Now suppose you’re a youth, young, with pristine black hair, blessed with youth, in the prime of life. But your speech is timely, true, meaningful, and in line with the teaching and training. You say things at the right time which are valuable, reasonable, succinct, and beneficial. Then you’ll be reckoned an ‘astute senior’.

There are these four qualities that make a senior. What four? A mendicant is ethical, restrained in the monastic code, conducting themselves well and resorting for alms in suitable places. Seeing danger in the slightest fault, they keep the rules they’ve undertaken. They’re very learned, remembering and keeping what they’ve learned. These teachings are good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good in the end, meaningful and well-phrased, describing a spiritual practice that’s entirely full and pure. They are very learned in such teachings, remembering them, rehearsing them, mentally scrutinizing them, and penetrating them theoretically. They get the four absorptions—blissful meditations in this life that belong to the higher mind—when they want, without trouble or difficulty. They realize the undefiled freedom of heart and freedom by wisdom. And they live having realized it with their own insight in this very life due to the ending of defilements. These are the four qualities that make a senior.

The creature with a restless mind speaks a lot of nonsense. Their thoughts are unsettled, and they don’t like the true teaching. They’re far from seniority, with their bad views and their lack of regard for others.

But one accomplished in ethics, learned and eloquent, that attentive one is restrained when experiencing phenomena, discerning the meaning with wisdom.