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AN 2.19 PTS: A i 58 II,ii,9

Kusala Sutta: Skillful

translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
© 2002

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"Abandon what is unskillful, monks. It is possible to abandon what is unskillful. If it were

not possible to abandon what is unskillful, I would not say to you, 'Abandon what is
unskillful.' But because it is possible to abandon what is unskillful, I say to you, 'Abandon
what is unskillful.' If this abandoning of what is unskillful were conducive to harm and
pain, I would not say to you, 'Abandon what is unskillful.' But because this abandoning of
what is unskillful is conducive to benefit and pleasure, I say to you, 'Abandon what is
unskillful.'

"Develop what is skillful, monks. It is possible to develop what is skillful. If it were not
possible to develop what is skillful, I would not say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.' But
because it is possible to develop what is skillful, I say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.' If
this development of what is skillful were conducive to harm and pain, I would not say to
you, 'Develop what is skillful.' But because this development of what is skillful is conducive
to benefit and pleasure, I say to you, 'Develop what is skillful.'"

See also: DN 12; SN 6.1.

©2002 Thanissaro Bhikkhu. The text of this page ("Kusala Sutta: Skillful", 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 4 August 2010.
How to cite this document (a suggested style): "Kusala Sutta: Skillful" (AN 2.19), translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 4 August 2010,
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an02/an02.019.than.html .

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