Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
There are seven downfalls for a lay follower, and seven successes — the identical seven items already given at AN 7.29 and AN 7.30, now under a third governing vocabulary.
A third name for one identical reality
Parābhava (downfall, ruin) and its reversal join parihāni/aparihāni (decline/non-decline) and vipatti/sampadā (failure/accomplishment) as a third paired vocabulary applied to this exact seven-item content — three genuinely different technical framings the tradition considered each worth stating in its own right, exactly the pattern already noted at AN 7.11/7.12's treatment of fetters and underlying tendencies earlier in this book.
Spelled out fully, unlike AN 7.30
Where AN 7.30 compressed its entire content to a bare announcement, this discourse spells out all seven items, their reversal, and the same closing verse already met at AN 7.29 — the third statement in this trilogy given the fullest possible treatment alongside the first.
Closing this chapter on lay practice, after opening on political ethics
Vajjisattakavagga opened at AN 7.21 with counsel for an entire confederacy's political survival and closes here with a single lay follower's spiritual condition — the same underlying concern, prevention of decline, scaled from an entire nation down to one person's relationship with the Buddhist community.
Key terms
The text
Seven downfalls, and seven successes
§1“Mendicants, there are these seven downfalls for a lay follower … There are these seven successes for a lay follower. What seven? They don’t miss out on seeing the mendicants. They don’t neglect listening to the true teaching. They train in higher ethical conduct. They’re very confident about mendicants, whether senior, junior, or middle. They don’t listen to the teaching with a hostile, fault-finding mind. They don’t seek outside of the Buddhist community for those worthy of religious donations. And they serve the Buddhist community first. These are the seven successes for a lay follower. A lay follower misses out on seeing those who are evolved and listening to the teachings of the Noble One. They don’t train in higher ethical conduct, and their suspicion about mendicants just grows and grows. They want to listen to the true teaching with a fault-finding mind. They seek outside the Buddhist community for someone else worthy of religious donations, and that lay follower serves them first.
The closing verse
§2These seven principles leading to decline have been well taught. A lay follower who practices these falls away from the true teaching. A lay follower doesn’t miss out on seeing those who are evolved and listening to the teachings of the Noble One. They train in higher ethical conduct, and their confidence in mendicants just grows and grows. They want to listen to the true teaching without a fault-finding mind. They don’t seek outside the Buddhist community for someone else worthy of religious donations, and that lay follower serves the Buddhist community first. These seven principles that prevent decline have been well taught. A lay follower who practices them doesn’t fall away from the true teaching.”
Self-check quiz
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