Community guidelines revision

What about basing the standard for making a post on MN 61, “Advice to Rahula”? (Link because the suttacentral version is down). Excerpt:

“Whenever you want to do a verbal action, you should reflect on it: ‘This verbal action I want to do—would it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both?

Would it be an unskillful verbal action, with painful consequences, painful results?’

If, on reflection, you know that it would lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both; it would be an unskillful verbal action with painful consequences, painful results, then any verbal action of that sort is absolutely unfit for you to do. […]

So, for example, a main rule could be that before you submit a post on suttacentral, you have to consider whether the post will lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both.

If it fails this standard, don’t post it!

Furthermore, the way to get out of trouble with the mods for any particular post, could be to show how you have considered the afflictive potential of your post, in terms of how it affects yourself, others or both.

Another very interesting aspect of MN 61 (also found in its parallel SA 14):

“All those contemplatives & brahmans [of the past, in the future and in the present] who purify their bodily actions, verbal actions, & mental actions, do it through repeated reflection on their bodily actions, verbal actions, & mental actions in just this way.

By making this reflection a part of the rules in this way, it may act as a support for everyone’s practice.

For example, before posting this I took ~10 seconds just to consider whether this post would lead to any painful consequences for myself or others. Since I don’t think it will, here I go :penguin:

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