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, suppose a monk or nun isn’t able to hear the Dharma they haven’t heard yet, or they forget it after having heard it. Suppose that they’ve practiced, spread, and recited the Dharma before and understood it with wisdom, but they don’t remember it anymore. They know it, and then they don’t know it. Venerables, this is called a monk or nun who has declined in the pure Dharma.

“Venerables, suppose a monk or nun is able to hear the Dharma they haven’t heard yet, and they don’t forget it after having heard it. Suppose that they’ve practiced, spread, and recited the Dharma before, understood it with wisdom, and they always remember it. They knew it, and they still know it. Venerables, this is called a monk or nun who has improved in the pure Dharma.

“Venerables, a monk should contemplate in this way: ‘Do I have longing, or do I have no longing? Do I have hateful thoughts, or do I have no hateful thoughts? Am I wrapped in sleepiness, or am I not wrapped in sleepiness? Do I have agitated arrogance, or do I have no agitated arrogance? Do I have perplexity, or do I have no perplexity? Do I have physical violence, or do I have no physical violence? Do I have filthy thoughts, or do I have no filthy thoughts? Do I have faith, or do I have no faith? Do I have diligence, or do I have no diligence? Do I have mindfulness, or do I have no mindfulness? Am I settled, or am I not settled? Do I have poor wisdom, or do I have no poor wisdom?’

“Venerables, suppose when he contemplates this, a monk knows, ‘I have longing … hateful thoughts … wrapped in sleepiness … agitated arrogance … perplexity … physical violence … filthy thoughts … no faith … no diligence … no mindfulness … no settledness … and have bad wisdom.’ Venerables, because he wants to cease these bad and unskillful things, that monk then quickly pursues the method to do that, training with the utmost effort. He endures and doesn’t let himself retreat using right mindfulness and knowledge. He’s like a man with his hair or clothes on fire who urgently seeks to put them out. Thus, because he wants to cease these bad and unskillful things, this monk quickly pursues the method to do that and trains with the utmost effort. He endures and doesn’t let himself retreat using right mindfulness and knowledge.

“Venerables, suppose when he contemplates this, a monk knows, ‘I have no longing … no hateful thoughts … not wrapped in sleepiness … no agitated arrogance … no perplexity … no physical violence … no filthy thoughts … faith … diligence … mindfulness … settledness … and have no bad wisdom.’ Venerables, because he wants to abide in these skillful things and not forget or retreat from cultivating and disseminating them, that monk quickly seeks the method to do that, training with the utmost effort. He endures and doesn’t let himself retreat using right mindfulness and knowledge. He’s like a man with his hair or clothes on fire who urgently seeks to put them out. Thus, Venerables, because he wants to abide in these skillful things and not forget or retreat from cultivating and disseminating them, this monk quickly seeks the method to do that, training with the utmost effort. He endures and doesn’t let himself retreat using right mindfulness and knowledge.”

This is what Venerable Śāriputra said. Those monks who heard what Venerable Śāriputra taught rejoiced and approved.