A question posed by Rāhula, answered with a comprehensive formula distinct from this vagga's earlier template
Length
~1.5 minutes to read
Northern parallel
A rough counterpart may exist in the Chinese Saṃyukta-āgama (T99), though this reading guide does not assert a specific matching sutra number
Difficulty
★★★☆☆ — a new question and a new formula, after ten discourses built on one repeated template
Why this discourse
After ten discourses (and the merged block reprising nine of them) built entirely on the impermanent-suffering-not-self template, this discourse introduces a different question. Rāhula asks: how does one know and see so that there's no I-making, mine-making, or underlying tendency to conceit for this conscious body and externally for all signs? The Buddha's answer uses a different, more comprehensive formula — examining any form at all, past, future, or present, internal or external, coarse or subtle, inferior or superior, far or near, as not mine, not I, not my self — applied to each of the five aggregates.
Reading guide
A question, not a category, driving this discourse
Every earlier discourse in this saṃyutta opened with the Buddha's own question about a specific category; this discourse instead opens with Rāhula posing his own question, shifting the initiative and the discourse's underlying concern toward a psychological state rather than a doctrinal category.
I-making, mine-making, and underlying tendency named as the target
Ahaṅkāra, mamaṅkāra, and mānānusaya — I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit — name something more specific than mere craving or attachment: the habitual construction of a sense of self and its lingering residue even after gross attachment has been addressed.
A comprehensive formula distinct from this vagga's earlier template
Rather than the impermanent-suffering-not-self sequence used throughout the ten discourses before it, this discourse uses a formula examining every possible instance of form — past, future, present, internal, external, coarse, subtle, inferior, superior, far, near — a more exhaustive sweep than the earlier template's three questions.
The five aggregates as the vehicle for this new formula
Form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness recur here from SN 18.10 and the merged block's ninth section, but now serve as the framework for this different, more comprehensive analytical formula rather than the earlier permanence-based questions.
Setting up the vagga's actual closing discourse
This discourse's question and formula recur almost unchanged in the discourse immediately following it, which asks a closely related question about a heart already rid of conceit rather than one still working toward that freedom.
Key terms
ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā — “I-making, mine-making, and the underlying tendency to conceit” — the specific target this discourse's question names, more particular than general craving or attachment.
saviññāṇake kāye — “this conscious body” — the internal reference point named alongside all external signs in Rāhula's question.
atītānāgatapaccuppannaṁ … dūre santike vā — “past, future, or present … far or near” — the comprehensive set of qualifiers this discourse's formula applies to every instance of each aggregate.
netaṁ mama, nesohamasmi, na meso attā — “this is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self” — the formula's conclusion, phrased in the negative rather than as a question.
ekādasamaṁ — “the eleventh” — this discourse's closing numbering tag, its position across the whole saṃyutta.
The text
The discourse in full. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. Then Venerable Rāhula went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Sir, how does one know and see so that there’s no I-making, mine-making, or underlying tendency to conceit for this conscious body and externally for all signs?” “Rāhula, one truly sees any kind of form at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; solid or subtle; inferior or superior; far or near: <em>all</em> form—with right understanding: ‘This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.’ One truly sees any kind of feeling … perception … choices … consciousness at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; solid or subtle; inferior or superior; far or near: <em>all</em> consciousness—with right understanding: ‘This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.’ That’s how to know and see so that there’s no I-making, mine-making, or underlying tendency to conceit for this conscious body and externally for all signs.”
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Self-check quiz
Ten questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 10
What question does Rāhula ask at the start of this discourse?
Correct: A. A shift toward a psychological state rather than a doctrinal category.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's opening differ from the ten discourses before it?
Correct: A. Shifting the initiative toward a different underlying concern.
Question 3 of 10
What does "I-making, mine-making, and underlying tendency to conceit" name, more specifically than general craving?
Correct: A. A more particular target than simple attachment or craving.
Question 4 of 10
What formula does the Buddha use to answer, distinct from this vagga's earlier template?
Correct: A. A more exhaustive sweep than the earlier template's three questions.
Question 5 of 10
What serves as the vehicle for this new, more comprehensive formula?
Correct: A. Recurring here from SN 18.10 and the merged block, now serving a different analytical formula.
Question 6 of 10
How does this discourse relate to the one immediately following it?
Correct: A. Setting up the vagga's actual closing discourse.
Question 7 of 10
How is the formula's conclusion phrased in this discourse?
Correct: A. Distinct in phrasing from the earlier template's questioning form.
Question 8 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. The setting shared throughout this saṃyutta.
Question 9 of 10
Who are the two participants in this discourse?
Correct: A. The same father-and-son pair from throughout this saṃyutta.
Question 10 of 10
What numbering tag closes this discourse?
Correct: A. The eleventh discourse-position across the whole saṃyutta.
