Looking for Sutta about “Layperson equanimity over corrupt monks”

Q & A
1

Hi all,

I vaguely remember the sutta:
Buddha said that a layperson with firm faith will not be disturbed by seeing corrupt monks understanding “how could there be only upright monks?” His unwavering faith stay intact.

Could you pinpoint it for me? I couldn’t find it with index under “layperson” and “faith”. It should be found in four Nikaya or in ancient Khudaka books.

Thanks in advance.

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2

Hi Mahati,

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3

Thank you so much, Beth.

I hope I did not offend anyone. I’ve read all 4 Nikaya and ancient kuddaka. I just could not remember exact expression, so I asked. ChatGPT couldn’t give me the satisfactory answer.

May all beings be happy.

4

It reminds me of an5.250.

What you remember doesn’t sound familiar to me.

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5

No, not at all, Mahati! We like to welcome our new users :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:. We welcome everyone this way.

By the way, I searched with several key terms, using the Sutta Central search engine (like you did), and didn’t find anything. Snowbird is one who would know and they aren’t familiar with it. Maybe others will chime in.

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6

I don’t recall that exact sutta. But the attitude of “having equanimity for the unpleasant inevitabilities of life” reminds me of a few suttas: AN 5.48 and AN 9.30. I’m sure others could offer more suttas on this theme…

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7

Hello Mahati,

It’s normal for a layperson to be disturbed by those with bad behaviors.
As one deepen their understanding on Dhamma ,With Saddha (Faith towards Tiratana) and Panna (Wisdom) one will be able to develop equanimity .

so which Dhamma is applicable here ?
One need to contemplate sutta Abhiṇhapaccavekkhitabbaṭhānasutta
AN 5.57,
thus the part ( all beings are heir to their own actions.)will also be applicable to every beings.
Hence what the use being upset/disturbed by their behaviour ?

further more if one contemplate AN 7.72 , one will understand the danger of bad behaviours.

Thus with proper understanding ( all beings are heir to their own actions.), initially one ought to try to develop karuna ( compassion-Brahma Vihara) towards those that behaves badly and later develop equanimity.

9

Reminder that we are in the Q&A category not the discussion category. So we really ought to focus on the sutta id and not the general topic.

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