broken telephone: why Buddhists should study EBT (early buddhist teachings), memorize and recite passages daily

from wikipedia: Chinese whispers (Commonwealth English) or the telephone game (American English) [1] is an internationally popular children's game [2] in which players form a line, and the first player comes up with a message and whispers it to the ear of the second person in the line. The second player repeats the message to the third player, and so on. When the last player is reached, they announce the message they heard to the entire group. The first person then compares the original message with the final version. Although the objective is to pass around the message without it becoming garbled along the way, part of the enjoyment is that, regardless, this usually ends up happening. Errors typically accumulate in the retellings, so the statement announced by the last player differs significantly from that of the first player, usually with amusing or humorous effect. Reasons for changes include anxiousness or impatience, erroneous corrections, the difficult-to-understand mechanism of whispering, and that some players may deliberately alter what is being said to guarantee a changed message by the end of the line. The game is often played by children as a party game or on the playground. It is often invoked as a metaphor for cumulative error, especially the inaccuracies as rumours or gossip spread,[1] or, more generally, for the unreliability of human recollection or even oral traditions.

AN 2.20 20 20 “Dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā saddhammassa sammosāya antaradhānāya saṃvattanti. “These two things, monks, lead to the decline and disappearance of the true teaching. Katame dve? What two? Dunnikkhittañca padabyañjanaṃ attho ca dunnīto. The words and phrases are misplaced, and the meaning is misinterpreted. Dunnikkhittassa, bhikkhave, padabyañjanassa atthopi dunnayo hoti. When the words and phrases are misplaced, the meaning is misinterpreted. Ime kho, bhikkhave, dve dhammā saddhammassa sammosāya antaradhānāya saṃvattantī”ti. These two things lead to the decline and disappearance of the true teaching. “Dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā saddhammassa ṭhitiyā asammosāya anantaradhānāya saṃvattanti. These two things lead to the continuation, persistence, and enduring of the true teaching. Katame dve? What two? Sunikkhittañca padabyañjanaṃ attho ca sunīto. The words and phrases are well organized, and the meaning is correctly interpreted. Sunikkhittassa, bhikkhave, padabyañjanassa atthopi sunayo hoti. When the words and phrases are well organized, the meaning is correctly interpreted. Ime kho, bhikkhave, dve dhammā saddhammassa ṭhitiyā asammosāya anantaradhānāya saṃvattantī”ti. These two things lead to the continuation, persistence, and enduring of the true teaching.”

(This answer to same op question, was cut and paste from my blog article where html formatting makes it much more readable:  https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2019/01/broken-telephone-why-buddhists-should.html )

This answer to same op question, was cut and paste from my blog article where html formatting makes it much more readable:  broken telephone: why Buddhists should study EBT (early buddhist teachings), memorize and recite passages daily

from wikipedia:

Chinese whispers (Commonwealth English) or the telephone game (American English) [1] is an internationally popular children's game [2] in which players form a line, and the first player comes up with a message and whispers it to the ear of the second person in the line. The second player repeats the message to the third player, and so on. When the last player is reached, they announce the message they heard to the entire group. The first person then compares the original message with the final version. Although the objective is to pass around the message without it becoming garbled along the way, part of the enjoyment is that, regardless, this usually ends up happening. Errors typically accumulate in the retellings, so the statement announced by the last player differs significantly from that of the first player, usually with amusing or humorous effect. Reasons for changes include anxiousness or impatience, erroneous corrections, the difficult-to-understand mechanism of whispering, and that some players may deliberately alter what is being said to guarantee a changed message by the end of the line.
The game is often played by children as a party game or on the playground. It is often invoked as a metaphor for cumulative error, especially the inaccuracies as rumours or gossip spread,[1] or, more generally, for the unreliability of human recollection or even oral traditions.

AN 2.20

“Dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā saddhammassa sammosāya antaradhānāya saṃvattanti.
“These two things, monks, lead to the decline and disappearance of the true teaching.

Katame dve?
What two?

Dunnikkhittañca padabyañjanaṃ attho ca dunnīto.
The words and phrases are misplaced, and the meaning is misinterpreted.

Dunnikkhittassa, bhikkhave, padabyañjanassa atthopi dunnayo hoti.
When the words and phrases are misplaced, the meaning is misinterpreted.

Ime kho, bhikkhave, dve dhammā saddhammassa sammosāya antaradhānāya saṃvattantī”ti.
These two things lead to the decline and disappearance of the true teaching.

“Dveme, bhikkhave, dhammā saddhammassa ṭhitiyā asammosāya anantaradhānāya saṃvattanti.
These two things lead to the continuation, persistence, and enduring of the true teaching.

Katame dve?
What two?

Sunikkhittañca padabyañjanaṃ attho ca sunīto.
The words and phrases are well organized, and the meaning is correctly interpreted.

Sunikkhittassa, bhikkhave, padabyañjanassa atthopi sunayo hoti.
When the words and phrases are well organized, the meaning is correctly interpreted.

Ime kho, bhikkhave, dve dhammā saddhammassa ṭhitiyā asammosāya anantaradhānāya saṃvattantī”ti.
These two things lead to the continuation, persistence, and enduring of the true teaching.”