Ru-Yi Meditation Center
Saṃyutta Nikāya · Discourse 35.161

On Retreat at Jīvaka's Mango Grove

Jīvakambavanapaṭisallānasutta — Nandikkhayavagga

Setting
Rājagaha, in Jīvaka's Mango Grove
Speakers
The Buddha alone, addressing the assembled mendicants
Form
The identical rationale as SN 35.160, opened by a different instruction
Length
~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
★☆☆☆☆ — a short, direct instruction, paired with the one before it

Why this discourse

This discourse is SN 35.160's own close companion, at the same setting: the identical rationale — things becoming truly clear through the eye and its four companions, then the mind and its own four — but opened with a different instruction, meditating in retreat (paṭisallāna) rather than developing immersion (samādhi). This exact pairing, immersion beside retreat at the same setting, already recurred once in this book at SN 35.99-100, and once more in Book III at SN 22.5-6, confirming this is a genuine recurring pair-formula rather than coincidence.

Reading guide

A companion discourse, not a repeat

Where SN 35.160 opens “develop immersion,” this discourse opens “meditate in retreat” — a different practice named, but the identical outcome claimed: things becoming truly clear (yathābhūtaṁ okkhāyati).

The same five-link chain, unchanged

Eye, sights, eye consciousness, eye contact, and eye-born feeling are declared impermanent exactly as in the discourse before this one; the mind's own parallel chain follows.

A pairing this project has now met three times

Immersion beside retreat, at a single setting, is a pattern this project has already met twice before: at SN 22.5-6 (Book III) and at SN 35.99-100 (earlier in this same book). This discourse's own pairing with SN 35.160 is the third instance, confirming samādhi and paṭisallāna as a genuinely recurring duo across this site rather than a one-off coincidence.

Key terms

paṭisallāna — retreat, seclusion for meditation — this discourse's own instruction, paired with SN 35.160's samādhi
yathābhūtaṁ okkhāyati — things become truly clear — the identical outcome claimed for both retreat and immersion, unchanged from SN 35.160
jīvakambavana — Jīvaka's Mango Grove — the shared setting of this discourse and its companion, SN 35.160
cakkhu…rūpā — eye…sights — the chain's own first two links, declared impermanent
anicca — impermanent — what retreat, no less than immersion, is said to disclose about every link in the chain

The text

The complete discourse, apart from its own closing count (left untranslated and not quoted): the instruction to meditate in retreat, and its rationale run for the eye and the mind. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).

§1At one time the Buddha was staying near Rājagaha in Jīvaka’s Mango Grove. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants: “Mendicants, meditate in retreat. For a mendicant who meditates in retreat, things become truly clear. And what becomes truly clear? It becomes truly clear that the eye, sights, eye consciousness, and eye contact are impermanent. And it also becomes truly clear that the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on eye contact is impermanent. … It becomes truly clear that the mind, ideas, mind consciousness, and mind contact are impermanent. And it also becomes truly clear that the painful, pleasant, or neutral feeling that arises dependent on mind contact is impermanent. Mendicants, meditate in retreat. For a mendicant who meditates in retreat, things become truly clear.”

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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 instruction opens this discourse, in place of SN 35.160's "develop immersion"?
Correct: A. A different practice named, the identical outcome claimed.
Question 2 of 5
What outcome does this discourse claim for meditating in retreat, matching SN 35.160's own claim for immersion?
Correct: A. Yathābhūtaṁ okkhāyati — the identical outcome verb as SN 35.160.
Question 3 of 5
How many times has this project now met the "immersion beside retreat" pairing, counting this discourse's own pair with SN 35.160?
Correct: A. SN 22.5-6 (Book III) and SN 35.99-100 (earlier in this book) precede this discourse's own pairing.
Question 4 of 5
What setting do this discourse and its companion, SN 35.160, share?
Correct: A. Both discourses restate the same explicit setting.
Question 5 of 5
What does this discourse confirm about the samādhi/paṭisallāna pairing across this site?
Correct: A. Three occurrences across two books establish a genuine pattern.
Answered 0 of 5 · Correct 0

Further reading

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