Anavatthitasutta — Ānisaṁsavagga — the tenth chapter of the Sixes, continuing the Second Fifty
Setting
None stated in the source
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single six-item list of first-person aspirational statements, opening a companion triplet to AN 6.98–100
Length
under 1 minute to read
Northern parallel
The cultivation of the perception of impermanence through reflection on its benefits recurs widely across the Chinese Āgamas' meditation instructions; this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★☆☆☆ — a first-person list of aspirations rather than a third-person chain, a shift in rhetorical register from AN 6.98
Why this discourse
AN 6.102 opens a companion triplet to AN 6.98–100: where those three discourses argued in the third person that misperceiving conditions blocks the path, this discourse and its two companions, AN 6.103 and 6.104, list first-person benefits — things a practitioner can say to themselves — sufficient motivation to establish the same right perceptions those earlier discourses required.
Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
Seeing six benefits is enough to establish the perception of impermanence in all conditions: things will appear transient, the mind will not delight in the world, will rise above it, will incline to extinguishment, the fetters will be given up, and the ascetic life's ultimate goal will be achieved.
A shift from argument to aspiration
AN 6.98's chain argued that misperceiving conditions blocks specific outcomes; this discourse instead lists six first-person statements — “my mind will not delight anywhere in the world,” “I will achieve the ultimate goal” — framed as benefits a practitioner might rehearse to themselves as sufficient motivation, a register closer to encouragement than to logical necessity.
A sequence from perception to attainment
The six statements move in order: perceiving transience, disengaging the mind from delight in the world, rising above the world, inclining toward extinguishment, giving up the fetters, and finally achieving the ultimate goal — each benefit building toward the next rather than standing as six independent items.
A companion, not a repeat, of AN 6.98
Checked against AN 6.98, this discourse shares only its general topic, impermanence — the earlier discourse's chain (right view, sure path, four fruits) and this discourse's aspirational sequence (delight, transcendence, extinguishment, fetters, goal) are two distinct treatments of the same perception, not one restated as the other.
Key terms
anavatthitasaññā — “the perception of impermanence,” the perception of transience — the discourse's own title and central aim.
cittaṁ na ramati — “my mind will not delight” — the second of the six first-person benefits, disengaging delight from the world.
nibbānaninnaṁ bhavissati cittaṁ — “my heart will incline to extinguishment” — the fourth benefit, naming the mind's direction rather than its final arrival.
saṁyojanāni pahānaṁ gacchissanti — “my fetters will be given up” — the fifth benefit, echoing the fetters already named at AN 6.89–91.
sāmaññatthaṁ ārādhessāmi — “I will achieve the ultimate goal of the ascetic life” — the sixth and final benefit, the sequence's culmination.
The text
The discourse in full: six first-person benefits sufficient to establish the perception of impermanence. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
Six benefits of the perception of impermanence
§1“Mendicants, seeing six benefits is quite enough to establish the perception of impermanence in all conditions without qualification. What six? ‘All conditions will appear to me as transient.’ ‘My mind will not delight anywhere in the world.’ ‘My mind will rise above the whole world.’ ‘My heart will incline to extinguishment.’ ‘My fetters will be given up.’ ‘I will achieve the ultimate goal of the ascetic life.’ Seeing these six benefits is quite enough to establish the perception of impermanence in all conditions without qualification.”
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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
How does this discourse's rhetorical register differ from AN 6.98's, according to the guide?
Correct: B. A shift from logical argument to aspirational encouragement.
Question 2 of 6
How do this discourse's six benefits relate to each other, according to the guide?
Correct: B. Each benefit building toward the next rather than standing alone.
Question 3 of 6
What earlier discourse's content does this discourse's fifth benefit, 'my fetters will be given up,' echo?
Correct: B. A connection to fetters already named earlier in this chapter's predecessor.
Question 4 of 6
How does the guide characterize this discourse's relationship to AN 6.98?
Correct: B. Two different rhetorical approaches to the same underlying perception.
Question 5 of 6
Is a setting stated for AN 6.102?
Correct: B. A bare formula, matching this chapter's other discourses.
Question 6 of 6
What does this discourse's title term, anavatthitasaññā, mean?
Correct: B. This discourse's central aim, established through its six named benefits.
