Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.117

The Kinds of Sensual Stimulation

Kāmaguṇasutta — Lokakāmaguṇavagga

Setting
Not stated at the outset
Speakers
The Buddha, recounting his own pre-awakening reflection to the assembled mendicants; Venerable Ānanda, again supplying the detailed explanation
Form
The Buddha's own first-person recollection, followed by the identical summary-and-departure, heartwood-parable frame just used in SN 35.116, now heavily compressed
Length
~3 minutes 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
★★★☆☆ — familiar content and frame, worth reading for its own title-giving term

Why this discourse

This discourse gives Lokakāmaguṇavagga its own name: kāma guṇa, “kinds of sensual stimulation,” the term this book has used throughout for exactly the class of likable, desirable, agreeable objects at each sense door that recur across nearly every discourse in this vagga. Here the Buddha recalls, in his own first-person voice, a reflection from before his awakening: that his own mind might stray back toward sensual stimulation already experienced, present, or anticipated, and that diligence, mindfulness, and protecting the mind were needed even then. He extends the same warning to the assembled mendicants, then reuses, almost verbatim, the summary-and-departure frame this vagga's own previous discourse (SN 35.116) just established — the identical heartwood parable, heavily abbreviated here with an ellipsis rather than spelled out again, and Ānanda supplying the same kind of detailed explanation, this time identifying the cessation of the six sense doors as what the Buddha's own brief summary pointed toward.

Reading guide

The vagga's own name, defined by its own text

Kāmaguṇa, the five kinds of sensual stimulation, is the term giving this vagga its name — and this discourse is where the term itself is used to describe the Buddha's own pre-awakening vigilance against it, continuing this book's pattern of a vagga taking its title from an early discourse's own central word.

The Buddha's own account of his pre-awakening practice

Rare in this project: the Buddha describes, in his own voice, a specific discipline he applied to himself before his awakening — guarding against his own mind straying toward remembered, present, or anticipated sensual stimulation — then extends the identical instruction to the mendicants before him.

The same frame as the previous discourse, compressed

This discourse reuses SN 35.116's own device almost exactly — a summary given and withheld, the mendicants turning to Ānanda, the heartwood parable — but abbreviates the parable itself to a bare ellipsis, trusting the reader to recall it from the discourse immediately preceding.

Cessation named as the summary's own meaning

Ānanda's own explanation here identifies what the Buddha's brief summary was pointing toward: the cessation of the six sense doors themselves, where perception of their objects fades away — a more specific answer than SN 35.116's own definition of “the world.”

Key terms

kāmaguṇa — kinds of sensual stimulation — the term naming this discourse and this vagga as a whole, for the class of likable objects met at each sense door
appamādaṃ satiṃ cittarakkhaṃ — diligence, mindfulness, and protecting the mind — the threefold discipline the Buddha applied to himself before his awakening, and now extends to the mendicants
atikkamma vā gataṃ, appattaṃ vā anāgataṃ — past and gone, or future and not yet arrived — the discourse's own temporal range for the sensual stimulation a mind might still stray toward
nirujjhati saññā ca nirujjhati — ceases, and perception fades away — the cessation Ānanda identifies as the true target of the Buddha's own brief summary
sāradāni — heartwood — the same simile SN 35.116 used in full, here compressed to a bare ellipsis

The text

The complete discourse, its heartwood parable left abbreviated in the Pali root exactly as it is here: the Buddha's own pre-awakening reflection, and Ānanda's explanation of the six sense doors' own cessation. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, before my awakening—when I was still unawakened but intent on awakening—I thought: ‘My mind might often stray towards the five kinds of sensual stimulation that I formerly experienced—which have passed, ceased, and perished—or to those in the present, or in the future a little.’ Then it occurred to me: ‘In my own way I should practice diligence, mindfulness, and protecting the mind regarding the five kinds of sensual stimulation that I formerly experienced—which have passed, ceased, and perished.’ So, mendicants, your minds might also often stray towards the five kinds of sensual stimulation that you formerly experienced—which have passed, ceased, and perished—or to those in the present, or in the future a little. So in your own way you should practice diligence, mindfulness, and protecting the mind regarding the five kinds of sensual stimulation that you formerly experienced—which have passed, ceased, and perished. So you should understand that dimension where the eye ceases and perception of sights fades away. You should understand that dimension where the ear … nose … tongue … body … mind ceases and perception of ideas fades away.” When he had spoken, the Blessed One got up from his seat and entered his dwelling.

§2Soon after the Buddha left, those mendicants considered, “The Buddha gave this brief summary, then entered his dwelling without explaining the meaning in detail. … Who can explain in detail the meaning of this brief summary given by the Buddha?” Then those mendicants thought, “This Venerable Ānanda is praised by the Buddha and esteemed by his sensible spiritual companions. He is capable of explaining in detail the meaning of this brief summary given by the Buddha. Let’s go to him, and ask him about this matter.”

§3Then those mendicants went to Ānanda, and exchanged greetings with him. When the greetings and polite conversation were over, they sat down to one side. They told him what had happened, and said, “May Venerable Ānanda please explain this.” “Reverends, suppose there was a person in need of heartwood. …” “Please explain this, if it’s no trouble.”

§4“Then listen and apply your mind well, I will speak.” “Yes, reverend,” they replied. Ānanda said this: “Reverends, the Buddha gave this brief summary, then entered his dwelling without explaining the meaning in detail: ‘So you should understand that dimension where the eye ceases and perception of sights fades away. You should understand that dimension where the ear … nose … tongue … body … mind ceases and perception of ideas fades away.’ And this is how I understand the detailed meaning of this summary. The Buddha was referring to the cessation of the six sense fields when he said: ‘So you should understand that dimension where the eye ceases and perception of sights fades away. You should understand that dimension where the ear … nose … tongue … body … mind ceases and perception of ideas fades away.’ The Buddha gave this brief summary, then entered his dwelling without explaining the meaning in detail. And this is how I understand the detailed meaning of this summary. If you wish, you may go to the Buddha and ask him about this. You should remember it in line with the Buddha’s answer.”

§5“Yes, reverend,” replied those mendicants. Then they rose from their seats and went to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and told him what had happened. Then they said, “And Ānanda explained the meaning to us in this manner, with these words and phrases.” “Mendicants, Ānanda is astute, he has great wisdom. If you came to me and asked this question, I would answer it in exactly the same way as Ānanda. That is what it means, and that’s how you should remember 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 term does this discourse use, giving Lokakāmaguṇavagga its own name?
Correct: A. The five kinds of sensual stimulation, the class of objects this whole vagga circles around.
Question 2 of 5
What does the Buddha recall about his own conduct before his awakening?
Correct: A. A first-person account of his own pre-awakening vigilance, then extended to the assembled mendicants.
Question 3 of 5
How does this discourse treat the heartwood parable, compared to SN 35.116's own full telling?
Correct: A. Trusting the reader to recall it from the immediately preceding discourse.
Question 4 of 5
What does Ānanda identify as the true target of the Buddha's own brief summary?
Correct: A. A more specific answer than SN 35.116's own definition of “the world.”
Question 5 of 5
Over what temporal range does the Buddha say a mind might still stray toward sensual stimulation?
Correct: A. Already experienced and passed, present, or anticipated a little in the future.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

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