Last Days of the Buddha -DN 16 & AN 4.180 The Four Great References

" carefully studying the sentences word by word, one should trace them in the Discourses (Suttas) and verify them by the Discipline (Vinaya). If they are neither traceable in the Discourses (Suttas) nor verifiable by the Discipline, one must conclude thus: 'Certainly, this is not the Blessed One's utterance; this has been misunderstood by that bhikkhu -- or by that community, or by those elders, or by that elder.' In that way, bhikkhus, you should reject it. ."

Whatever Dhamma-Vinaya I have pointed out and formulated for you, that will be your Teacher when I am gone."

AN 5.88 (The Buddha Gave Us This Warning For The Future)It is possible that a world-renowned monk of very senior status, with a huge following of lay & monastic disciples & who is highly learned in scriptures, can have wrong views.

The necessity of both samatha and vipassana is obvious from the following suttas:

AN 4.170: In this sutta there are only these four ways to arahantship: Samatha & Vipassana both are necessary


In AN 8.51 the Buddha warned that the true Dhamma would remain unadulterated (unpolluted) for 500 years after his passing into Nibbána. Thereafter, it will become very difficult to distinguish the true teachings from the false. SN 16.13