Reading guide
The same lavish variety, presented identically by both cooks
Confirmed by direct reading, the discourse's own two cooks are given the IDENTICAL eightfold list of curries — sour, bitter, pungent, sweet, hot, mild, salty, and bland — to serve. The difference between them is not what is offered but whether the offering is READ for feedback afterward.
"Taking the hint" -- nimittaṁ uggaṇhāti
The Pāli phrase “nimittaṁ uggaṇhāti” (“takes up the sign/hint”) is confirmed by direct reading to apply identically to the cook reading the ruler's own preference and the mendicant reading their own mind's response during meditation — the same word, the same act of attentive noticing, applied to two very different situations.
Consequences that mirror each other precisely
The foolish cook gets no clothes, wages, or bonuses; the foolish mendicant gets no immersion, no giving up of corruptions, no blissful meditations, and no mindfulness and situational awareness. The skillful cook and skillful mendicant each receive the mirror-image opposite — confirmed by direct comparison to be a point-for-point mapping, not a loose analogy.
Key terms
The text
§1 — the foolish cook“Mendicants, suppose a foolish, incompetent, unskillful cook was to serve a ruler or their chief minister with an excessive variety of curries: chiefly sour, bitter, pungent, and sweet; hot and mild, and salty and bland. But that cook didn’t take their master’s hint: ‘Today my master preferred this sauce, or he reached for it, or he took a lot of it, or he praised it. Today my master preferred the chiefly sour or bitter or pungent or sweet or hot or mild or salty sauce. Or he preferred the bland sauce, or he reached for the bland one, or he took a lot of it, or he praised it.’ That foolish, incompetent, unskillful cook doesn’t get presented with clothes, wages, or bonuses. Why is that? Because they don’t take their master’s hint. In the same way, a foolish, incompetent, unskillful mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. As they meditate observing an aspect of the body, their mind doesn’t enter immersion, and their corruptions aren’t given up. But they don’t take the hint. They meditate observing an aspect of feelings … mind … principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. As they meditate observing an aspect of principles, the mind doesn’t enter immersion, and the corruptions aren’t given up. But they don’t take the hint. That foolish, incompetent, unskillful mendicant doesn’t get blissful meditations in this very life, nor do they get mindfulness and situational awareness. Why is that? Because they don’t take their mind’s hint.
§2 — the skillful cookSuppose an astute, competent, skillful cook was to serve a ruler or their chief minister with an extravagant variety of curries: chiefly sour, bitter, pungent, and sweet; hot and mild, and salty and bland. And that cook took their master’s hint: ‘Today my master preferred this sauce, or he reached for it, or he took a lot of it, or he praised it. Today my master preferred the chiefly sour or bitter or pungent or sweet or hot or mild or salty sauce. Or he preferred the bland sauce, or he reached for the bland one, or he took a lot of it, or he praised it.’ That astute, competent, skillful cook gets presented with clothes, wages, and bonuses. Why is that? Because they take their master’s hint. In the same way, an astute, competent, skillful mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. As they meditate observing an aspect of the body, their mind enters immersion, and their corruptions are given up. They take the hint. They meditate observing an aspect of feelings … mind … principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. As they meditate observing an aspect of principles, their mind enters immersion, and their corruptions are given up. They take the hint. That astute, competent, skillful mendicant gets blissful meditations in this very life, and they get mindfulness and situational awareness. Why is that? Because they take their mind’s hint.”
Self-check quiz
3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.