Untitled in the source — Sāmaññavagga — the third chapter of the Elevens, closing the ten-category cycle
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
The same cowherd simile, now crossed against the six kinds of consideration, with the eight contemplations spelled out in full a second time
Length
~2 minutes to read; stands for forty-eight discourses
Closing the cycle, matching the opening
This page bookends AN 11.22–29 by spelling out the eight contemplations one more time, closing the ten-category "can't" sequence
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — the arithmetic and the bookend structure are worth holding in mind together
Why this discourse
The same eleven-factor cowherd simile applies to the six kinds of consideration regarding each sense object — sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas — and this page, alone among the nine compressed pages since AN 11.22–29, spells out the eight contemplations again in full, closing this chapter's entire ten-category ‘can't’ cycle at exactly AN 11.501.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
The tenth and final category of this chapter's ‘can't’ sequence, consideration (vicāra) regarding each of the six sense objects, closes with the eight contemplations spelled out one more time, bookending AN 11.22–29's own opening full treatment.
A deliberate bookend
Every one of the eight pages between AN 11.70–117 and AN 11.406–453 compressed its eight contemplations into a bare ellipsis, trusting the reader to hold the list in mind from AN 11.22–29. This page breaks that pattern deliberately, naming all eight — impermanence, suffering, not-self, ending, vanishing, fading away, cessation, letting go — one final time as this immense compressed structure closes.
Vitakka's frequent partner
Consideration (vicāra) is the sustained application of the mind that, together with the previous page's thought (vitakka), forms two of the first absorption's five factors — initial and sustained attention, here applied to ordinary sense objects rather than a meditation subject.
The full arithmetic of the ten-category cycle
Ten categories — six sense faculties, six sense objects, six consciousnesses, six contacts, six feelings, six perceptions, six intentions, six cravings, six thoughts, six considerations — each times eight contemplations, gives 480 discourses total, exactly matching AN 11.22 through AN 11.501. What follows next mirrors this entire structure as its positive counterpart, in a single further page.
Key terms
rūpavicāre, saddavicāre, gandhavicāre, rasavicāre, phoṭṭhabbavicāre, dhammavicāre — “considerations regarding sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and ideas” — the six kinds of consideration, named for their sense objects, closing the ten-category cycle.
vicāra — “consideration”, sustained attention — the tenth and final step in this chapter's sequence, vitakka's own frequent partner in the first absorption's five factors.
aniccānupassī — “observing impermanence” — the first of the eight contemplations, spelled out here for the second and final time in this chapter.
paṭinissaggānupassī — “observing letting go” — the eighth and final contemplation, closing both this page and the entire 480-discourse "can't" cycle it completes.
dhammavicāra — “consideration regarding ideas” — the sixth and final of the six considerations, completing the list before the eight contemplations are spelled out.
The text
The compressed text in full: the six kinds of consideration, then all eight contemplations spelled out once more, closing the ten-category cycle. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
