The Buddha addressing the mendicants (by cross-reference)
Form
A peyyāla stub, identical in shape to SN 34.11–12
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 third combination built on entering: samāpatti ("entering") paired against kallita ("gladdening") — a structural skill compared against an inner disposition, the first pairing in this saṃyutta to cross between two genuinely different registers of meditative capacity.
Reading guide
Crossing registers, structure and disposition
Where SN 34.11 and SN 34.12 both paired entering against other structural moves (remaining, emerging), this discourse pairs it against kallita, an inner disposition — the first combinatorial pairing to cross between two genuinely different kinds of meditative skill.
A meditator skilled at entry but not at encouragement
The pairing implies a real possibility: someone mechanically competent at reaching immersive states, yet unskilled at actively brightening or gladdening the mind in the process — competence without warmth, in effect.
Third of nine, entering's own combinatorial set continuing
This is the third 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 and SN 34.12, 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
kallita — gladdening — the second quality named in this specific discourse, an inner disposition rather than a structural move
vuṭṭhāna — emerging — the previous discourse's own second quality, replaced here by kallita
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 positivity for immersion. …”
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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 first pairing in this saṃyutta to cross between structure and disposition.
Question 2 of 5
What kind of possibility does this pairing imply?
Correct: A. Competence without warmth, in effect.
Question 3 of 5
How does this pairing differ from SN 34.11's and SN 34.12's own?
Correct: A. Structure compared against an inner disposition, for the first time in this combinatorial set.
Question 4 of 5
Where does this discourse fall in entering's own combinatorial set?
Correct: A. SN 34.11 through SN 34.19 pair entering against each of the other nine qualities.
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.
