AN 4.158 - AN 4:158 Decline | Parihāni Sutta
Translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
Source: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN4_158.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 131; AN 6:19–20; AN 10:51
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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.

Decline
 Parihāni Sutta (AN 4:158)

There Ven. Sāriputta addressed the monks, “Friend monks!”

“Yes, friend,” the monks responded to him.

Ven. Sāriputta said, “Friends, any monk or nun who sees four qualities in him- or herself should come to the conclusion, ‘I am declining in skillful qualities. This is called decline by the Blessed One.’ Which four? An increase in passion, an increase in aversion, an increase in delusion, and one’s eye of discernment makes no headway in terms of deep possibilities & impossibilities. Any monk or nun who sees these four qualities in him- or herself should come to the conclusion, ‘I am declining in skillful qualities. This is called decline by the Blessed One.’

“Any monk or nun who sees four qualities in him- or herself should come to the conclusion, ‘I am not declining in skillful qualities. This is called non-decline by the Blessed One.’ Which four? A reduction in passion, a reduction in aversion, a reduction in delusion, and one’s eye of discernment makes headway in terms of deep possibilities & impossibilities. Any monk or nun who sees these four qualities in him- or herself should come to the conclusion, ‘I am not declining in skillful qualities. This is called non-decline by the Blessed One.’”