Lakkhana Sutta: Characterized (by Action)

AN 3.2

translated from the Pali by

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

"Monks, a fool is characterized by his/her actions. A wise person is characterized by his/her actions. It is through the activities of one's life that one's discernment shines.

"A person endowed with three things is to be recognized as a fool. Which three? Bodily misconduct, verbal misconduct, mental misconduct. A person endowed with these three things is to be recognized as a fool.

"A person endowed with three things is to be recognized as a wise person. Which three? Good bodily conduct, good verbal conduct, good mental conduct. A person endowed with these three things is to be recognized as a wise person.

"Thus, monks, you should train yourselves: 'We will avoid the three things that, endowed with which, one is to be recognized as a fool. We will undertake & maintain the three things that, endowed with which, one is to be recognized as a wise person.' That's how you should train yourselves."

See also: AN 10.176 .

The text of this page ("Lakkhana Sutta: Characterized (by Action)", 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): "Lakkhana Sutta: Characterized (by Action)" (AN 3.2), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition) , 3 July 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.002.than.html .