dn29:18.0 7. Reaching Agreement
dn29:18.1 Suppose one of those spiritual companions who is training in harmony and mutual appreciation, without disputing, were to recite the teaching in the Saṅgha.
dn29:18.2 Now, you might think,
dn29:18.3 ‘This venerable misconstrues the meaning and mistakes the phrasing.’
dn29:18.4 You should neither approve nor reject them, but say,
dn29:18.5 ‘Reverend, if this is the meaning, the phrasing may either be this or that: which is more fitting? And if this is the phrasing, the meaning may be either this or that: which is more fitting?’
dn29:18.6 Suppose they reply,
dn29:18.7 ‘This phrasing fits the meaning better than that. And this meaning fits the phrasing better than that.’
dn29:18.8 Without flattering or rebuking them, you should carefully persuade them by examining that meaning and that phrasing.


