![[info icon]](./../../../img/question_16.gif "Summary: Seven qualities that support the practice of meditation.")
"Last night, monks, a certain devata in the far extreme of the night, her extreme radiance lighting up the entirety of Jeta's Grove, came to me and, on arrival, bowed down to me and stood to one side. As she was standing there, she said to me, 'These seven qualities, lord, lead to a monk's non-decline. Which seven? Respect for the teacher, respect for the Dhamma, respect for the Sangha, respect for training, respect for concentration, compliance,[1] having admirable friends. These seven qualities, lord, lead to a monk's non-decline.'
"That is what that devata said. Having said it, she bowed down to me, circled me three times, and then disappeared right there."
Respecting the Teacher
respecting the Dhamma,
and with fierce respect for the Sangha,
respecting concentration, ardent,
and with fierce respect for training,
having admirable friends, compliant,
deferential, respectful
— incapable of decline —
one is right in the presence of unbinding.
Note
- 1.
- Compliance (sovacassa) = willingness to follow instructions given by Noble Ones.
©2012 Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
The text of this page ("Sovacassata Sutta: Compliance (1)", 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 29 August 2012.
How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Sovacassata Sutta: Compliance (1)" (AN 7.33), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 29 August 2012, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an07/an07.033.than.html .