An urgent exhortation and warning, framed negatively ("don't let it be lost") rather than as a causal chain leading to an outcome
Length
<1 minute to read
Northern parallel
No individual parallel confirmed by this project's own check
Significance
★★★☆☆ — opens the fifth vagga, Amatavagga, naming it directly
Why this discourse
This discourse opens the fifth vagga, Amatavagga (“Freedom From Death”), with an URGENT WARNING rather than a calm description of cause and result: “don't let freedom from death be lost on you,” framing the deathless not as a distant goal to work toward but as something already within reach that carelessness could let slip away.
Reading guide
A warning, not a causal chain
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse does NOT trace a chain from practice to outcome, as several discourses in the previous vagga did — it opens and closes with the SAME urgent imperative, “mā vo amataṁ panassa” (“don't let freedom from death be lost on you”), framing the matter as one of vigilance against LOSS rather than steady progress toward a goal.
A mind firmly established -- suppatiṭṭhitacitta
The discourse's own opening phrase — “catūsu... satipaṭṭhānesu suppatiṭṭhitacittā viharatha” (“dwell with your mind firmly established in the four kinds of mindfulness meditation”) — is confirmed by direct reading to ask for a settled, STABLE state of mind, not merely an occasional or passing application of mindfulness.
This vagga's own name, drawn directly from its first discourse
Confirmed by direct reading, this discourse's own title term, “amata” (freedom from death), gives this fifth vagga its own name, Amatavagga — the same pattern by which several of the preceding vaggas in this saṃyutta took their names from their own first discourse.
Key terms
amata — “the deathless, freedom from death” — this discourse's own title term, and the name of the vagga it opens
mā vo amataṁ panassa — “don't let freedom from death be lost on you” — the discourse's own urgent warning, opening and closing it identically
suppatiṭṭhitacitta — “with a mind firmly established” — describing a settled, stable state of mind rather than occasional or passing mindfulness
cattāro satipaṭṭhānā — “the four kinds of mindfulness meditation” — the practice in which the mind should be firmly established, according to this discourse
Amatavagga — “the chapter on freedom from death” — the fifth vagga of this saṃyutta, named after this opening discourse's own title term
The text
The complete discourse. Translation: Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, SuttaCentral).
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, you should meditate with your mind firmly established in the four kinds of mindfulness meditation. Don’t let freedom from death be lost on you. What four? It’s when a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of feelings … mind … principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. You should meditate with your mind firmly established in the four kinds of mindfulness meditation. Don’t let freedom from death be lost on you.”
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Self-check quiz
3 questions. Click an answer to see immediate feedback. No score is recorded — this is for your own checking.
Question 1 of 3
How does this discourse frame the matter of freedom from death, compared to a causal chain leading to it?
Correct: A. The deathless framed as something within reach that carelessness could let slip away.
Question 2 of 3
What does "suppatiṭṭhitacitta" (a mind firmly established) ask for?
Correct: A. A stable, sustained condition rather than an intermittent one.
Question 3 of 3
How does this discourse relate to the vagga it opens?
Correct: A. The same pattern by which several preceding vaggas took their names from their own first discourse.
