Take some other monk who gets by with mere faith and fondness. In such a case, the monks say: ‘Reverends, this monk gets by with mere faith and fondness. Suppose we punish him, repeatedly pressuring him—no, let him not lose what little faith and fondness he has!’

Suppose there was a person with one eye. Their friends and colleagues, relatives and kin would protect that one eye: ‘Let them not lose the one eye that they have!’ In the same way, some monk gets by with mere faith and fondness. In such a case, the monks say: ‘Reverends, this monk gets by with mere faith and fondness. Suppose we punish him, repeatedly pressuring him—no, let him not lose what little faith and love he has!’ This is the cause, this is the reason why they punish some monk, repeatedly pressuring him. And this is the cause, this is the reason why they don’t similarly punish another monk, repeatedly pressuring him.”

“What is the cause, sir, what is the reason why there used to be fewer training rules but more enlightened mendicants? And what is the cause, what is the reason why these days there are more training rules and fewer enlightened mendicants?”