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
Why this discourse
The seventh quality paired against immersion: abhinīhāra ("projecting"), the skill of directing a mind already purified by immersion toward some further application — deploying the clarity immersion produces rather than simply resting within it.
Reading guide
Directing purified attention outward
This discourse's own full title — "projecting the mind purified by immersion" — names a skill distinct from any purely internal capacity so far: actively aiming the clarified mind toward some further object or task once immersion has done its own purifying work.
The longest quality-name in this saṃyutta so far
Where earlier qualities named single actions (entering, remaining, emerging) or single states (supports, territory), abhinīhāra's own full English gloss describes an entire process — purification followed by deliberate application.
The same compressed shape, a fifth consecutive time
This discourse's own question and answer are elided in the identical pattern as SN 34.3–6, this saṃyutta's own standing convention holding firm.
Seventh of ten qualities, three more still to come
SN 34.8–10 will apply this identical compressed shape to three further qualities, before this saṃyutta's own combinatorial phase begins at SN 34.11.
Key terms
abhinīhāra — projecting, or directing forth — the seventh of ten qualities, the subject of this specific discourse
samādhi — immersion — the base capacity this quality is paired against
gocara — territory — the previous discourse's own 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 immersion but not in projecting the mind purified by 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
Which quality does this discourse pair against immersion?
Correct: A. The seventh of ten qualities this saṃyutta pairs against immersion.
Question 2 of 5
What does abhinīhāra name, distinct from any purely internal capacity named so far?
Correct: A. Deploying the clarity immersion produces rather than simply resting within it.
Question 3 of 5
What is distinctive about this quality's own full English gloss, compared to earlier ones?
Correct: A. Where earlier qualities named single actions or states.
Question 4 of 5
How many further qualities remain to be paired against immersion after this discourse?
Correct: A. SN 34.8–10 will apply this identical compressed shape to three further qualities.
Question 5 of 5
Where is this discourse set?
Correct: A. Consistent with this saṃyutta's other discourses.
