Thus I have heard: One time, the Buddha traveled to the country of Śrāvastī and stayed at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in Jeta’s Grove.

It was then that Venerable Śāriputra addressed the monks, “Venerables, now I will teach you the five ways to eliminate irritation. Listen closely! Listen closely, and consider it well.” Those monks accepted the teaching and listened.

Venerable Śāriputra said, “What are the five? Venerables, there might be someone whose physical conduct is impure, but their verbal conduct is pure. If a wise person is angered by seeing this, they should eliminate that anger. Furthermore, Venerables, there might be someone whose verbal conduct is impure, but their physical conduct is pure. If a wise person is angered by seeing this, they should eliminate that anger. Furthermore, Venerables, there might be someone whose physical and verbal conduct is impure, but their mind has some purity. If a wise person is angered by seeing this, they should eliminate that anger. Furthermore, Venerables, there might be someone whose physical, verbal, and mental conduct is impure. If a wise person is angered by seeing this, they should eliminate that anger. Furthermore, Venerables, there might be someone whose physical, verbal, and mental conduct is pure. If a wise person is angered by seeing this, they should eliminate that anger.

“Venerables, there might be someone whose physical conduct is impure, but their verbal conduct is pure. If a wise person is angered by seeing this, how should they eliminate that anger? Venerables, it’s like a forest monk who takes discarded clothes from rubbish. He sees some discarded clothes in a pile of rubbish that are stained by excrement, urine, phlegm, or some other impurity. Having seen it, he holds it in his left hand and spreads it out with his right hand. He then tears off and takes what’s not stained by excrement, urine, phlegm, or some other impurity and doesn’t have holes.

“In this way, Venerables, there might be someone whose physical conduct is impure, but their verbal conduct is pure. Don’t think about their impure physical conduct. Just think about their pure verbal conduct. If a wise person is angered by what they see, they should eliminate that anger in this way.

“Venerables, there might be someone whose verbal conduct is impure, but their physical conduct is pure. If a wise person is angered by seeing this, how should they eliminate that anger? Venerables, it’s like a deep water near a village that’s hidden by moss and grass. Suppose someone comes along who is hot, distressed, hungry, thirsty, exhausted, and oppressed by wind and heat. Once they reach the water, they leave their clothes on the shore and wade into the pool. Parting the moss and grass with both hands, they bathe there as much as they like, which eliminates their fever, distress, hunger, thirst, and exhaustion.

“In this way, Venerables, there might be someone whose verbal conduct is impure, but their physical conduct is pure. Don’t think about their impure verbal conduct. Just think about their pure physical conduct. If a wise person is angered by what they see, they should eliminate that anger in this way.

“Venerables, there might be someone whose physical and verbal conduct is impure, but their mind has some purity. If a wise person is angered by seeing this, how should they eliminate that anger? Venerables, it’s like a puddle in a cow’s footprint in an four-way intersection. Suppose someone comes along who is hot, distressed, hungry, thirsty, exhausted, and oppressed by wind and heat. They think, ‘This little puddle of water in this intersection would be stirred up and become muddy if I scoop it up with my hands or a leaf, and then it won’t eliminate my fever, distress, hunger, thirst, and exhaustion. I’d better kneel down on my hands and knees and drink from it with my mouth.’ They then kneel down on their hands and knees and drink from it with their mouth. Then, they can eliminate their fever, distress, hunger, thirst, and exhaustion.

“In this way, Venerables, there might be someone whose physical and verbal conduct is impure, but their mind has some purity. Don’t think about their impure physical and verbal conduct. Just think about their mind having some purity. Venerables, if a wise person is angered by what they see, they should eliminate that anger in this way.

“Venerables, there might be someone whose physical, verbal, and mental conduct is impure. If a wise person is angered by seeing this, how should they eliminate that anger? Venerables, it’s like someone who falls ill on the road while traveling a long distance. They’re in distress and exhausted, alone without companions, the last town is far away, and they’ve yet to reach the next one. Suppose someone comes along and stands next to them. They’d see that this traveler is in distress and exhausted, alone without companions, the last town is far away, and they’ve yet to reach the next one. If they can help that traveler, they would lead them from that wilderness to a town, give them excellent medicine, feed them a sumptuous meal, and look after them well. In this way, that person could surely recover from their illness. That is, this other person has thoughts of utmost compassion and caring for that ill person.

“In this way, Venerables, there might be someone whose physical, verbal, and mental conduct is impure. If a wise person sees this, they should think, ‘This Venerable’s physical, verbal, and mental conduct are impure. Don’t let this Venerable end up in a bad destiny or be born in Hell when their body breaks up and their life ends because their physical, verbal, and mental conduct is impure. If this Venerable could meet a good friend, they would abandon their impure physical conduct and cultivate pure physical conduct … abandon their impure verbal … mental conduct and cultivate pure verbal … mental conduct. In this way, this Venerable would surely end up in a good destination or even be born up in Heaven when their body breaks and their life ends because their physical, verbal, and mental conduct would be pure.’ This is the utmost thought of compassion and caring this Venerable has for that other Venerable. If a wise person is angered by what they see, they should eliminate that anger in this way.

“Venerables, there might be someone whose physical, verbal, and mental conduct is pure. If a wise person is angered by seeing this, how should they eliminate that anger? Venerables, it’s like a beautiful pond not far from a village that’s even more lovely when it’s clear. It’s deep, calm, and full, and it has green grass covering its banks and four rings of flowers and trees around it. Suppose someone comes along who’s hot, distressed, hungry, thirsty, exhausted, and oppressed by wind and heat. Once they reach the water, they leave their clothes on the shore and wade into the pool. They bathe as much as they like there, which eliminates their fever, distress, hunger, thirst, and exhaustion.

“In this way, Venerables, there might be someone whose physical, verbal, and mental conduct is pure. You should always be mindful of their pure physical, verbal, and mental conduct. If a wise person is angered by what they see, they should eliminate that anger in this way. Venerables, I said I would discuss five ways to eliminate irritation, and so I have done that.”

This is what Venerable Śāriputra said. The monks who heard it rejoiced and approved.