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Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.147

The Impermanent as Conducive to Extinguishment

Aniccanibbānasappāyasutta — Navapurāṇavagga

Setting
Not restated in this discourse
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the mendicants
Form
A single declaration, one sense field's own fourfold structure (field, object, consciousness, contact) plus its feeling, run across all six
Length
under 1 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
★☆☆☆☆ — brief and direct, the first of a matched trio

Why this discourse

This discourse opens a trio (with SN 35.148 and SN 35.149 immediately following) applying the single term "conducive to extinguishment" (nibbānasappāya) to each of the three marks in turn — impermanence first. Rather than the eye alone, the scope here is wider than SN 35.1's own opening declaration back at the start of this book: each sense field's own object, consciousness, and contact are named individually, and the feeling that arises dependent on that contact is added as a fifth element, all five declared impermanent together.

Reading guide

A named practice, defined once

"I will teach you a practice that's conducive to extinguishment" — the same announcement opens all three discourses of this trio (SN 35.147-149), each substituting one of the three marks for the others.

Five elements per sense field, not one

The eye, sights, eye consciousness, and eye contact are named individually, and the feeling arising dependent on eye contact is added as a fifth — a fuller enumeration than this book's own opening discourse (SN 35.1), which named the six interior fields alone.

Impermanence, and nothing more claimed yet

Unlike SN 35.150 (the trio's own closing catechism, three discourses ahead), this discourse stops at impermanence and does not yet draw out suffering or not-self as consequences — each mark stands on its own in this trio's first three installments.

"Conducive to extinguishment," a term worth noting

Nibbānasappāya, this discourse's own key term, frames impermanence itself not as a bare fact to register but as something actively useful — a practice (paṭipadā) that leads somewhere, not merely an observation.

Key terms

nibbānasappāya — conducive to extinguishment — this trio's own shared key term, naming impermanence (here), suffering, and not-self in turn as practices that lead toward nibbāna
cakkhu, rūpā, cakkhuviññāṇaṁ, cakkhusamphasso — the eye, sights, eye consciousness, and eye contact — four of this discourse's own five elements per sense field
vedanā — feeling — the fifth element, arising dependent on contact and declared impermanent alongside the other four
anicca — impermanent — the first of the three marks, this discourse's own sole focus
paṭipadā — practice, or a way forward — framing impermanence as something to be cultivated, not merely observed

The text

The complete discourse: the practice conducive to extinguishment defined as impermanence seen across each sense field's own five elements. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1“Mendicants, I will teach you a practice that’s conducive to extinguishment. Listen … And what is that practice that’s conducive to extinguishment?

§2It’s when a mendicant sees that the eye, sights, eye consciousness, and eye contact are impermanent. And they see that the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on eye contact is also impermanent. They see that the ear … nose … tongue … body … mind, ideas, mind-consciousness, and mind contact are impermanent. And they see that the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on mind contact is also impermanent. This is that practice that’s conducive to extinguishment.”

· · ·

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 and its two immediate neighbors (SN 35.148-149) share?
Correct: A. Each of the three discourses substitutes one mark — impermanence, suffering, not-self — for the term's own object.
Question 2 of 5
How many elements does this discourse name per sense field, and what is the fifth?
Correct: A. A fuller enumeration than SN 35.1's own six-field-only opening declaration.
Question 3 of 5
Which of the three marks does this discourse focus on exclusively?
Correct: A. Suffering and not-self each receive their own separate discourse, SN 35.148 and SN 35.149.
Question 4 of 5
What does the term "nibbānasappāya" suggest about how this discourse frames impermanence?
Correct: A. Paṭipadā, "practice" or "a way forward," is built into the discourse's own framing.
Question 5 of 5
Which discourse, three ahead, closes this trio with a catechism combining all three marks?
Correct: A. SN 35.148 and SN 35.149 give suffering and not-self their own separate statement first.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

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