The Related Suttas Collection 45.139

11. Abbreviated Texts on Diligence

The Realized One

At Sāvatthī.

“Bhikkhus, the Realized One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha, is said to be the best of all sentient beings—be they footless, with two feet, four feet, or many feet; with form or formless; with perception or without perception or with neither perception nor non-perception. In the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in diligence and meet at diligence, and diligence is said to be the best of them. A bhikkhu who is diligent can expect to develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path.

And how does a bhikkhu who is diligent develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path? It’s when a bhikkhu develops right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion, which rely on seclusion, fading away, and cessation, and ripen as letting go. That’s how a bhikkhu who is diligent develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path.

Bhikkhus, the Realized One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha, is said to be the best of all sentient beings—be they footless, with two feet, four feet, or many feet; with form or formless; with perception or without perception or with neither perception nor non-perception. In the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in diligence and meet at diligence, and diligence is said to be the best of them. A bhikkhu who is diligent can expect to develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path.

And how does a bhikkhu who is diligent develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path? It’s when a bhikkhu develops right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion, which culminate in the removal of greed, hate, and delusion. That’s how a bhikkhu who is diligent develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path.

Bhikkhus, the Realized One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha, is said to be the best of all sentient beings—be they footless, with two feet, four feet, or many feet; with form or formless; with perception or without perception or with neither perception nor non-perception. In the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in diligence and meet at diligence, and diligence is said to be the best of them. A bhikkhu who is diligent can expect to develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path.

And how does a bhikkhu who is diligent develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path? It’s when a bhikkhu develops right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion, which culminate, finish, and end in the deathless. That’s how a bhikkhu who is diligent develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path.

Bhikkhus, the Realized One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha, is said to be the best of all sentient beings—be they footless, with two feet, four feet, or many feet; with form or formless; with perception or without perception or with neither perception nor non-perception. In the same way, all skillful qualities are rooted in diligence and meet at diligence, and diligence is said to be the best of them. A bhikkhu who is diligent can expect to develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path.

And how does a bhikkhu who is diligent develop and cultivate the noble eightfold path? It’s when a bhikkhu develops right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion, which slants, slopes, and inclines to Nibbana. That’s how a bhikkhu who is diligent develops and cultivates the noble eightfold path.”