Gain, Honor, and Praise, Are an Obstacle Even For an Arahant

Monks, gain, honor, and praise, I say, are an obstacle even for a Monk who is an Arahant, one with taints destroyed.

When this was said, the Venerable Ānanda asked the Master Teacher Gotama: ‘Why, Venerable Sir, are gain, honor, and praise an obstacle even for a Monk with taints destroyed?’

I do not say, Ānanda, that gain, honor, and praise are an obstacle to his unshakable liberation of mind. But I say they are an obstacle to (his attainment of) those peaceful dwellings in this very life which are achieved by one who resides diligent, dedicated, and determined. So dreadful, Ānanda, are gain, honor, and praise so bitter, vile, obstructive to achieving the unsurpassed security from bondage (Enlightenment).

Therefore, Ānanda, you should train yourselves thus: ‘We will abandon the arisen gain, honor, praise, and we will not let the arisen gain, honor, and praise persist obsessing our mind.

Thus should you train yourselves.

(Reference: SN 17.30)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how gain, honor, and praise can inhibit the mind from experiencing Enlightenment.

Through allowing the mind to dwell in gain, honor, and praise from others, the mind can accumulate ego, specifically “conceit”.

Conceit (Arrogance, pride, judging, measuring or comparing as superior or inferior to others.)

Gotama Buddha describes gain, honor, and praise as dreadful, bitter, vile, obstructive to attaining Enlightenment or “security from bondage”.

The unEnlightened mind is bound and burdened carrying craving/desire/attachment. The mind is bound into the condition of the unEnlightened mind by The Ten Fetters or the “taints”.

Conceit is one of the taints, or pollution of the mind, that traps the mind in the unEnlightened state. It is only through the elimination of The Ten Fetters that the mind is then liberated experiencing freedom from strong feelings and Enlightened.

A Practitioner is unable to control whether others share admiration for you but through training of the mind a Practitioner can ensure that the arisen gain, honor, and praise does not obsess the mind.

It is through “one who resides diligent, dedicated, and determined” to training the mind through practicing these Teachings that the mind is able to reside unaffected.

Allowing agreeable positive comments from others to produce conceit in the mind will only inhibit the Practitioner from experiencing Enlightenment. Not only can the mind accumulate conceit but it may also have craving/desire for continued positive comments.

If the mind hears agreeable positive comments, it experiences pleasant feelings and the mind is discontent. If the mind hears disagreeable negative comments, it experiences painful feelings and the mind is discontent.

Anytime the mind is allowed to latch onto and be affected by anything agreeable or disagreeable, it will experience discontentedness.

The work of liberating the mind requires constant determination, dedication, and diligence to actively be aware of any arising discontentedness in daily life, then, cut off and let go of the arising feelings including any pleasant feelings that arise due to gain, honor, and praise not allowing it to obsess the mind.

Eventually, the more a Practitioner cuts off and lets go of any arising discontentedness, there will no longer be any arising of discontentedness. The mind will experience liberation or “security from bondage”. The mind will be protected and secure from the bondage of The Ten Fetters no longer bound to experience discontentedness in the repeating cycle of constant discontentedness through The Cycle of Rebirth.