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Bhikkhu Sujato translation (CC0-1.0)
AN 2.51 Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato Source: https://suttacentral.net/an2.51/en/sujato License: CC0-1.0 51 “There are, mendicants, these two assemblies. What two? An assembly with unprincipled speech, and an assembly with principled speech. And what is an assembly with unprincipled speech? It is an assembly where the mendicants take up disciplinary issues, whether legitimate or not. But they don’t persuade each other or allow themselves to be persuaded, nor do they convince each other or allow themselves to be convinced. Unable to persuade or convince each other, they can’t let go of their opinions. They obstinately stick to that disciplinary issue, insisting that: ‘This is the only truth, anything else is futile.’ This is called an assembly with unprincipled speech. And what is an assembly with principled speech? It is an assembly where the mendicants take up disciplinary issues, whether legitimate or not. Then they persuade each other or allow themselves to be persuaded, and they convince each other or allow themselves to be convinced. Since they are able to persuade and convince each other, they let go of their opinions. They don’t obstinately stick to that disciplinary issue or insist that: ‘This is the only truth, anything else is futile.’ This is called an assembly with principled speech. These are the two assemblies. The better of these two assemblies is the assembly with principled speech.”