Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
To give up the five kinds of sensual stimulation — pleasant sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches — a mendicant should develop the four kinds of mindfulness meditation, the same remedy given in full at AN 9.63 and AN 9.64.
A term already familiar from this nipāta
The five kāmaguṇā named here are the identical five sense pleasures already met defining ‘the world’ at AN 9.38 and ‘confinement’ at AN 9.42 — the same content, applied here to a third distinct framing within this single nipāta.
Where the chapter's compression begins
This is the first discourse in this chapter where the four-foundation formula is reduced to a bare ellipsis rather than spelled out. Having established the pattern twice in full at AN 9.63 and AN 9.64, the source now trusts the reader to supply it, a compression this chapter maintains through AN 9.70.
A remedy that fits its obstacle directly
As with AN 9.64's hindrances, the pairing here is especially apt: the four foundations' own closing phrase, ‘rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world,’ directly answers what sensory pleasure produces — craving for exactly the kind of pleasant stimulation this discourse names.
Key terms
The text
Five kinds of sensual stimulation
§1“Mendicants, there are these five kinds of sensual stimulation. What five? Sights known by the eye, which are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. Sounds known by the ear … Smells known by the nose … Tastes known by the tongue … Touches known by the body, which are likable, desirable, agreeable, pleasant, sensual, and arousing. These are the five kinds of sensual stimulation.
The remedy, compressed
§2To give up these five kinds of sensual stimulation you should develop the four kinds of mindfulness meditation. …”
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