Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 22.29

Taking Pleasure

Abhinandanasutta — Bhāravagga

Setting
Sāvatthī
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
A two-step chained equation, run once in the negative direction and once in the positive, for each aggregate
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 tightly patterned, worth reading slowly for its chained equation

Why this discourse

This discourse collapses two separate ideas — taking pleasure in an aggregate, and the aggregate's own nature as suffering — into a single unbroken equation: if you take pleasure in form, you take pleasure in suffering; and if you take pleasure in suffering, you are not free from suffering. The chain is then reversed for the discourse's second half: if you do not take pleasure in form, you do not take pleasure in suffering; and if you do not take pleasure in suffering, you are free from suffering. The argument's entire force rests on identifying “taking pleasure in form” with “taking pleasure in suffering” directly, rather than treating them as two separate facts that merely happen to correlate.

Reading guide

An identity, not merely a correlation

The discourse's opening move is stated as a direct equation rather than a causal claim: “if you take pleasure in form, you take pleasure in suffering” — not “taking pleasure in form leads to suffering” but an identification of the two acts as the same act, differently described. This follows directly from the earlier vagga material (SN 22.13, and SN 22.15-17's chain) establishing that the aggregates simply are suffering.

A second link, chained onto the first

The discourse does not stop at the first equation; it adds a second: “if you take pleasure in suffering, you're not free from suffering, I say.” The explicit “I say” (vadāmi) marks this second link as the Buddha's own direct claim rather than a further logical derivation, giving the two-step chain a personal authority distinct from a purely impersonal argument.

The identical chain, run in reverse

The discourse's second half simply negates every term of the first: not taking pleasure in form means not taking pleasure in suffering, and not taking pleasure in suffering means being free from suffering. As with several other discourses in this book, the negative half adds no new content — it is included to make explicit that both directions of the equation hold, not only the direction warning against pleasure.

A short discourse doing compact, careful work

Despite its brevity, this discourse performs a precise philosophical function: it forecloses a possible objection to the earlier claim that the aggregates are suffering — namely, that one could take pleasure in something that is nonetheless suffering without thereby being caught by that suffering. This discourse denies exactly that possibility, identifying the two acts as one.

Key terms

abhinandati — “takes pleasure in” — the discourse's title verb, applied to each aggregate and, by the discourse's own equation, to suffering itself.
dukkhaṁ so abhinandati — “you take pleasure in suffering” — the discourse's central identification, not a separate consequence but the same act redescribed.
vadāmi — “I say” — marking the discourse's second link (pleasure in suffering means no freedom from suffering) as the Buddha's own direct claim.
dukkhā aparimutto — “not free from suffering” — the negative half's conclusion, mirrored by its positive opposite in the discourse's second half.
na dukkhā parimutto — “free from suffering” — the positive half's conclusion, reached simply by negating every term of the first half's chain.

The text

The discourse in full. Three elided repetitions in each half (feeling, perception, and choices, each following the same chained equation spelled out in full for form and consciousness) are given exactly as bilara-data preserves them. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, if you take pleasure in form, you take pleasure in suffering. If you take pleasure in suffering, you’re not free from suffering, I say.

§2consciousness, you take pleasure in suffering. If you take pleasure in suffering, you’re not free from suffering, I say.

§3If you don’t take pleasure in form, you don’t take pleasure in suffering. If you don’t take pleasure in suffering, you’re free from suffering, I say.

§4consciousness, you don’t take pleasure in suffering. If you don’t take pleasure in suffering, you’re free 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 does this discourse claim about taking pleasure in form?
Correct: A. A direct equation, stated as an identity rather than a causal claim.
Question 2 of 10
What second link does the discourse chain onto the first?
Correct: A. Marked with the Buddha's explicit "I say" (vadāmi), giving it personal authority.
Question 3 of 10
What does the discourse's second half do with the first half's chain?
Correct: A. Not taking pleasure in form means not taking pleasure in suffering, and freedom follows.
Question 4 of 10
What possible objection does this discourse's identification of pleasure and suffering foreclose?
Correct: A. The discourse denies this possibility by identifying the two acts as one.
Question 5 of 10
How does this discourse connect to earlier material in this book (SN 22.13, SN 22.15-17)?
Correct: A. The identity between pleasure-in-form and pleasure-in-suffering depends on form already being suffering.
Question 6 of 10
How many aggregates does this discourse's chained equation 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 does the discourse's negative half add that is not already implied by the positive half?
Correct: A. Included for explicitness, following the same pattern as other paired discourses in this book.
Question 9 of 10
What discourse comes immediately after this one?
Correct: A. The vagga continues with a discourse using distinctive medical imagery.
Question 10 of 10
Is the claim in this discourse presented as a causal chain or an identity?
Correct: A. The discourse's force rests on this identification rather than a weaker causal claim.
Answered 0 of 10 · Correct 0

Further reading

← PreviousSN 22.28 · Gratification (3rd)