The Buddha addressing the mendicants (by cross-reference)
Form
A peyyāla stub, identical in shape to SN 34.11
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
★☆☆☆☆ — understood only alongside SN 34.1 and SN 34.11
Why this discourse
The second combination built on entering: samāpatti ("entering") paired against vuṭṭhāna ("emerging") — the natural bookends of a meditative session, now compared against each other rather than each against immersion itself.
Reading guide
Two bookends of a session, now compared directly
Entering and emerging together frame any single meditative session — this discourse asks whether a meditator skilled at one is necessarily skilled at the other, rather than whether either connects well to immersion itself.
The identical fourfold logic, a new pair
"One meditator is skilled in entering immersion but not in emerging from it …" — the same structure as SN 34.11, with vuṭṭhāna replacing ṭhiti as the second term.
Second of nine, entering's own combinatorial set continuing
This is the second of nine discourses (SN 34.11–19) pairing entering against each of the other nine qualities in turn.
The same compressed shape, unbroken
As with SN 34.11, this discourse compresses to a single surviving line, the underlying structure carried over by cross-reference to SN 34.1.
Key terms
samāpatti — entering — this combinatorial set's own shared anchor quality
vuṭṭhāna — emerging — the second quality named in this specific discourse
ṭhiti — remaining — the previous discourse's own second quality, replaced here by vuṭṭhāna
peyyāla — an elision mark — here compressing both the fourfold structure and the closing simile to a single surviving line
jhāyī — meditator — the general term for the four types this discourse classifies, by cross-reference to SN 34.1
The text
The discourse as the source itself preserves it, compressed to its opening line. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, there are these four meditators. What four? One meditator is skilled in entering immersion but not in emerging from it. …”
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Self-check quiz
5 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 5
What two qualities does this discourse pair?
Correct: A. The natural bookends of a single meditative session.
Question 2 of 5
What question does this pairing implicitly raise?
Correct: A. The same fourfold logic applied to a new pair of qualities.
Question 3 of 5
Where does this discourse fall in entering's own combinatorial set?
Correct: A. Pairing entering against each of the other nine qualities in turn.
Question 4 of 5
How is this discourse's content preserved in the source?
Correct: A. The same minimal shape as SN 34.11.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Consistent with this saṃyutta's other discourses, though given here only by cross-reference.
