The Buddha addressing the mendicants (by cross-reference)
Form
A peyyāla stub, identical in shape to SN 34.11–13
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 fourth combination built on entering: samāpatti ("entering") paired against ārammaṇa ("supports") — the skill of reaching an immersive state compared against the skill of selecting or sustaining the conditions that hold it once reached.
Reading guide
Reaching a state versus sustaining its own conditions
This pairing implies a meditator could be skilled at the initial move into immersion yet weak at maintaining the supportive conditions — or the reverse, strong on supports but clumsy at entry.
A pairing between two structural, non-dispositional qualities
Unlike SN 34.13's cross into disposition (gladdening), this pairing returns to two more structurally-oriented qualities — entering and supports — both concerned with the mechanics of achieving and maintaining a state.
Fourth of nine, entering's own combinatorial set continuing
This is the fourth 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 the preceding three discourses in this combinatorial set, 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
ārammaṇa — supports — the second quality named in this specific discourse
kallita — gladdening — the previous discourse's own second quality, replaced here by ārammaṇa
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 the supports for 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 skill of reaching a state compared against the skill of sustaining its own conditions.
Question 2 of 5
How does this pairing differ from SN 34.13's own?
Correct: A. Both entering and supports concern the mechanics of achieving and maintaining a state.
Question 3 of 5
What possibility does this pairing imply?
Correct: A. The same fourfold logic applied to this specific pair.
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.
