DharmAI

Being asked to teach or lead a group

When Udāyī was seen teaching a crowd of lay people, the Buddha said it is not easy to teach others and named five things to settle in yourself first: teach in order, explain the reasoning, speak from kindness, not for gain, and harm neither yourself nor anyone else. None of those is a credential, and none of them requires an attainment. The suttas also warn about the snake that bites whoever grabs the teaching to find fault and win arguments, and they count ranking yourself better or worse than others as a way of not seeing clearly — which covers the fraud feeling and the pleasure of being asked. Whether you are ready is a question for your own teacher, if you have one, and for the people who asked.

What the suttas say

  1. You should neither approve nor reject that mendicant’s statement. Instead, having carefully memorized those words and phrases, you should make sure they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training.

    The four great references — a teaching claimed to be the Buddha's is checked against the suttas and the training, not against the authority of whoever says it.

    Where this stops: A method for testing claims about what the Buddha taught, not a licence to dismiss a living teacher's practical instruction because it is not quoted in a sutta.

    AN 4.180:2.5–2.6 · The Four Great References

  2. Take a futile person who memorizes the teaching— statements, mixed prose & verse, discussions, verses, inspired exclamations, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and elaborations. But they don’t examine the meaning of those teachings with wisdom, and so don’t come to an acceptance of them after deliberation. They memorize the teaching for the sake of finding fault and winning debates. They don’t realize the goal for which they memorized them. Because they’re wrongly grasped, those teachings lead to their lasting harm and suffering. Why is that? Because of their wrong grasp of the teachings. Suppose there was a person in need of a cobra. And while wandering in search of a cobra they’d see a big cobra, and grasp it by the coil or the tail. But that cobra would twist back and bite them on the hand or the arm or other major or minor limb, resulting in death or deadly pain. Why is that? Because of their wrong grasp of the cobra. In the same way, a futile person memorizes the teaching … and those teachings lead to their lasting harm and suffering. Why is that? Because of their wrong grasp of the teachings. Now, take a gentleman who memorizes the teaching— statements, mixed prose & verse, discussions, verses, inspired exclamations, legends, stories of past lives, amazing stories, and elaborations. And once he’s memorized them, he examines their meaning with wisdom, and comes to an acceptance of them after deliberation. He doesn’t memorize the teaching for the sake of finding fault and winning debates. He realizes the goal for which he memorized them. Because they’re correctly grasped, those teachings lead to his lasting welfare and happiness. Why is that? Because of his correct grasp of the teachings. Suppose there was a person in need of a cobra. And while wandering in search of a cobra they’d see a big cobra, and hold it down carefully with a cleft stick. Only then would they correctly grasp it by the neck. And even though that cobra might wrap its coils around that person’s hand or arm or some other major or minor limb, that wouldn’t result in death or deadly pain. Why is that? Because of their correct grasp of the cobra.

    The simile of the snake — the teaching seized wrongly, to find fault and win arguments, turns on the one who holds it, while the teaching examined with wisdom is held safely, like a snake pinned with a forked stick and taken by the neck.

    Where this stops: It warns about the motive for learning, not about studying the suttas; the right grasp in the same range is to examine the meaning with wisdom.

    MN 22:10.1–11.16 · The Simile of the Cobra

  3. Soṇa, there are ascetics and brahmins who—based on form, which is impermanent, suffering, and perishable—regard themselves thus: ‘I’m better’, or ‘I’m equal’, or ‘I’m worse’. What is that but a failure to see truly?

    Told to the householder Soṇa — ranking oneself better, equal, or worse is one mistake, not three, which includes the person who always comes out worse.

    Where this stops: About measuring a self built on the aggregates; it does not say that differences of skill or circumstance are unreal.

    SN 22.49:2.1–2.4 · With Soṇa

  4. So, mendicants, when you understand what I’ve said, you should remember it accordingly. But if I’ve said anything that you don’t understand, you should ask me about it, or some competent mendicants.

    The Buddha's own instruction for a teaching that is not understood — ask him, or someone competent.

    Where this stops: Addressed to monks who could ask the Buddha; for a reader today it points to a teacher or a study group, not to settling every question alone.

    MN 22:12.1–12.2 · The Simile of the Cobra

  5. “Ānanda, it’s not easy to teach Dhamma to others. You should establish five things in yourself before teaching Dhamma to others. What five? You should teach Dhamma to others thinking: ‘I will teach step by step.’ … ‘I will teach showing my method.’ … ‘I will teach out of kindness.’ … ‘I will not teach while secretly hoping to profit.’ … ‘I will teach without damaging myself or others.’ It’s not easy to teach Dhamma to others. You should establish these five things in yourself before teaching Dhamma to others.”

    Five things to establish in yourself before teaching, prompted by Udāyī teaching a crowd of lay people — for anyone asked to lead a group or give a talk.

    Where this stops: A standard for the one who teaches, not a checklist for disqualifying a teacher over a single lapse.

    AN 5.159:2.1–2.10 · With Udāyī

Bring your own situation.