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.