A Brahmin Priest once asked the Blessed Buddha:
Master Gotama, what is the cause of being unable to remember even something that
has been memorized over a long period & also that which has not been memorized?
Brahmin, when mind is obsessed by evil-will, beset, enraged & dominated by evil-will,
and one does not understand any actual safe escape from this arisen ill of evil-will,
in that very moment, one neither sees nor understands, what is truly advantageous,
neither for oneself, nor for others, nor for both... On such occasions, even texts,
that have been long memorized, cannot be recalled by mind. Why is this neglect so?
Imagine a bowl of water boiling and bubbling being well heated over a blazing fire.
If a man with good eye-sight were to inspect the reflection of his own face in it,
he would neither see nor recognize it, as it really is! So too, brahmin, when mind is
obsessed by evil-will, maddened, beset & dominated by evil-will, on that occasion even
those texts, that have been long memorized do not recur to the mind, not to speak
of those texts, events & information, that have not been memorized at all…
On how to prevent hate, anger, irritation, opposition, & stubbornness see:
Metta,
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Metta.htm
Friendliness Frees,
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Friendliness_Frees.htm
Buddha on Noble Friendship,
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Buddha_on_Noble_Frienship.htm
Selfless Friendship is Sweetest,
http://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Selfless_Friendship_is_Sweetest.htm
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha.
Samyutta Nikāya.
Book [V:121-2] section 46: The Links. 55: To Sangarava...
