Reading guide
A third occurrence, now asked collectively
This project's own observation: this is the third time in this vagga this exact chain-question has appeared — first from Ānanda alone (SN 54.13), then from the Buddha to Ānanda (SN 54.14), and now from an unnamed group of mendicants together — suggesting the question and its own answer were significant enough to be recorded across multiple distinct occasions and audiences.
A full answer, a compressed explanation
Confirmed by direct reading, unlike SN 54.14's own compression of the entire chain, this discourse states the full one-four-seven-two chain by name (breath, the satipaṭṭhānas, the awakening factors, knowledge and freedom) before eliding only the step-by-step explanation of each link via “…pe…”, assuming SN 54.13's own full account.
Key terms
The text
§1Then several mendicants went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Sir, is there one thing that, when developed and cultivated, fulfills four things; and those four things, when developed and cultivated, fulfill seven things; and those seven things, when developed and cultivated, fulfill two things?” “There is, mendicants.”
§2“Sir, what is that one thing?” “Immersion due to mindfulness of breathing is one thing that, when developed and cultivated, fulfills the four kinds of mindfulness meditation. And the four kinds of mindfulness meditation, when developed and cultivated, fulfill the seven awakening factors. And the seven awakening factors, when developed and cultivated, fulfill knowledge and freedom.
§3And how is mindfulness of breathing developed and cultivated so as to fulfill the four kinds of mindfulness meditation? … That’s how the seven awakening factors are developed and cultivated so as to fulfill knowledge and freedom.”
Self-check quiz
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