The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
The shortest possible entry into SN 22.15's chain — a single link, not-self directly to the negated formula
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
★☆☆☆☆ — the shortest and simplest of the trio, best read as its conclusion
Why this discourse
This discourse closes the telescoping trio SN 22.15 opened: where that discourse needed four links and SN 22.16 needed two, this one needs only a single step — form is not-self, and what's not-self should be seen with right understanding as not mine, not I, not myself. Nothing precedes the not-self claim here; it is granted outright, exactly as impermanence was granted outright in SN 22.15 and suffering in SN 22.16. Read as a set, the three discourses demonstrate that whichever of the three marks a listener is prepared to grant as a starting point, the same single destination — seeing the aggregates as not mine — is reachable from it.
Reading guide
The shortest possible chain
This discourse's argument has only one step: form is not-self, and what's not-self should be truly seen with right understanding as “this is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.” No claim about impermanence or suffering appears at all — the chain simply starts at its own final premise and moves directly to the prescribed way of seeing.
Completing the trio's progression
Set beside SN 22.15 (four links, starting from impermanence) and SN 22.16 (two links, starting from suffering), this discourse completes a deliberate progression: the same destination, reached by successively shorter routes, each entering the underlying chain one link further along than the last. The three together function as a kind of demonstration that the argument's strength does not depend on which of the three marks a listener starts from.
A destination reachable from any starting point
Taken as a set with SN 22.15 and SN 22.16, this trio makes an implicit claim about the three marks' relationship worth stating plainly: impermanence, suffering, and not-self are presented as different doors onto the identical room, not as three separate insights each requiring its own independent training. Whichever mark is clearest to a given listener at a given moment, that same listener can be led from it to the same “not mine” understanding.
What follows: extending the argument to each cause
With this trio complete, the vagga turns next to a different kind of extension in SN 22.18-20: rather than shortening the chain further, those three discourses lengthen the argument outward, from each aggregate itself to the cause that produces it, arguing that an effect produced by an impermanent, suffering, or not-self cause cannot itself be otherwise.
Key terms
anattā — “not-self” — granted here outright as the discourse's sole starting premise, with no prior impermanence or suffering claim leading into it.
yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya daṭṭhabbaṁ — “should be truly seen with right understanding” — the single remaining link, unchanged in wording from SN 22.15 and SN 22.16.
n'etaṁ mama, nesohamasmi, na meso attā — “this is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self” — the shared destination of all three discourses in this trio, reached here in a single step.
tilakkhaṇa — the “three marks” — this discourse using only the third, having granted it directly rather than deriving it from the first two.
hetu paccaya — “cause and reason” — the vocabulary the next three discourses (SN 22.18-20) will introduce, extending this trio's reasoning to what produces each aggregate rather than the aggregate alone.
The text
The discourse in full. Three elided repetitions (feeling, perception, and choices, each following the same single-link chain spelled out in full for form and consciousness) are given exactly as bilara-data preserves them. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, form is not-self. And what’s not-self should be truly seen with right understanding like this: ‘This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.’
§2Consciousness is not-self. And what’s not-self should be truly seen with right understanding like this: ‘This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.’
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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
How many logical links does this discourse's chain contain?
Correct: A. The shortest entry point in the trio, with no impermanence or suffering premise stated.
Question 2 of 10
How does this discourse complete the trio formed with SN 22.15 and SN 22.16?
Correct: A. Four links, then two links, then one link, all reaching the identical negated formula.
Question 3 of 10
What does the trio as a whole suggest about the three marks' relationship?
Correct: A. Whichever mark is clearest to a listener, the same destination is reachable from it.
Question 4 of 10
What formula does this discourse's single link lead to?
Correct: A. The identical destination reached by SN 22.15 and SN 22.16 through longer routes.
Question 5 of 10
What do the three discourses immediately after this trio (SN 22.18-20) do differently?
Correct: A. A shift from shortening the entry point to lengthening the argument's scope.
Question 6 of 10
How many aggregates does this discourse's chain apply to?
Correct: A. Feeling, perception, and choices are elided but follow the same pattern.
Question 7 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Continuing the same setting as the vagga's other discourses.
Question 8 of 10
What position does this discourse hold in the vagga's telescoping trio?
Correct: A. SN 22.15 (four links), SN 22.16 (two links), and this discourse (one link) form the complete set.
Question 9 of 10
Does this discourse claim that impermanence or suffering are false?
Correct: A. The absence of a premise is not the same as denying it; the discourse simply enters the argument later.
Question 10 of 10
What comes immediately after this discourse, closing the trio?
Correct: A. The vagga's next sub-group begins with SN 22.18.
