Saṃyutta Nikāya
4. Saḷāyatana Vagga
43. Asaṅkhata Saṃyutta
1. Paṭhama Vagga

Sutta 3

Sa-Vitakka-Sa-Vicāra Suttaṃ

With re-Thinking and With Re-Pondering

Translated from the Pāḷi by Michael M. Olds

 

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[1][pts][bodh] I hear tell:

Once upon a time The Lucky Man,
Savatthi-town revisiting.

There then, The Lucky Man, said this to the beggars gathered round:

"Beggars!".

"Elder!"
said the beggars in response to The Lucky Man.

The Lucky Man said this to them:

"I will explain
the not own-made^[1] to you, beggars, and the Way to go to the not own-made.

Listen carefully!'

And what, beggars,
is the not own-made?

Whatever, beggars, is
lust's destruction,^[2]
anger's destruction,^[3]
confusion's destruction.^[4]

This, beggars,
is what is called
"the not own-made".

And what, beggars,
is the way to go
to the not own-made?

Serenity^[5] with thinking and with pondering,^[6]
serenity without thinking and with just a measure of pondering,^[7]
serenity without thinking or pondering.

This is what is called
'the way to go
to the not own-made'.

This, then, beggars,
is my explanation to you of
the not own-made, and
the way to go to the not own-made.

Whatever, beggars,
ought to be done
for his students
by a kindly master,
out of compassion,
with compassion,
that I have done.

These, beggars,
are the roots of trees,
these are empty huts.

Meditate, beggars,
do not be careless,
do not provide grounds for later regret.

This then is my advice."

 

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^[1] Asaṅkhata. PED: "past participle of saṅkharoti;... (but see saṅkhāra] 1. put together, compound; conditioned, produced ..." But the PED definition neglects to point out that the making is the making of that which is later termed "Me" or "Mine". What saṅkhara is is the identification with that which is created by the individual through acts of thought, word and deed with the intent of creating sense experience for himself. Mistranslation of this term (and it is so mistranslated at this time (Thursday, April 16, 2026 8:09 AM) by virtually all the other translators) becomes of vital concern when it is given as "conditioned" because the Buddha tells us that Nibbāna is asaṅkhāra (not own-made, not unconditioned (paccaya)). Nibbāna is conditioned by following the Magga, but it is not own-made. Following the Magga is not-doing or letting go of that which prevents one from attaining it. Not-doing a wrong thing does not create anything. For more on this see "Is Nibbāna Conditioned?" in the Forum.

^[2] Rāga. Excitement, passion.

^[3] Dosa. Anger, ill-will, evil intention, wickedness, corruption, malice, hatred.

^[4] Moha. Stupidity, dullness of mind and soul, delusion, bewilderment, infatuation.

^[5] Samādhi. The ultimate meaning, and what PED is essentially saying is that this term encompases the state reached by following the Buddha's Dhamma from start to finish. It is variously defined as the four jhānas; a state empty of, without signs of, and without aims at acquisition of anything associated with lust, anger, and stupidity. I think it is best understood as a dimension of awakening in The Seven Dimensions of Self-Awakining, where it follows impassivity and precedes detachment: the state of being on top of things (serenity), but not yet completely detached from them. If 'equanimity" were not always being used to translate upekkha, it would serve well here. Samādhi is also frequently described as a state of "hole-hearted single-mindedness" (ekodi-bhava) being completely focused on the Dhamma.

^[6] Sa-Vitakka Sa-Vicāra. These terms mean and are describing thinking and pondering (examining, evaluating, considering, thinking over). The vi in front of both means "re" which is to point out that these things are not experienced by one in one single shot but are repeated again and again. The sa means "with". What these terms are not is "placing the mind and keeping it there" or "initial thought and sustained thought." The first flys in the face of the use in all non-jhāna cases as just thinking and pondering, and, on top of that is a grasping where the point is a giving up (why go to the trouble of "placing" the mind and "keeping" it there in the first jhāna (both activities) when for the second jhāna they are to be removed? "placing the mind and keeping it there actually prevents the second jhāna"!). If followed this practice leads in the wrong direction. The same criticism applies when thinking of "sustained thinking" (that it is a grasping after when what is required is the recognition that these are phenomena that are present from the start and are to be let go): if anything, we are being told not to sustain thinking! I am not voicing anger here, I am trying to get across the idea that there is an important distinction between words that describe methods that imply getting versus those that imply letting go or not-doing.

Thoughts do not originate with the individual. They come from the outside, formed in various ways from what is perceived. It is very important to see this when it comes to the idea of letting go. A passing thought is not the making of a kammic deed. If one were responsible for every thought that passed through the mind one would never reach Nibbāna. It is when a thought is picked up or carried (cara) that it becomes one's own.

^[7] Pondering is what is done after a thought has been taken up by the individual. The thought being pondered may recur many many times and be seen from many different angles. Eventually however the meditator will see that without this pondering the same conclusion (or more probably a better conclusion, or the whole thing is just let go as being unnecessary or even harmful) will be reached in an instant when pondering has been abandoned.