The compressed arising/cessation formula, matching SN 26.3's own treatment
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 familiar by this point
Why this discourse
The fourth step, moving beyond the eighteen elements into contact (phassa) — the meeting of faculty, object, and consciousness — given the identical arising/cessation identity this saṃyutta has applied to every category since SN 26.1, at the same point in the chain SN 25.4 examined with its own three-tier formula.
Reading guide
Six contacts, the same identity
"The arising of eye contact... mind contact... is the manifestation of old age and death. The cessation of eye contact... mind contact... is the disappearance of old age and death" — contact named as suffering's own arising and cessation, exactly as the eighteen elements were.
Suffering doesn't wait for craving to appear
It is worth pausing on where in the chain this equivalence has already been asserted: not merely at craving (SN 26.8, still several discourses away), but already at the level of the eighteen elements and now contact. This saṃyutta's own claim is that suffering's arising is present throughout this chain from its earliest links, not only once craving finally appears.
The same compressed treatment as SN 26.3
As with the previous discourse, only the six-item names at the chain's two ends survive explicitly, with the middle four elided and the closing phrase given in full.
Continuing the identical sequence SN 25 already walked
SN 25.5–8 will examine feeling, perception, intention, and craving with the three-tier formula; this saṃyutta's own SN 26.5–8 will walk the same four links with the arising/cessation identity instead.
Key terms
phassa — contact — the meeting of faculty, object, and consciousness, the subject of this discourse
dukkhassa uppādo — the arising of suffering — asserted here at the level of contact, not only at craving further down the chain
peyyāla — an elision mark — continuing this saṃyutta's compression pattern from SN 26.3
uppāda / nirodha — arising / cessation — this saṃyutta's own standing pair
cakkhusamphassa — eye contact — the first of the six contacts named in this discourse
The text
The complete discourse as bilara-data preserves it: the six kinds of contact's arising and cessation, compressed. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, the arising of eye contact … mind contact … is the manifestation of old age and death. The cessation of eye contact … mind contact … is the disappearance of old age and death.”
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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 six items does this discourse examine?
Correct: A. The meeting-point of faculty, object, and consciousness.
Question 2 of 10
At what point in the chain does this saṃyutta first assert suffering's arising, according to this reading guide?
Correct: A. Suffering's arising is present throughout the chain from its earliest links, this saṃyutta's own claim.
Question 3 of 10
How does this discourse's compression compare to SN 26.3's own?
Correct: A. Unchanged since SN 26.3.
Question 4 of 10
What discourses will this saṃyutta's SN 26.5–8 examine?
Correct: A. Walking the same four links SN 25.5–8 examined with its own three-tier formula.
Question 5 of 10
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Matching the setting of most discourses in this saṃyutta.
Question 6 of 10
What earlier discourse in this project examined this same category with a different formula?
Correct: A. The identical category, differently aimed.
Question 7 of 10
What is the first of the six contacts named in this discourse?
Correct: A. Followed by ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact.
Question 8 of 10
What discourse comes next in this saṃyutta's sequence?
Correct: A. Continuing one link at a time through the standard chain.
Question 9 of 10
What arises directly from contact, according to the standard analytical chain?
Correct: A. The next link this saṃyutta's own SN 26.5 will examine.
Question 10 of 10
What is this saṃyutta's own recurring pair of terms?
Correct: A. The pair giving this saṃyutta its own working method and name.
