The Counterfeit of the True Teaching

Actually the Pali version is one of those that puts the saying the other way round:

Ven. Uttara:
‘Yaṃ kiñci subhāsitaṃ sabbaṃ taṃ tassa bhagavato vacanaṃ arahato sammāsambuddhassa.

“… whatever is well spoken is all the word of the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One.”

Uttaravipatti Sutta

In contrast with East Asian Buddhism, where quite a big deal has been made, and continues to be made, of this saying, in the Theravada tradition it seems to have fallen completely by the wayside. The commentary and sub-commentary to the sutta are very brief, merely remarking on a point of grammar, but making no attempt to delineate the permissible scope and application of Uttara’s saying. Nor is the saying ever cited in any other commentary. It’s almost as if it didn’t exist.

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