AN 4.19), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 3 July 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.019.than.html .