[1722] Bhikkhus, whatever ascetics or brahmins do not understand as it really is (yathābhūta): 'This is suffering (dukkha)' … 'This is the way of practice (paṭipadā) leading to the cessation of suffering' — they gaze at the face of another ascetic or brahmin, thinking: 'Surely this venerable one, knowing, knows; seeing, sees.' Suppose, bhikkhus, a tuft of kapok or a tuft of cotton — light, borne up by the wind — were set down on a level piece of ground: the east wind would drive it to the west, the west wind would drive it to the east, the north wind would drive it to the south, the south wind would drive it to the north. For what reason? Because, bhikkhus, of the lightness of the tuft of cotton. Even so, bhikkhus, whatever ascetics or brahmins do not understand as it really is: 'This is suffering' … 'This is the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering' — they gaze at the face of another ascetic or brahmin, thinking: 'Surely this venerable one, knowing, knows; seeing, sees.' For what reason? Because, bhikkhus, they have not seen the four noble truths (ariyasacca).
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.