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SN 34.1PTS SN 3.2631 min read

Entering Immersion

Samādhimūlakasamāpattisutta

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 34.1Linked Discourses 34.1
  • 0.21. Jhānavagga1. Absorption

0.3SamādhimūlakasamāpattisuttaEntering Immersion

1.1PTS 3.264Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.1

1.2“Cattārome, bhikkhave, jhāyī.“Mendicants, there are these four meditators.21.3Katame cattāro?What four?

1.4Idha, bhikkhave, ekacco jhāyī samādhismiṁ samādhikusalo hoti, na samādhismiṁ samāpattikusalo.One meditator is skilled in immersion but not in entering it.3

1.5Idha pana, bhikkhave, ekacco jhāyī samādhismiṁ samāpattikusalo hoti, na samādhismiṁ samādhikusalo.One meditator is not skilled in immersion but is skilled in entering it.

1.6Idha pana, bhikkhave, ekacco jhāyī neva samādhismiṁ samādhikusalo hoti, na ca samādhismiṁ samāpattikusalo.One meditator is skilled neither in immersion nor in entering it.

1.7Idha pana, bhikkhave, ekacco jhāyī samādhismiṁ samādhikusalo ca hoti, samādhismiṁ samāpattikusalo ca.One meditator is skilled both in immersion and in entering it.

1.8Tatra, bhikkhave, yvāyaṁ jhāyī samādhismiṁ samādhikusalo ca hoti samādhismiṁ samāpattikusalo ca ayaṁ imesaṁ catunnaṁ jhāyīnaṁ aggo ca seṭṭho ca mokkho ca uttamo ca pavaro ca.Of these, the meditator skilled in immersion and in entering it is the foremost, best, chief, highest, and finest of the four.

1.9Seyyathāpi, bhikkhave, gavā khīraṁ, khīramhā dadhi, dadhimhā navanītaṁ, navanītamhā sappi, sappimhā sappimaṇḍo tatra aggamakkhāyati;From a cow comes milk, from milk comes curds, from curds come butter, from butter comes ghee, and from ghee comes cream of ghee. And the cream of ghee is said to be the best of these.4

1.10evameva kho, bhikkhave, yvāyaṁ jhāyī samādhismiṁ samādhikusalo ca hoti samādhismiṁ samāpattikusalo ca ayaṁ imesaṁ catunnaṁ jhāyīnaṁ aggo ca seṭṭho ca mokkho ca uttamo ca pavaro cā”ti.In the same way, the meditator skilled in immersion and entering it is the foremost, best, leading, highest, and finest of the four.”

1.11Paṭhamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. The other Jhānasaṁyutta (SN 53.1) focuses on the meditation states, where here we focus on the process of developing and perfecting meditation. The whole is built up as a systematic “wheel” (cakka) of permutations, a form familiar from the Vinaya and Abhidhamma. In such structures, first a set of items is listed, then they are juxtaposed with each other, one pair at a time, until the possibilities are worked out systematically. This cakka serves to systematize similar teachings at AN 2.163, AN 6.24, AN 6.72, AN 7.40, AN 7.41, AN 9.36:10.3, and AN 10.84:2.3.

    ↩ sn34.1:1.1

  2. “Meditator” is jhāyī, “practitioner of jhāna”. As usual, in this Saṁyutta jhāna and samādhi are synonyms. Various skills in developing refined meditation are itemized.

    ↩ sn34.1:1.2

  3. They cannot attain absorption whenever they want (compare DN 15:36.1).

    ↩ sn34.1:1.4

  4. Compare Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 3.3.3.2.

    ↩ sn34.1:1.9