The Buddha addressing the mendicants (by cross-reference)
Form
A peyyāla stub, identical in shape to SN 34.11–17
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 eighth combination built on entering: samāpatti ("entering") paired against sātaccakārī ("practicing persistently") — the second of entering's own three pairings with the -kārī cluster, comparing a single-session structural skill against consistency across many sessions over time.
Reading guide
A single session's own skill versus consistency over time
This pairing compares entering — achievable or not within any single sitting — against sātaccakārī, which concerns whether a meditator keeps returning to practice session after session, a genuinely different timescale of competence.
Someone reliably skilled at entry, yet inconsistent over time
The fourfold logic implies a meditator could be reliably good at entering immersion whenever they do sit, yet irregular about actually showing up to practice in the first place — or the reverse, a consistent but clumsy practitioner.
Eighth of nine, entering's own combinatorial set nearly closed
With this discourse, only one further pairing remains before entering's own nine-part set closes at SN 34.19.
The same compressed shape, unbroken
As with the preceding seven 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
sātaccakārī — practicing persistently — the second quality named in this specific discourse, the second of the -kārī cluster
sakkaccakārī — practicing carefully — the previous discourse's own second quality, replaced here by sātaccakārī
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 practicing persistently 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. A single-session structural skill compared against consistency across time.
Question 2 of 5
What possibility does this pairing imply?
Correct: A. Or the reverse — a consistent but clumsy practitioner.
Question 3 of 5
Where does this discourse fall in entering's own combinatorial set?
Correct: A. Only one further pairing remains before this set closes at SN 34.19.
Question 4 of 5
What genuinely different timescale does sātaccakārī introduce, compared to samāpatti?
Correct: A. Whether a meditator keeps returning to practice, session after session.
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.
