Discerning Character

[Michel]

I think this sutta is absolutely brilliant. It has got to be the acid test for discerning a person's character.

"Bhikkhus, four facts [about people] can be known from four
[other] facts. What four?

(1) "By dwelling together their virtuous behavior can be
known, and this only after a long time, not casually; by one
who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive; and by one who
is wise, not by one who is unwise.

(2) "By dealing [with them] their integrity can be known, and
this only after a long time, not casually; by one who is attentive,
not by one who is inattentive; and by one who is wise, not by
one who is unwise.

(3) "In misfortune their fortitude can be known, and this only
after a long time, not casually; by one who is attentive, not by
one who is inattentive; and by one who is wise, not by one who
is unwise.

(4) "By conversation their wisdom can be known, and this
only after a long time, not casually; by one who is attentive,
not by one who is inattentive; and by one who is wise, not by
one who is unwise.

(1) "It was said: 'By dwelling together their virtuous behavior
can be known, and this only after a long time, not casually; by
one who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive; and by. one
who is wise, not by one who is unwise / On account of what
was this said?

"Here, bhikkhus, by dwelling together with another person,
one comes to know him thus: 'For a long time this venerable one's
conduct has been broken, flawed, blemished, and blotched, and
he does not consistently observe and follow v irtuous behavior.
This venerable one is immoral, not v irtu ou s /

"But in another case, by dwelling together with another person,
one comes to know him thus: 'For a long time this venerable
one's conduct has been unbroken, flawless, unblemished,
and unblotched, [188] and he consistently observes and
follows virtuous behavior. This venerable one is virtuous, not
immo ral/

" I t was on account of this that it was said: 'By dwelling
together their virtuous behavior can be known, and this only
after a long time, not casually; by one who is attentive, not by
one who is inattentive; and by one who is wise, not by one who
is u nwise/

(2) "Further it was said: 'By dealing [with them] their integrity
can be known, and this only after a long time, not casually;
by one who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive; and by
one who is wise, not by one who is unw is e / On account of what
was this said?

"Here, bhikkhus, when dealing with a person, one comes to
know him thus: 'This venerable one deals with one person in
one way, in another way if he deals with two, in still another
way if he deals with three, and in still another way if he deals
with many. His dealings in one case deviate from his dealings
in another.905 This venerable one is impure in his dealings with
others, not pure in such dealings/

"But in another case, when dealing with a person, one comes
to know him thus: 'In the same w ay as he deals with one, he
deals with two, three, or many. His dealings in one case do not
deviate from his dealings in another. This venerable one is pure
in his dealings with others, not impure in such dealings.'
"It was on account of this that it was said: 'By dealing [with
them] their integrity can be known, and this only after a long
time, not casually; by one who is attentive, not by one who
is inattentive; and by one who is wise, not by one who is
u nw ise /

(3) "Further it was said: In misfortune their fortitude can
be known, and this only after a long time, riot casually; by one
who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive; and by one
who is wise, not by one who is u nw is e / On account of what
was this said?

"Here, bhikkhus, someone is afflicted with the loss of relatives,
wealth, or health/but he does not reflect thus: 'Human
life in the world is of such a nature906 that the eight worldly
conditions revolve around the world, and the. world revolves.
around these eight worldly conditions, namely, gain and loss,
disrepute and fame, blame and praise, and pleasure and pain.'
Thus when afflicted with loss of relatives, wealth, or health, he
sorrows, languishes, and laments; he weeps beating his breast
and becomes confused.

"But in another case, someone is afflicted with the loss of relatives,
[189] wealth, Or health, but he does reflect thus: 'Human
life in the world is such that the eight worldly conditions revolve
around the world, and the world revolves around these eight
worldly conditions, namely, gain and loss, disrepute and fame,
blame and praise, and pleasure and p a in / Thus when afflicted
with the loss of relatives, wealth, or health, he does not sorrow,
languish, and lament; he does not weep beating his breast and
become confused.

"It was on account of this that it was said: 'In misfortune their
fortitude can be known, and this Only a fter a long time, not casually;
by one who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive; and
by one who is wise, not by one who is u nw ise /

(4) "Further it was said: 'By conversation their wisdom can
be known, and this only after a long time, not casually; by one
who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive; and by one
who is wise, not by one who is unwise/ On account of what
was this said?

"Here, bhikkhus, when conversing with someone, one comes
to know: 'Judging from the way this venerable one initiates,
formulates, and poses a question, he is unwise, not wise. For
what reason? This venerable one does not speak about matters
that are deep, peaceful, sublime, beyond the sphere of reasoning,
subtle, comprehensible to the wise. When this venerable
one speaks on the Dhamma, he is not able to explain, teach,
describe, establish, reveal, analyze, and explicate its meaning
either briefly or in detail. This venerable one is unwise, not
wise/ Just as if a man with good sight, standing on the bank
of a pond, were to see a small fish emerging, he would think:
/Judging from the way this fish emerges, from the ripples it
makes; and from its force, this is a small fish, not a big o n e / so
too, when conversing with a person, one comes to know: 'Judg^-
ing from the w:ay this venerable one initiates, formulates, and
poses a question, he is unwise, not wise/

"But in another case, when conversing with someone, one
comes to know: 'Judging from the way this venerable one initiates,
formulates, and poses a question, he is wise, not unwise.
For what reason? This venerable one speaks about matters that
are deep, peaceful, sublime, beyond the sphere of reasoning,
subtle, comprehensible to the wise. When this venerable one
speaks on the Dhamma, he is able to explain, teach, describe,
. establish, reveal, analyze, and explicate its meaning both briefly
and in detail. This venerable one is wise, not unwise/ Just as if
a man with good sight, standing on the bank of a pond, were to
see a big fish emerging, [190] he would think: 'Judging from the
way this fish emerges, from the ripples it makes, and from its
force, this is a big fish, not a small one / so too, when conversing
w ith someone, one comes to,know: 'Judging from the way
this venerable one initiates, formulates, and poses a question,
he is wise, not unwise/

"It was on account of this that it was said: 'By conversation
their wisdom can be known, and this only after a long time, not
casually; by one who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive;
and by one who is wise, not by one who is unwise.'

"These, bhikkhus, are the four facts [about people] that can
be known from four [other] facts."

[bodhimind]

Awesome post.

I'm finding it to be a really good gauge of maintaining virtue in my own character as I follow the Noble Eightfold Path in my lifestyle. Going to take this into one of my daily readings.

[Jhanananda]

I think this sutta is absolutely brilliant. It has got to be the acid test for discerning a person's character.

"Bhikkhus, four facts [about people] can be known from four
[other] facts. What four?

(1) "By dwelling together their virtuous behavior can be
known, and this only after a long time, not casually; by one
who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive; and by one who
is wise, not by one who is unwise...

"It was on account of this that it was said: 'By conversation
their wisdom can be known, and this only after a long time, not
casually; by one who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive;
and by one who is wise, not by one who is unwise.'

"These, bhikkhus, are the four facts [about people] that can
be known from four [other] facts."

Thank-you, Michel, for the timely post.  This is how I work, because I have found if I wait long enough the true person will become evident.