The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
SN 22.12's full chain restated in full, with "not-self" substituted for "impermanent"
Length
under a minute 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
★☆☆☆☆ — brief and direct, completing the triplet's third and final mark
Why this discourse
This discourse completes Aniccavagga's opening triplet, and unlike SN 22.13 immediately before it, its source gives the full chain a second time rather than eliding it — form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness are not-self; seeing this, disillusionment; disillusionment, fading desire; fading desire, freedom; freedom, the knowledge of freedom; and the complete arahant declaration closing it out. With all three marks now stated directly, the vagga's next six discourses (SN 22.15-20) will show how the three marks logically depend on one another and extend the same reasoning to each aggregate's cause, before SN 22.21 closes the vagga with Ānanda's direct question about what all of it ultimately points toward.
Reading guide
Not-self, stated as directly as the two marks before it
The discourse opens exactly as SN 22.12 did, with a single unargued claim: form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness are not-self (anattā). No reasoning connects this claim back to impermanence or suffering here — each of the triplet's three discourses stands as its own direct assertion, though SN 22.15 immediately after this vagga's next three will supply the logical connection the direct statements leave implicit.
The full chain restated, not elided
Unlike SN 22.13's compressed treatment of suffering, this discourse's source spells the entire four-step chain out again in full: disillusionment, fading desire, freedom, and the knowledge of freedom, closing with the complete arahant declaration quoted word for word as in SN 22.12. There is no consistent rule governing which discourses in this vagga get the full restatement and which get elided; both patterns appear side by side.
Three marks, three identical outcomes
Read together, SN 22.12, SN 22.13, and SN 22.14 make an implicit claim worth noticing on its own: whichever of the three marks a disciple sees clearly in the aggregates — impermanence, suffering, or not-self — the same four-step chain and the same final liberation follow. The three marks are not three separate paths requiring three separate trainings; seeing any one of them clearly is presented as sufficient.
What the triplet sets up for the rest of the vagga
With all three marks now on the table as independent direct claims, the vagga turns next to showing how they relate to one another logically (SN 22.15-17, deriving not-self from suffering and suffering from impermanence) and then to each aggregate's cause (SN 22.18-20, arguing that what arises from an impermanent, suffering, or not-self cause cannot itself be otherwise) — moving from assertion to argument across the vagga's middle stretch.
Key terms
anattā — “not-self” — the third mark, stated here directly as the discourse's opening claim, without argument connecting it to the two marks before it.
nibbindati — “grows disillusioned” — the chain's opening link, spelled out again here in full rather than elided as in SN 22.13.
vimuccati — “is freed” — the third link, restated in full.
vimuttasmiṁ vimuttamiti ñāṇaṁ — “when freed, they know they're freed” — the fourth link, restated in full, identical in wording to SN 22.12.
khīṇā jāti…nāparaṁ itthattāya — “rebirth is ended…nothing further for this place” — the arahant declaration, quoted directly a second time, word for word as in SN 22.12.
The text
The discourse in full. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness are not-self. Seeing this, a learned noble disciple grows disillusioned with form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. Being disillusioned, desire fades away. When desire fades away they’re freed. When they’re freed, they know they’re freed. They understand: ‘Rebirth is ended, the spiritual journey has been completed, what had to be done has been done, there is nothing further for this place.’”
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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 claim opens this discourse?
Correct: A. Stated directly, without argument connecting it to impermanence or suffering.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse's treatment of the chain compare to SN 22.13's?
Correct: A. No consistent rule governs which discourses in this vagga get full restatement versus elision.
Question 3 of 10
What does the triplet formed by SN 22.12, 22.13, and 22.14 implicitly suggest?
Correct: A. The same four-step chain and same outcome follow regardless of which mark is seen.
Question 4 of 10
What do the six discourses immediately after this triplet (SN 22.15-20) do?
Correct: A. Moving from direct assertion to explicit argument across the vagga's middle stretch.
Question 5 of 10
What four-part declaration closes this discourse?
Correct: A. Identical in wording to SN 22.12's closing declaration.
Question 6 of 10
How many aggregates does this discourse's opening claim apply to?
Correct: A. Named together as a group, as in SN 22.12 and SN 22.13.
Question 7 of 10
What position does this discourse hold in Aniccavagga's opening triplet?
Correct: A. Not-self closes the direct-statement triplet that opens the vagga.
Question 8 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Continuing the same setting as SN 22.12 and SN 22.13.
Question 9 of 10
What comes immediately after this discourse, closing this triplet?
Correct: A. SN 22.15 begins the vagga's next sub-group, spelling out the marks' logical chain.
Question 10 of 10
Who speaks in this discourse?
Correct: A. A direct teaching, consistent with SN 22.12 and SN 22.13.
