AN 4.157 - AN 4:157 Illness | Roga Sutta
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN4_157.html
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Copyright: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017
License notice: Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Attribution: From Handful of Leaves, Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu; https://www.dhammatalks.org/Archive/Writings/Ebooks/SuttaPitaka_251113.epub. Copyright 2014 Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu, Revised edition 2017 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities. Questions about this book may be addressed to Metta Forest Monastery Valley Center, CA 92082-1409 U.S.A. Additional resources More Dhamma talks, books and translations by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu are available to download in digital audio and various ebook formats at dhammatalks.org. Printed copy A paperback copy of this book is available free of charge. To request one, write to: Book Request, Metta Forest Monastery, PO Box 1409, Valley Center, CA 92082 USA.
Publisher references (not part of the sutta): See also: MN 2; MN 21; MN 28; SN 22:1; SN 22:122; AN 4:28; Sn 4:16; Thag 5:8
Changes: Presentation only: original HTML markup reflowed into plain text; wording, numbering and source repetitions retained. No repetitions expanded.
Completeness: ABBREVIATED. Every source-unit character is preserved, including introductions, notes and verse structure. Thanissaro's collection-level note explicitly states that repetitions were cut: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/about.html. This is evidence about the translation method, not an assertion that every individual unit contains an omission; no repetitions reconstructed.

Illness
 Roga Sutta (AN 4:157)

“Monks, there are these two kinds of illness. Which two? Bodily illness & mental illness.

“Beings are seen who can claim to be free of bodily illness for a year. Beings are seen who can claim to be free of bodily illness for two years… three years… four years… five… ten… twenty… thirty… forty… fifty years… a hundred years or more. But it’s hard to find beings in the world who can claim to be free of mental illness for even a moment, aside from those whose effluents are ended.

“Monks, there are these four illnesses of one gone forth. Which four?

“There is the case where a monk has large desires, is frustrated, and is not content with any old robes, alms food, lodgings, or medical requisites for curing the sick.

“Having large desires, being frustrated & discontented with any old robes, alms food, lodgings, or medical requisites for curing the sick, he is set on evil desires for recognition, for gains, offerings, & praise.

“He has initiative, busies himself, & endeavors for recognition, for gains, offerings, & praise.

“Calculatedly he goes to families, calculatedly he sits down, calculatedly he speaks Dhamma, calculatedly he holds in his urine & excrement.

“These are the four illnesses of one gone forth.

“Therefore, monks, you should train yourselves: ‘We will not have large desires, be frustrated in mind1 or discontented with any old robes, alms food, lodgings, or medical requisites for curing the sick. We will not be set on evil desires for recognition, for gains, offerings, & praise. We will endure cold, heat, hunger, & thirst; the touch of flies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, & reptiles; ill-spoken, unwelcome words. We will tolerate bodily feelings that, when they arise, are painful, racking, sharp, piercing, disagreeable, displeasing, & menacing to life.’ That’s how you should train yourselves.”

Note

1. Reading vighāta-cittā with the Thai edition of the Canon. The Burmese edition has vighātavanto, “frustrated.”