The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [198]
“Yes, friend,” they replied, and they went to the Blessed One, and after paying homage to him, they sat down at one side. The Blessed One then asked them: “Bhikkhus, is it true that you have taken to quarrelling and brawling and are deep in disputes, stabbing each other with verbal daggers; that you can neither convince each other nor be convinced by others, that you can neither persuade each other nor be persuaded by others?”
“Yes, venerable sir.”
5. “Bhikkhus, what do you think? When you take to quarrelling and brawling and are deep in disputes, stabbing each other with verbal daggers, do you on that occasion maintain acts of loving-kindness by body, speech, and mind in public and in private towards your companions in the holy life?” “No, venerable sir.”
“So, bhikkhus, when you take to quarrelling and brawling and are deep in disputes, stabbing each other with verbal dangers, on that occasion you do not maintain acts of loving-kindness by body, speech, and mind in public and in private towards your companions in the holy life. Misguided men, what can you possibly know, what can you see, that you take to quarrelling and brawling and are deep in disputes, [322] stabbing each other with verbal daggers? That you can neither convince each other nor be convinced by others, that you can neither persuade each other nor be persuaded by others? Misguided men, that will lead to your harm and suffering for a long time.”
6. Then the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus: “Bhikkhus, there are these six principles of cordiality492 that create love and respect and conduce to cohesion, to non-dispute, to concord, and to unity. What are the six?
“Here a bhikkhu maintains bodily acts of loving-kindness both in public and in private towards his companions in the holy life. This is a principle of cordiality that creates love and respect, and conduces to cohesion, to non-dispute, to concord, and to unity.
“Again, a bhikkhu maintains verbal acts of loving-kindness both in public and in private towards his companions in the holy life. This too is a principle of cordiality that creates love and respect, and conduces to…unity.
“Again, a bhikkhu maintains mental acts of loving-kindness both in public and in private towards his companions in the holy life. This too is a principle of cordiality that creates love and respect, and conduces to…unity.
“Again, a bhikkhu uses things in common with his virtuous companions in the holy life; without making reservations, he shares with them any gain of a kind that accords with the Dhamma and has been obtained in a way that accords with the Dhamma, including even the mere contents of his bowl. This too is a principle of cordiality that creates love and respect, and conduces to…unity.
“Again, a bhikkhu dwells both in public and in private possessing in common with his companions in the holy life those virtues that are unbroken, untorn, unblotched, unmottled, liberating, commended by the wise, not misapprehended, and conducive to concentration. This too is a principle of cordiality that creates love and respect, and conduces to…unity.
“Again, a bhikkhu dwells both in public and in private possessing in common with his companions in the holy life that view that is noble and emancipating, and leads one who practises in accordance with it to the complete destruction of suffering. 493 This too is a principle of cordiality that creates love and respect, and conduces to cohesion, to non-dispute, to concord, and to unity.
“These are the six principles of cordiality that create love and respect, and conduce to cohesion, to non-dispute, to concord, and to unity.
7. “Of these six principles of cordiality, the chief, the most cohesive, the most unifying is this view that is noble and emancipating, and which leads the one who practises in accordance with it to the complete