With clairaudience that is purified and superhuman, the Buddha heard this discussion between the householder Sandhāna and the wanderer Nigrodha. Then the Buddha descended from Vulture’s Peak Mountain and went to the peacocks’ feeding ground on the bank of the Sumāgadhā, where he walked mindfully in the open air. Nigrodha saw him, and hushed his own assembly: “Be quiet, good fellows, don’t make a sound. Here, the ascetic Gotama is walking mindfully on the bank of the Sumāgadhā. The venerable likes quiet and praises quiet. Hopefully if he sees that our assembly is quiet he’ll see fit to approach. If he comes, I’ll ask him this question: ‘Sir, what teaching do you use to guide your disciples, through which they claim solace in the fundamental goal of the spiritual life?’” Then those wanderers fell silent.

2. Mortification in Disgust of Sin