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 thought (vitakka)
Length
~1 minute to read; stands for forty-eight discourses
Ninth of ten categories
Thought (vitakka), the mental factor familiar from the first absorption's own five factors
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 thought about each sense object — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas — forty-eight further discourses (AN 11.406–453).
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The identical cowherd simile and eight contemplations now apply to the six kinds of thought about sense objects — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas — the ninth of this chapter's ten categories.
A familiar term from meditation itself
Vitakka, translated here as ‘thought’, is the same term naming the first of the first absorption's five factors — the initial application of the mind to an object — here applied not to a meditation object specifically but to any of the six ordinary sense objects a mendicant might think about.
The penultimate category
With thought in place, only consideration (vicāra, vitakka's own frequent pair in the description of the first absorption) remains before this chapter's ten-category cycle through the ‘can't’ version completes and the massive mirror page begins.
The same forty-eight, nearly through
Six kinds of thought times eight contemplations gives forty-eight discourses, matching AN 11.406 through AN 11.453 exactly — the ninth of ten categories, with only one more to go before this chapter's structure turns to its mirror image.
Key terms
rūpavitakke, saddavitakke, gandhavitakke, rasavitakke, phoṭṭhabbavitakke, dhammavitakke — “thoughts about sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas” — the six kinds of thought, named for their sense objects.
vitakka — “thought”, the initial application of the mind — the ninth step in this chapter's sequence, and also the first of the first absorption's five factors elsewhere in the canon.
rūpavitakka — “thought about sights” — the first of the six, opening this page's list.
vicāra — not treated here but named at the very next page, “consideration”, vitakka's own frequent pairing term in describing the first absorption's five factors.
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 thought. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Six kinds of thought, the same pattern
§1… “… thoughts about sights … thoughts about sounds … thoughts about smells … thoughts about tastes … thoughts about touches … thoughts about ideas. …”
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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 ninth step in this chapter's analytical sequence.
Question 2 of 6
Where else does the term vitakka appear in the canon, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The initial application of the mind to an object, familiar from jhāna descriptions.
Question 3 of 6
What category remains after this one, according to the guide?
Correct: B. The tenth and final category of the ten-part sequence.
Question 4 of 6
How many discourses does this page stand for?
Correct: C. 6 × 8 = 48, matching AN 11.406 through AN 11.453.
Question 5 of 6
What is the first kind of thought named in this page's list?
Correct: A. Opening the list in the standard sense-object order.
Question 6 of 6
Where is this compressed passage set?
Correct: B. No location is given for this compressed passage.
