At Sāvatthi.

While standing to one side, that deity addressed the Blessed One with a verse:

"For those dwelling in the wilderness, peaceful ones who live the spiritual life; Eating only one meal a day, how does their complexion become serene?"

[The Blessed One]: "They don't grieve over the past, nor do they yearn for the future; They continue to live through the present, by this, their complexion becomes serene.

By yearning for the future, and grieving over the past; Through this, ignorant persons dry up and wither away, like a green reed cut down."