The Buddha addressing the mendicants (by cross-reference)
Form
A peyyāla stub, identical in shape to SN 34.11–15
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 sixth combination built on entering: samāpatti ("entering") paired against abhinīhāra ("projecting the mind purified by immersion") — the skill of reaching an immersive state compared against the skill of deploying the clarity that state produces.
Reading guide
Reaching a state versus using its own product
This pairing implies a meditator could be skilled at entering immersion yet unable to make productive use of the resulting clarity — entry without application, in effect.
The reverse direction is equally implied
The fourfold logic also names the opposite case: someone skilled at projecting a purified mind toward some further task, yet clumsy at reaching the immersive state that purification in the first place requires.
Sixth of nine, entering's own combinatorial set continuing
This is the sixth of nine discourses (SN 34.11–19) pairing entering against each of the other nine qualities in turn, three further pairings still to come.
The same compressed shape, unbroken
As with the preceding five 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
abhinīhāra — projecting, or directing forth — the second quality named in this specific discourse
gocara — territory — the previous discourse's own second quality, replaced here by abhinīhāra
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 projecting the mind purified by immersion. …”
· · ·
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 deploying its resulting clarity.
Question 2 of 5
What possibility does this pairing imply in one direction?
Correct: A. Entry without application, in effect.
Question 3 of 5
Does the fourfold logic also name the reverse case?
Correct: A. The same fourfold structure always names both directions of skill imbalance.
Question 4 of 5
Where does this discourse fall in entering's own combinatorial set?
Correct: A. Three further pairings still to come after this one.
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.
