← Aṅguttara NikāyaAN7.31Numbered Discourses 7.31SuttaCentral (Bhikkhu Sujato translation)Select any verse to keep it — saved passages go to your Dhamma Deck, the same one the app uses.Numbered Discourses 7.313. The Vajji SevenDownfalls for a Lay Follower“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 seeingthose who are evolvedand listening to the teachings of the Noble One.They don’t train in higher ethical conduct,and their suspicion about mendicantsjust grows and grows.They want to listen to the true teachingwith a fault-finding mind.They seek outside the Buddhist communityfor someone else worthy of religious donations,and that lay followerserves them first.These seven principles leading to declinehave been well taught.A lay follower who practices thesefalls away from the true teaching.A lay follower doesn’t miss out on seeingthose who are evolvedand listening to the teachings of the Noble One.They train in higher ethical conduct,and their confidence in mendicantsjust grows and grows.They want to listen to the true teachingwithout a fault-finding mind.They don’t seek outside the Buddhist communityfor someone else worthy of religious donations,and that lay followerserves the Buddhist community first.These seven principles that prevent declinehave been well taught.A lay follower who practices themdoesn’t fall away from the true teaching.”