Reading guide
The three-marks chain, reused rather than restated from scratch
The discourse's opening four steps — impermanent, therefore suffering, therefore not-self, therefore to be seen as not mine — are word for word identical to SN 22.15's chain from Aniccavagga. Rather than introducing new logical content, this discourse takes that established chain as its starting point and asks what happens next.
A five-step continuation not given in SN 22.15
Where SN 22.15 stopped at “this is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self,” this discourse continues: the mind becomes dispassionate and freed from defilements by not grasping; being free, it's stable; being stable, it's content; being content, one is not anxious; not being anxious, one personally becomes extinguished (parinibbāyati). Each step depends strictly on the one before it, extending the earlier chain by five further links.
A summary restatement applying to all five elements at once
After running through this extended chain for each aggregate individually, the discourse adds a further compressed restatement: if a mendicant's mind is dispassionate toward the form element, the feeling element, the perception element, the choices element, and the consciousness element, it is freed from defilements by not grasping — the same five-step sequence (stable, content, not anxious, personally extinguished) then follows once more, this time stated collectively rather than aggregate by aggregate.
Closing on the same declaration that closed SN 22.12
The discourse ends with the identical four-part arahant declaration used to close SN 22.12 at the very start of Aniccavagga — rebirth ended, the spiritual journey completed, what had to be done done, nothing further for this place — tying this discourse's extended chain back to the book's most basic liberation formula even as it adds five new intervening steps that formula did not spell out.
Key terms
The text
§1“Mendicants, form is impermanent. What’s impermanent is suffering. What’s suffering 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.’ Seeing truly with right understanding like this, the mind becomes dispassionate and freed from defilements by not grasping.
§2Consciousness is impermanent. What’s impermanent is suffering. What’s suffering 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.’ Seeing truly with right understanding like this, the mind becomes dispassionate and freed from defilements by not grasping.
§3If a mendicant’s mind is dispassionate towards the form element, the feeling element, the perception element, the choices element, and the consciousness element, it’s freed from defilements by not grasping. Being free, it’s stable. Being stable, it’s content. Being content, they’re not anxious. Not being anxious, they personally become extinguished.
§4They 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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