In those days the Buddha was living in the Kingdom of the Sakyans, in the city of Kapilavatthu at the Nigrodha Monastery. One day Nandiya the Sakyan went to the Buddha, bowed respectfully, sat down to one side, and asked him:
“Bhante, if the four factors of stream-entry are totally absent in a noble disciple, does he live negligently?”
“Nandiya, someone who totally lacks these four factors of stream-entry, is an outsider—not a follower of the Buddha—who belongs with the ordinary persons. However, Nandiya, I will teach you how a noble disciple lives negligently and how he lives diligently, listen and remember.”
“Yes, Bhante,” Nandiya replied. The Buddha taught this:
“Nandiya, how does a noble disciple live negligently? In this case, a noble disciple has unshakable confidence in the Buddha… He’s content with that confidence, and doesn’t make a further effort for meditation. Since he lives negligently in this way, there’s no spiritual joy in his mind. When there’s no spiritual joy, there’s no rapture. When there’s no rapture, there’s no tranquility in body and mind. When there’s no tranquility, his mind is sad. When he lives with a sad mind, his mind does not become concentrated. When his mind is not concentrated, deep Dhamma is not understood. Because deep Dhamma is not be understood, he belongs to the group of followers who live negligently.
“Furthermore, a noble disciple has unshakable confidence in the Dhamma… the Saṅgha… And he has the virtue loved by the noble ones… leading to concentration. He’s content with that virtue loved by the noble ones, and doesn’t make a further effort for meditation. Since he lives negligently in this way, there’s no spiritual joy in his mind. When there’s no spiritual joy, there’s no rapture. When there’s no rapture, there’s no tranquility in body and mind. When there’s no tranquility, his mind is sad. When he lives with a sad mind, his mind does not become concentrated. When his mind is not concentrated, deep Dhamma is not understood. Because deep Dhamma is not understood, he belongs to the group of followers who live negligently.
“And how does a noble disciple live diligently? In this case, a noble disciple has unshakable confidence in the Buddha… however, he’s not content with that confidence, and makes further effort for meditation. Since he lives diligently in this way, joy arises in his mind. Joyful mind brings rapture. When the mind is full of rapture, the body and the mind becomes tranquil. When the body and mind is tranquil, he feels happy. when he feels happy, his mind becomes concentrated. When his mind is concentrated, deep Dhamma is understood. Because deep Dhamma is understood, he belongs to the group of followers who live diligently.
“Furthermore, a noble disciple has unshakable confidence in the Dhamma… the Saṅgha… And he has the virtue loved by the noble ones… leading to concentration. However, he’s not content with that virtue loved by the noble ones, and makes a further effort for meditation. When he live diligently, joy springs up. Being joyful, rapture springs up. Since he lives diligently in this way, joy arises in his mind. Joyful mind brings rapture. When the mind is full of rapture, the body and the mind becomes tranquil. When the body and mind is tranquil, he feels happy. When he feels happy, his mind becomes concentrated. When his mind is concentrated, deep Dhamma is understood. Because deep Dhamma is understood, he belongs to the group of followers who live diligently.”
