The Buddha addressing the mendicants (by cross-reference)
Form
A peyyāla stub, compressing SN 35.7's own full three-tense treatment
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 35.7
Why this discourse
The second term of the interior's own three-times cycle: the six interior sense fields declared suffering across past, present, and future, compressed exactly as SN 35.2 compressed SN 35.1's own present-tense treatment — only the eye given its own opening line, everything past that elided.
Reading guide
The same compression pattern, now under the three-times framing
"The eye of the past and future is suffering, let alone the present …" — the identical single-sense-field opening as SN 35.2, now stated across all three tenses rather than the present alone.
A compressed echo of SN 35.7's own three responses
Though elided here, the underlying structure still implies SN 35.7's own three distinct practical responses — no concern for the past, no anticipation of the future, active practice in the present — carried over by cross-reference.
Second of the interior's own three-times cycle
With impermanence (SN 35.7) and now suffering both applied across the three tenses, only not-self (SN 35.9) remains to complete this vagga's own third three-discourse cycle.
The same compression discipline as the present-tense half
This discourse's own shape mirrors SN 35.2's compression of SN 35.1 precisely, confirming this vagga's own consistent "full opening, then compressed follow-ups" pattern extends into the three-times half as well.
Key terms
dukkha — suffering — this discourse's own claim, the second term in the interior's own three-times cycle
atītānāgata — past and future — the temporal scope this claim spans, carried over from SN 35.7
anicca — impermanent — SN 35.7's own claim, not restated here
ajjhatta — interior — the six sense faculties this discourse concerns
peyyāla — an elision mark — here compressing both the remaining five sense fields and the three-part practical instruction
The text
The discourse as the source itself preserves it, compressed to its opening line. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1“Mendicants, the eye of the past and future is suffering, let alone the present. Seeing this, a learned noble disciple is not concerned with the eye of the past, they don’t look forward to enjoying the eye in the future, and they practice for disillusionment, dispassion, and cessation regarding the eye in the present. …”
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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 claim does this discourse make about the interior sense fields?
Correct: A. The second term of the interior's own three-times cycle.
Question 2 of 5
How does this discourse's compression compare to SN 35.2's own?
Correct: A. Confirming this vagga's own consistent compression pattern extends into its three-times half.
Question 3 of 5
What does this discourse imply, though not stated explicitly, by cross-reference to SN 35.7?
Correct: A. Carried over by cross-reference rather than restated.
Question 4 of 5
Where does this discourse fall in the interior's own three-times cycle?
Correct: A. Not-self at SN 35.9 will complete this vagga's own third three-discourse cycle.
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.
