Untitled in the source — Sāmaññavagga — the third chapter of the Elevens
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The same cowherd simile and eight contemplations, now crossed against the six kinds of contact
Length
~1 minute to read; stands for forty-eight discourses
Fourth of ten categories
Contact, the fourth step in this chapter's ten-part analytical sequence
Difficulty
★☆☆☆☆ — the same established pattern, one category over
Why this discourse
The same eleven-factor cowherd simile and eight contemplations apply to the six kinds of contact — eye contact, ear contact, nose contact, tongue contact, body contact, and mind contact — forty-eight further discourses (AN 11.166–213).
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The identical cowherd simile and eight contemplations now apply to the six kinds of contact — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact — the fourth of this chapter's ten categories.
What contact adds to the sequence
Contact (phassa) is the meeting itself of faculty, object, and consciousness together — not merely physical touch, but the technical convergence that the canon treats as the necessary condition for feeling to arise, the fourth link in this chapter's traced sequence.
A term familiar from dependent origination
Contact is also a familiar link from the twelve-factor chain of dependent origination (paṭicca samuppāda), where contact conditions feeling, feeling conditions craving, and so on — the same causal ordering this chapter's own sequence will continue to trace through its remaining categories.
The same forty-eight, continuing
Six kinds of contact times eight contemplations gives forty-eight discourses, matching AN 11.166 through AN 11.213 exactly — the fourth category in a row to repeat this chapter's now-familiar arithmetic.
Key terms
cakkhusamphasse, sotasamphasse, ghānasamphasse, jivhāsamphasse, kāyasamphasse, manosamphasse — “eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact” — the six kinds of contact, named for their corresponding sense faculties.
phassa — “contact” — the fourth step in this chapter's sequence, the convergence of faculty, object, and consciousness.
cakkhusamphassa — “eye contact” — the first of the six, opening this page's list.
paṭicca samuppāda — not named directly here, but the twelve-factor chain of dependent origination in which contact is also a familiar link, conditioning feeling.
aniccānupassī...paṭinissaggānupassī — the same eight contemplations from AN 11.22–29, again left entirely implicit.
The text
The compressed text in full: the same pattern, now applied to the six kinds of contact. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Six kinds of contact, the same pattern
§1… “… eye contact … ear contact … nose contact … tongue contact … body contact … mind contact. …”
· · ·
Self-check quiz
6 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 6
What category does this page address?
Correct: B. The fourth step in this chapter's analytical sequence.
Question 2 of 6
What does "contact" (phassa) technically refer to, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Not merely physical touch, but a technical convergence.
Question 3 of 6
What familiar chain also includes contact as a link, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Where contact conditions feeling, and feeling conditions craving.
Question 4 of 6
How many discourses does this page stand for?
Correct: C. 6 × 8 = 48, matching AN 11.166 through AN 11.213.
Question 5 of 6
What is the first kind of contact named in this page's list?
Correct: B. Opening the list in the standard sense-faculty order.
Question 6 of 6
Where is this compressed passage set?
Correct: B. No location is given for this compressed passage.
