Five Future Dangers in the Way for Consideration

Monks, there are these five future dangers in the way of reflecting on which the diligent, dedicated, determined Monk, forest-gone, ought to live just to attain the unattained, to master the unmastered, to realize the unrealized.

What five?

(1) Take the case of a Monk who reflects thus:

I am now young, a mere youth, black-haired and endowed with the beauty of youth, in the prime of life; but there will come a time when old age shall touch this body: and when grown old and overcome by age, it is not easy to attend to The Buddha’s Teachings, it is not easy to retreat to the forest wilderness. Before that comes to me - unwished for, undesirable, disagreeable condition comes upon me, let me in advance arouse energy for the attainment of the unattained, to master the unmastered, to realize the unrealized. Then when I am in that condition, I will reside at ease even though I am old. This is the first future danger to consider which is enough for a Monk to reside diligent, dedicated, determined…for the attainment of the unattained.

(2) Again he reflects: I have health and well-being, a good digestion which is neither too cold nor too heated, but moderate and suitable for striving; but there will come a time when sickness shall touch this body, and sick and ill, it is not easy to attend to The Buddha’s Teachings, it is not easy to retreat to the forest wilderness. Before that comes to me - unwished for, undesirable, disagreeable condition comes upon me, let me in advance arouse energy for the attainment of the unattained, to master the unmastered, to realize the unrealized. Then when I am in that condition, I will reside at ease even though I am sick. This is the second future danger to consider which is enough for a Monk to reside diligent, dedicated, determined…for the attainment of the unattained.

(3) Again he reflects: Food is now plentiful, there has been a good harvest and food is easy to get and it is easy to keep oneself going by gathering; but there will come a time when there is famine, bad harvest, and difficulty in getting food, when it will be hard to keep oneself going by gathering; and in a time of famine people will move to where there is plentiful food and there one will dwell in living conditions that are congested and crowded, it is not easy to attend to The Buddha’s Teachings, it is not easy to retreat to the forest wilderness. Before that comes to me - unwished for, undesirable, disagreeable condition comes upon me, let me in advance arouse energy for the attainment of the unattained, to master the unmastered, to realize the unrealized. Then when I am in that condition, I will reside at ease even though food is not plentiful. This is the third future danger to consider which is enough for a Monk to reside diligent, dedicated, determined…for the attainment of the unattained.

(4) Again he reflects: Now men reside in friendly fellowship together, blending like milk and water, without disputes, but viewing each other with eyes of affection; but there will come a time of fear, fear of robbers, and the people of the countryside will mount their vehicles and flee. Fear-stricken men will move away to where there is safety, and there one will dwell in living conditions that are congested and crowded, it is not easy to attend to The Buddha’s Teachings, it is not easy to retreat to the forest wilderness. Before that comes to me - unwished for, undesirable, disagreeable condition comes upon me, let me in advance arouse energy for the attainment of the unattained, to master the unmastered, to realize the unrealized. Then when I am in that condition, I will reside at ease even in a time of fear. This is the fourth future danger to consider which is enough for a Monk to reside diligent, dedicated, determined…for the attainment of the unattained.

(5) Moreover, Monks, the Monk reflects thus: Now The Community lives in friendly fellowship together, finding comfort in one Teaching: but the time will come when The Community will be fractured: and when that happens, it is not easy to attend to The Buddha’s Teachings, it is not easy to retreat to the forest wilderness. Before that comes to me - unwished for, undesirable, disagreeable condition comes upon me, let me in advance arouse energy for the attainment of the unattained, to master the unmastered, to realize the unrealized. Then when I am in that condition, I will reside at ease even though The Community is fractured. This is the fifth future danger to consider which is enough for a Monk to reside diligent, dedicated, determined…for the attainment of the unattained.

Monks, there are these five future dangers in the way to consider which the diligent, dedicated, determined Monk, forest-gone, ought to live just to attain the unattained, to master the unmastered, to realize the unrealized.

(Reference: AN 5.78)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares details of how a Practitioner should not delay or push off the responsibility to train the mind, thus, not allowing the mind to become complacent as this is dangerous to one’s progress on The Path to Enlightenment.

While certain aspects of life may be comfortable for you now, that might not always be the case due to The Universal Truth of Impermanence. The Buddha provides five (5) situations, or dangers, to consider that will happen in the future that could inhibit one from being able to learn and practice these Teachings to acquire the results of an Enlightened mind.

1.) Old age can cause challenges for one as the unEnlightened mind will not be as sharp to be able to learn, reflect, and practice these Teachings. With living an entire life with a muddled mind, an elderly individual who is struggling with old age will find it a struggle to learn and practice these Teachings. So, The Buddha provides guidance that while one is young it is the ideal time to dedicate time, effort, energy, and resources towards learning and practicing these Teachings.

There is no age that is too old to learn and practice these Teachings but this Teaching is sharing that it would be more wise to choose to learn and practice while one is still young. Do not delay the decision to learn and practice these Teachings any further. The right time to learn and practice is always, right now.

Even if a Student is in the later phases of their life, they can still learn and practice to experience improvement to the condition of the mind possibly attaining Enlightenment during this life or at death.

If a Practitioner chooses to learn and practice these Teachings sooner in life, they will have less conditioning to eliminate. A child, for example, has very little craving and anger compared to an adult. An adult has other attributes that are beneficial and helpful in the pursuit to Enlightenment but there is more pollution of mind to eliminate.

There is no wrong time to begin to learn and practice but choosing to do so earlier in life can produce significant benefit as one will not need to live an entire life with discontentedness and can enjoy the benefits of having made the wise decision to learn and practice these Teachings while still young. If a Practitioner attains Enlightenment early in life, they are then able to enjoy the benefits of an Enlightened mind their entire life rather than experiencing constant struggles and difficulties living with an unEnlightened mind.

2.) Good health is an attribute that makes learning and practicing these Teachings less challenging. If there is bodily sickness, a Practitioner will be busy attending to the needs of the physical body where they will find it more challenging to learn and practice these Teachings.

While there is good health, rather than be complacent with the good health, a wise Practitioner would instead use that to their advantage to learn and practice so that they can get as much work accomplished in training the mind while there is still a healthy body.

3.) Plentiful food allows for a Practitioner to be able to nourish the body maintaining its strength and vitality. When food is easy to acquire, this is not a time to become complacent but instead, a time to use this to your benefit so that you are able to apply time, effort, energy, and resources towards learning and practicing these Teachings to experience the results of an Enlightened mind.

Plentiful food may promote a complacent mind and one should not allow easy access to food to lure the mind into complacency.

4.) Wholesome friends and associates is an important aspect of learning and practicing these Teachings. Making the wise choice to have wholesome friends and associates will positively influence you towards the attainment of Enlightenment.

While there are wholesome friends and associates, this would be the ideal time to actively learn and practice these Teachings instead of allowing the comfort of wholesome friends and associates to produce complacency or any sluggish conditions in the mind.

5.) The Community of Practitioners is highly important for one to develop their mind to Enlightenment. A Practitioner would need to have confidence in The Buddha, The Teachings, and The Community. Through developing this confidence and having access to The Teachings and The Community, a Practitioner is then able to actively progress towards Enlightenment.

While The Community of Practitioners is strong, this is the ideal time to develop the mind towards Enlightenment rather than becoming complacent that this beneficial situation exists.

All of these things are impermanent. If a Practitioner allows these beneficial attributes to produce complacency rather than use them to their advantage, they could potentially be gone and lost, then a Practitioner would lack these same attributes of youthfulness, health, food, wholesome friends, and a strong community of Practitioners which are all helpful in one’s pursuit to Enlightenment.

It would be dangerous for one to become complacent with certain comforts that exist now to delay applying time, effort, energy, and resources to learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings on The Path to Enlightenment.