The Buddha addressing the mendicants (by cross-reference)
Form
A peyyāla stub, mirroring SN 35.3's own compressed shape under the three-times framing
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
This discourse closes the interior's own three-times cycle, declaring the six interior sense fields not-self across past, present, and future. With this discourse, nine of this vagga's own twelve discourses are complete; only the exterior's own three-times cycle (SN 35.10–12) remains to close this entire vagga.
Reading guide
The interior's own final compressed claim
"The eye of the past and future is not-self, let alone the present …" — the same direct, undived starting point as SN 35.3's own present-tense treatment, now spanning all three tenses.
Nine of this vagga's own twelve discourses complete
With this discourse, the interior sense fields have now received the full three-term treatment twice over — once in the present alone (SN 35.1–3) and once across all three tenses (SN 35.7–9) — leaving only the exterior's own three-times cycle to close this vagga.
A structural pivot to the exterior's own three-times cycle
SN 35.10–12 will apply this identical three-tense treatment to the exterior sense objects, closing this vagga's own full 2×2×3 structure and, with SN 35.12's own colophon, this vagga itself.
A pattern this project will watch for across the rest of this saṃyutta
The interior-then-exterior, present-then-three-times structure confirmed across this vagga's own twelve discourses may or may not recur in later vaggas of this 248-discourse saṃyutta — each later vagga's own structure will need independent confirmation rather than assumed repetition.
Key terms
anattā — not-self — this discourse's own claim, closing the interior's own three-times cycle
dukkha — suffering — SN 35.8's own claim, not restated here
atītānāgata — past and future — the temporal scope carried over from SN 35.7 and SN 35.8
ajjhatta — interior — the six sense faculties whose own full treatment (present and three-times both) is now complete
bāhira — exterior — the six sense objects whose own three-times cycle begins next at SN 35.10
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 not-self, 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. Closing the interior's own three-times cycle.
Question 2 of 5
How many of this vagga's own twelve discourses are complete after this one?
Correct: A. Only the exterior's own three-times cycle (SN 35.10–12) remains.
Question 3 of 5
What treatment have the interior sense fields now received twice over?
Correct: A. SN 35.1–3 in the present, SN 35.7–9 across past, present, and future.
Question 4 of 5
Should later vaggas of this 248-discourse saṃyutta be assumed to repeat this vagga's own exact structure?
Correct: A. A caution this project applies consistently across its own SN coverage.
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.
