Reading guide
A named numerical limit, not a vague reassurance
This project's own reading: the discourse's own claim is precise rather than merely comforting — it names “sattakkhattuparamatā” (“at most seven more times”) as the fixed upper bound on a stream-enterer's own remaining rebirths, a specific figure this project recognizes as the canon's own standard description of the stream-enterer's own attainment.
A comparison of past against future, not present against absence
This project's own reading: unlike SN 56.36's own measure of the plane of loss's own vastness, this discourse compares a single individual's own already-ended suffering against their own still-remaining suffering — a personal, biographical scale rather than a cosmic one.
Key terms
The text
§1“Mendicants, suppose a person was to place on Sineru, the king of mountains, seven pebbles the size of mung beans. What do you think, mendicants? Which is more: the seven pebbles the size of mung beans? Or Sineru, the king of mountains?” “Sir, Sineru, the king of mountains, is certainly more. The seven pebbles the size of mung beans are tiny. Compared to Sineru, they don’t count, there’s no comparison, they’re not worth a fraction.” “In the same way, for an individual with comprehension, a noble disciple accomplished in view, the suffering that’s over and done with is more, what’s left is tiny. Compared to the mass of suffering in the past that’s over and done with, it doesn’t count, there’s no comparison, it’s not worth a fraction, since there are at most seven more lives. Such an individual truly understands about suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.
§2That’s why you should practice meditation …”
Self-check quiz
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