The same frame and chain as SN 22.146, with a specific meditation substituted for "full of disillusionment"
Length
Short — largely elided, following SN 22.146's established chain
Northern parallel
The "observing impermanence" (aniccānupassī) formula recurs widely as a foundational meditation instruction across the Canon
Difficulty
Approachable — best read directly alongside SN 22.146
Why this discourse
Takes SN 22.146's chain — disillusionment leading through understanding to freedom — and substitutes a specific meditation practice, "observing impermanence," for the general "full of disillusionment" that opened the previous discourse, the first of three such substitutions closing this vagga.
Reading guide
The same frame, a specific practice named
"When a gentleman has gone forth out of faith, this is what's in line with the teaching. They should meditate observing impermanence in form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness" — identical framing to SN 22.146, but now naming a concrete meditative activity (anupassī, "observing" or "contemplating") rather than the more general "full of disillusionment."
A concrete practice replacing a general disposition
Where nibbidā ("disillusionment") names an attitude or orientation that might arise through many different means, aniccānupassanā ("observing impermanence") names a specific, repeatable meditative act — watching for impermanence directly in present experience, aggregate by aggregate.
This suggests a relationship between the two discourses: SN 22.146 names the resulting quality of a well-lived practice, while SN 22.147 names one concrete method that could produce it.
The elided remainder
The source text gives only the opening frame and the specific practice in full, then elides the remainder with an ellipsis before resuming at the discourse's closing line — trusting the reader to supply SN 22.146's own middle steps (complete understanding, freedom from the aggregates) unchanged.
Two more variations to come
SN 22.148 will substitute "observing suffering" for this discourse's "observing impermanence," and SN 22.149 will substitute "observing not-self," completing a second, more compact three-mark sequence to close this vagga — structurally parallel to, but distinct from, the nine-discourse matrix earlier in Kukkuḷavagga.
Key terms
aniccānupassī — observing impermanence — the specific meditation this discourse names, giving it its title
nibbidābahula — full of disillusionment — SN 22.146's own general formula, here replaced by a specific practice
anupassanā — observing, contemplating — the meditative act at the root of this discourse's title
saddhā pabbajita — gone forth out of faith — the same figure addressed in SN 22.146
sabbadukkhā pamuccati — "freed from suffering" — the shared closing destination with SN 22.146
The text
The complete discourse as given in the source: the opening frame and the specific practice named, with the middle chain elided as in SN 22.146. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, when a gentleman has gone forth out of faith, this is what’s in line with the teaching.
§2They should meditate observing impermanence in form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness. …
§3They’re freed from suffering, I say.”
· · ·
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 specific practice does this discourse name, replacing SN 22.146's "full of disillusionment"?
Correct: A. The first of three specific substitutions closing this vagga.
Question 2 of 10
What is the relationship between "disillusionment" and "observing impermanence" as this discourse frames it?
Correct: A. A general disposition versus a specific, repeatable meditative act.
Question 3 of 10
How does the source text present the remainder of this discourse, beyond the opening and the named practice?
Correct: A. Resuming at the closing line, matching SN 22.146's own structure.
Question 4 of 10
Who is this discourse addressed to, matching SN 22.146?
Correct: A. The identical figure and framing as SN 22.146.
Question 5 of 10
What does anupassanā specifically mean?
Correct: A. The meditative act at the root of this discourse's own title.
Question 6 of 10
What two discourses will follow this same pattern with different observations?
Correct: A. Completing a compact three-mark sequence closing this vagga.
Question 7 of 10
How does this closing three-discourse sequence relate to the vagga's earlier nine-discourse matrix?
Correct: A. Both work through the three marks, but in different structural forms.
Question 8 of 10
What is the shared closing destination between this discourse and SN 22.146?
Correct: A. The same chain's final step, shared across the whole closing sequence.
Question 9 of 10
How many aggregates does this practice apply to?
Correct: A. Form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness, as throughout this book.
