                              Chapter III
                              ===========
                                          
                      "Forty cartloads of timber."
                                          
  
    Upadana carries both of its meanings--clinging & sustenance--when 
  applied to the mind.  It refers on the one hand both to mental 
  clinging & to the object clung to, and on the other to both the act of 
  taking mental sustenance & the sustenance itself.  This, of course, 
  raises the question, 'Sustenance for what?'  In the description of 
  Dependent Origination, upadana forms the condition for becoming and, 
  through becoming, for birth, old age, death, and the entire mass of 
  suffering & stress.  Thus the answer:  'Sustenance for becoming' & its 
  attendant ills.
  
       Just as if a great mass of fire, of ten...twenty...thirty or 
       forty cartloads of timber were burning, and into it a man 
       would time & again throw dried grass, dried cow dung, & 
       dried timber, so that the great mass of fire--thus 
       nourished, thus sustained--would burn for a long, long time; 
       even so, monks, in one who keeps focusing on the allure of 
       those phenomena that offer sustenance (lit: 'flammable 
       phenomena'), craving develops; with craving as condition, 
       sustenance; with sustenance as condition, becoming; with 
       becoming as condition, birth; from birth--ageing, sickness & 
       death, sorrow, lamentation, grief, & despair.  Thus is the 
       origin of this entire mass of suffering & stress.
       
       Just as if a great mass of fire...were burning, into which a 
       man simply would not time and again throw dried grass, dried 
       cow dung or dried timber, so that the great mass of 
       fire--its original sustenance being consumed, and no other 
       being offered--would, without nourishment, go out; even so, 
       monks, in one who keeps focusing on the drawbacks of those 
       phenomena that offer sustenance, craving stops.  From the 
       stopping of craving, sustenance stops.  From the stopping of 
       sustenance, becoming...birth...ageing, sickness & death, 
       sorrow, lamentation, grief, & despair all stop.  Thus is the 
       stopping of this entire mass of suffering & stress.
  
                      S xiii.52
  
    The Buddha made a distinction between phenomena that offer 
  sustenance & the sustenance itself.
  
  
  
       And what, monks, are phenomena that offer sustenance? What 
       is sustenance?  Form, monks, is a phenomenon offering 
       sustenance.  Any desire or passion related to it, is 
       sustenance related to it.  Feeling...Perception...Mental 
       processes... Consciousness is a phenomenon offering 
       sustenance.  Any desire or passion related to it, is 
       sustenance related to it.
  
                      S xii.121
  
  
  
    Thus passion & desire are both the act of taking sustenance and the 
  sustenance itself, while form, feeling, mental processes, & 
  consciousness simply offer the opportunity for them to occur.
    
    Alternatively, we can translate the distinction as one between 
  clingable phenomena & the clinging itself.
  
  
  
       And what, monks, are clingable phenomena?  What is clinging?  
       Form, monks, is a clingable phenomenon.  Any desire or 
       passion related to it, is clinging related to it.  
       Feeling...Perception...Mental processes...Consciousness is a 
       clingable phenomenon.  Any desire or passion related to it, 
       is clinging related to it.
  
                      S xii.121
  
  
  
    In this case, passion & desire are the act of clinging and the 
  object clung to, while form, feeling, & the rest simply offer the 
  opportunity for them to occur.
    
    Still, the two sides of this distinction are so closely 
  interrelated that they are hardly distinct at all.
  
  
  
     Visakha:  Is it the case that clinging/sustenance is the same 
       thing as the five aggregates for clinging/sustenance (form, 
       feeling, perception, mental processes & consciousness), or 
       is it something separate?
     
     Sister Dhammadinna:  Neither is clinging/sustenance the same 
       thing as the five aggregates for clinging/ sustenance, my 
       friend, nor is it something separate.  Whatever desire & 
       passion there is with regard to the five aggregates for 
       clinging/sustenance, that is the clinging/sustenance there.
  
                      M 44 
  
  
  
    (The use of the word aggregate (khandha) here may relate to the 
  fire image, as khandha can also mean the trunk of a tree.)
  
    The desire & passion for these five aggregates can take any of four 
  forms.
  
  
  
       Monks, there are four (modes of) sustenance for becoming.  
       What four?  Sensuality as a form of sustenance, views as a 
       form of sustenance, precepts & practices as a form of 
       sustenance, doctrines of the self as a form of sustenance.
  
                      M 11
  
  
  
    These four modes of sustenance acts as the focus for many of the 
  passages in the Canon that describe the attainment of the goal.  
  Because they are so closely related to the notion of nibbana--they are 
  the binding loosened in the unbinding of the mind--each of them 
  deserves to be considered in detail.
    
    
    
  SENSUALITY
  ==========
    First, sensuality.  The Buddha recommends relinquishing attachment 
  to sensuality, not because sensual pleasures are in any way evil, but 
  because the attachment itself is dangerous:  both in terms of the pain 
  experienced when a relished pleasure inevitably ends, and in terms of 
  the detrimental influence such attachment can have on a person's 
  actions--and thus on his or her future condition.
  
  
  
       It is with a cause, monks, that sensual thinking occurs, and 
       not without a cause...And how is it, monks, that sensual 
       thinking occurs with a cause and not without a cause?  In 
       dependence on the property of sensuality, there occurs the 
       perception of sensuality.  In dependence on the perception 
       of sensuality, there occurs the consideration of 
       sensuality... the desire for sensuality...the fever for 
       sensuality...the quest for sensuality.  Questing for 
       sensuality, monks, an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person 
       conducts himself wrongly through three means:  through body, 
       through speech, & through mind.
       
       Just as if a man were to throw a burning firebrand into a 
       dry, grassy wilderness and not quickly stamp it out with his 
       hands & feet, and thus whatever animals inhabiting the grass 
       & timber would come to ruin & loss; even so, monks, any 
       contemplative or priest who does not quickly abandon, 
       dispel, demolish, & wipe out of existence any wrong-headed, 
       unwise perceptions once they have arisen, will dwell in 
       stress in the present life--troubled, despairing, & 
       feverish--and on the break-up of the body, after death, can 
       expect a bad destination.
  
                      S xiv.12
  
  
  
    This is not to deny that sensual pleasures provide a certain form 
  of happiness, but that happiness must be weighed against the greater 
  pains & disappointments sensuality can bring.
  
  
  
       Now what is the allure of sensuality?  There are, monks, 
       these five strands of sensuality.  What five?  Forms 
       cognizable via the eye--agreeable, pleasing, charming, 
       endearing, fostering desire, enticing.  Sounds cognizable 
       via the ear... Aromas cognizable via the nose...Flavors 
       cognizable via the tongue...Tactile sensations cognizable 
       via the body--agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, 
       fostering desire, enticing.  Now whatever pleasure or joy 
       arises in dependence on these five strands of sensuality, 
       that is the allure of sensuality.
       
       And what is the drawback of sensuality?  There is the case 
       where, on account of the occupation by which a clansman 
       makes a living--whether checking or accounting or 
       calculating or plowing or trading or cattle tending or 
       archery or as a king's man, or whatever the occupation may 
       be--he faces cold, he faces heat, being harassed by 
       mosquitoes & flies, wind & sun & creeping things, dying from 
       hunger & thirst.
       
       Now this drawback in the case of sensuality, this mass of 
       stress visible here & now, has sensuality for its reason, 
       sensuality for its source, sensuality for its cause, the 
       reason being simply sensuality.
       
       If the clansman gains no wealth while thus working & 
       striving & making effort, he sorrows, grieves & laments, 
       beats his breast, becomes distraught:  'My work is in vain, 
       my efforts are fruitless!'  Now this drawback too in the 
       case of sensuality, this mass of stress visible here & now, 
       has sensuality for its reason...
       
       If the clansman gains wealth while thus working & striving & 
       making effort, he experiences pain & grief in protecting it:  
       'How shall neither kings nor thieves make off with my 
       property, nor fire burn it, nor water sweep it away nor 
       hateful heirs make off with it?'  And as he thus guards and 
       watches over his property, kings or thieves make off with 
       it, or fire burns it, or water sweeps it away, or hateful 
       heirs make off with it.  And he sorrows, grieves & laments, 
       beats his breast, becomes distraught:  'What was mine is no 
       more!'  Now this drawback too in the case of sensuality, 
       this mass of stress visible here & now, has sensuality for 
       its reason...
       
       Furthermore, it is with sensuality for the reason, 
       sensuality for the source, sensuality for the cause, the 
       reason being simply sensuality, that kings quarrel with 
       kings, nobles with nobles, priests with priests, 
       householders with householders, mother with child, child 
       with mother, father with child, child with father, brother 
       with brother, sister with sister, brother with sister, 
       sister with brother, friend with friend.  And then in their 
       quarrels, brawls, & disputes, they attack one another with 
       fists or with clods or with sticks or with knives, so that 
       they incur death or deadly pain.  Now this drawback too in 
       the case of sensuality, this mass of stress visible here & 
       now, has sensuality for its reason...
       
       Furthermore, it is with sensuality for the reason, 
       sensuality for the source...that (men), taking swords & 
       shields and buckling on bows & quivers, charge into battle 
       massed in double array while arrows & spears are flying and 
       swords are flashing; and there they are wounded by arrows & 
       spears, and their heads are cut off by swords, so that they 
       incur death or deadly pain.  Now this drawback too in the 
       case of sensuality, this mass of stress visible here & now, 
       has sensuality for its reason...
  
       Furthermore, it is with sensuality for the reason, 
       sensuality for the source...that (men), taking swords & 
       shields and buckling on bows & quivers, charge slippery 
       bastions while arrows & spears are flying and swords are 
       flashing; and there they are splashed with boiling cow dung 
       and crushed under heavy weights, and their heads are cut off 
       by swords, so that they incur death or deadly pain.  Now 
       this drawback too in the case of sensuality, this mass of 
       stress visible here & now, has sensuality for its reason, 
       sensuality for its source, sensuality for its cause, the 
       reason being simply sensuality.
  
                      M 13
  
  
  
     Sumedha to her fianc_:
       
       In the face of the Deathless,
       what worth are your sensual pleasures?
       For all delights in sensuality are 
            burning & boiling
            aggravated, aglow....
       A blazing grass firebrand, 
            held in the hand:
       Those who let go
            do not get burned.
       Sensuality is like a firebrand. 
             It burns
               those who
                  do not let go.
  
                      Thig xvi.1
  
  
    Even the more honorable emotions that can develop from sensual 
  attraction--such as love & personal devotion--ultimately lead to 
  suffering & stress when one is inevitably parted from the person one 
  loves. 
  
  
  
       Once in this same Savatthi there was a certain man whose 
       wife died.  Owing to her death he went mad, out of his mind, 
       and wandering from street to street, crossroads to 
       crossroads, would say, 'Have you seen my wife?  Have you 
       seen my wife?'  From this it may be realized how from a dear 
       one, owing to a dear one, comes sorrow & lamentation, pain, 
       grief, & despair. 
       
       Once in this same Savatthi there was a wife who went to her 
       relatives' home.  Her relatives, having separated her from 
       her husband, wanted to give her to another against her will.  
       So she said to her husband, 'These relatives of mine, having 
       separated us, want to give me to another against my will,' 
       whereupon he cut her in two and slashed himself open, 
       thinking, 'Dead we shall be together.'  And from this it may 
       be realized how from a dear one, owing to a dear one, comes 
       sorrow & lamentation, pain, grief, & despair.
  
                      M 87
  
  
  
       How do you construe this, monks:  Which is greater, the 
       tears you have shed while transmigrating & wandering this 
       long time--crying & weeping from being joined with what is 
       displeasing, from being separated from what is pleasing--or 
       the water in the four great oceans?...This is the greater:  
       The tears you have shed...Why is that?  From an 
       inconstruable beginning, monks, comes transmigration.  A 
       beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by 
       ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & 
       wandering on.  Long have you thus experienced stress, 
       experienced pain, experienced loss, swelling the 
       cemeteries--long enough to become disenchanted with all 
       conditioned things, enough to become dispassionate, enough 
       to be released.
  
                      S xv.3
  
  
  
    A theme recurrent throughout the Canon is that complete knowledge 
  of any object does not end with an understanding of its allure & 
  drawbacks, but goes on to comprehend what brings emancipation from the 
  mental fetters based on both.
  
  
  
       And what is the emancipation from sensuality?  Whatever is 
       the subduing of passion & desire, the abandoning of passion 
       & desire for sensuality, that is the emancipation from 
       sensuality.
  
                      M 13
  
  
  
     Sundara Samudda:
       Ornamented, finely clothed
            garlanded, adorned,
       Her feet stained red with lac,
            she wore slippers:
                 a courtesan.
       Stepping out of her slippers--
            her hands raised before me
            palm-to-palm over her heart--
       She softly, tenderly,
            in measured words
            spoke to me first:
       'You are young, recluse.
            Heed my message:
       Partake of human sensuality.
            I will give you luxury.
       Truly I vow to you,
            I will tend to you as to a fire.
       When we are old,
            both leaning on canes,
       Then we will both become recluses,
            winning the benefits of both worlds.'
       And seeing her before me--
            a courtesan, ornamented, finely clothed,
            hands palm-to-palm over her heart--
                 like a snare of death laid out,
       Apt attention arose in me,
            the drawbacks appeared,
                 disenchantment stood at an even keel:
       With that, my heart was released....
       
                      Thag vii.1
  
  
  
       Seeing a form unmindfully,
            focusing on its pleasing features,
       One knows with mind enflamed
            and remains fastened to it.
  
  
  (Notice how these lines draw directly on the image of burning as 
  entrapment.)
  
  
  
       One's feelings, born of the form,
                  grow numerous.
       Greed & provocation 
                  injure one's mind.
       Thus amassing stress
            one is said to be far from Unbinding.
            (And so on with the rest of the six senses.)
       One not enflamed with forms
            --seeing a form with mindfulness firm--
       Knows with mind unenflamed
            and does not remain fastened there.
       While he is seeing a form
            --and even experiencing feeling--
       It falls away and does not accumulate.
            Faring mindful.
       and thus not amassing stress,
            he is said to be 
       in the presence of Unbinding.
            (And so on with the rest of the six senses.)
  
                      S xxxv.95
  
  
  
       There are forms, monks, cognizable via the eye--agreeable, 
       pleasing, charming, endearing, fostering desire, enticing.  
       If a monk relishes them, welcomes them and remains fastened 
       to them, he is said to be a monk fettered by forms 
       cognizable by the eye.  He has gone over to Mara's camp; he 
       has come under Mara's power.  The Evil One can do with him 
       as he will.
       
            (And so on with the rest of the six senses.)
  
                      S xxxv.115
  
       There are forms cognizable by the eye--agreeable...enticing.  
       If a monk relishes them, welcomes them, & remains fastened 
       to them, then...his consciousness is dependent on them, is 
       sustained by them.  With sustenance/clinging, the monk is 
       not totally unbound... 
       
       If he does not relish them, welcome them, or remain fastened 
       to them, then...his consciousness is not dependent on them, 
       is not sustained by them.  Without sustenance/clinging, the 
       monk is totally unbound.
       
            (And so on with the rest of the six senses.)
  
                      S xxxv.118
  
  
  
    Here again, we see the reciprocal nature of attachment:  One is 
  bound by what one relishes & latches onto--or rather, by the act of 
  relishing & latching on, in and of itself. 
  
  
  
     Citta:  Venerable sirs, it is just as if a black ox and a 
       white ox were joined with a single collar or yoke.  If 
       someone were to say, 'The black ox is the fetter of the 
       white ox, the white ox is the fetter of the black'--speaking 
       this way, would he be speaking rightly?
  
     Some elder monks:  No, householder.  The black ox is not the 
       fetter of the white ox, nor is the white ox the fetter of 
       the black.  The single collar or yoke by which they are 
       joined:  That is the fetter there.
  
     Citta:  In the same way, the eye is not the fetter of forms, 
       nor are forms the fetter of the eye.  Whatever desire & 
       passion arises in dependence on the two of them:  That is 
       the fetter there.  The ear is not the fetter of sounds...The 
       nose is not the fetter of smells...The tongue is not the 
       fetter of tastes...The body is not the fetter of tactile 
       sensations... The intellect is not the fetter of ideas, nor 
       are ideas the fetter of the intellect.  Whatever desire & 
       passion arises in dependence on the two of them:  That is 
       the fetter there.
  
                      S xli.1
  
  
  
    In other words, neither the senses nor their objects are fetters 
  for the mind.  Beautiful sights, sounds, and so forth, do not entrap 
  it, nor do the senses themselves.  Instead, it is trapped by the act 
  of desire & passion  based on such things.
  
  
  
       Monks, there are these five strands of sensuality.  What 
       five? Forms cognizable via the eye--agreeable...enticing;  
       sounds... odors...flavors...tactile sensations cognizable 
       via the body--agreeable...enticing.  But these are not 
       sensuality.  They are called strands of sensuality in the 
       disciple of the Noble Ones.
  
       The passion for his intentions is a man's sensuality,
       Not the beautiful sensual pleasures 
            found in the world.
       The passion for his intentions is a man's sensuality.
       The beauties remain as they are in the world,
       While the wise, in this regard
            subdue their desire.
  
                      A vi.63
  
  
  
    Thus sensual pleasures, which belong to the realm of form, are the 
  'clingable phenomena' that offer sustenance for the bond of desire & 
  passion.  Or, to borrow an image from Ven. Rahula, they are the 
  bait--as long as one is blind to their true nature--for falling into 
  the trap of one's own craving & complacency.  
  
  
  
     Ven. Rahula:
       They (the unawakened): 
       Blinded by sensual pleasures,
            covered by the net,
       Veiled with the veil of craving,
            bound by the bond of complacency,
                 like fish in the mouth of a trap.
       
                      Thag iv.8
  
  
  
    For this reason, freedom from sensuality as a clinging/sustenance 
  requires a two-pronged approach:  to realize the true nature of the 
  bait and to extricate oneself from the trap.  The first step involves 
  examining the unattractive side of the human body, for as the Buddha 
  says, 
  
  
  
       Monks, I don't know of even one other form that stays in a 
       man's mind and consumes it like the form of a woman...  one 
       other sound...smell...taste...touch that stays in a man's 
       mind and consumes it like the touch of a woman.  The touch 
       of a woman stays in a man's mind and consumes it.
       
       I don't know of even one other form that stays in a woman's 
       mind and consumes it like the form of a man...one other 
       sound...smell...taste...touch that stays in a woman's mind 
       and consumes it like the touch of a man.  The touch of a man 
       stays in a woman's mind and consumes it.
  
                      A I.1
  
  
  
       Just as if a sack with openings at both ends were full of 
       various kinds of grain--wheat, rice, mung beans, kidney 
       beans, sesame seeds, husked rice--and a man with good 
       eyesight, pouring it out, were to reflect, 'This is wheat.  
       This is rice.  These are mung beans.  These are kidney 
       beans.  These are sesame seeds.  This is husked rice,' in 
       the same way, monks, a monk reflects on this very body from 
       the soles of the feet on up, from the crown of the head on 
       down, surrounded by skin and full of various kinds of 
       impurities:  'In this body there are head hairs, body hairs, 
       nails, teeth, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, bone marrow, 
       kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, large 
       intestines, small intestines, gorge, feces, bile, phlegm, 
       pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, skin-oil, saliva, mucus, 
       fluid in the joints, urine'...
       
       Or again, as if he were to see a corpse cast away in a 
       charnel ground--one day, two days, three days dead--bloated, 
       livid & festering, he applies it to this very body, 'This 
       body, too:  Such is its nature, such is its future, such its 
       unavoidable fate'... 
       
       Or again, as if he were to see a corpse cast away in a 
       charnel ground, picked at by crows, vultures, & hawks, by 
       dogs, hyenas, & various other creatures...a skeleton smeared 
       with flesh & blood, connected with tendons...a fleshless 
       skeleton smeared with blood, connected with tendons...a 
       skeleton without flesh or blood, connected with 
       tendons...bones detached from their tendons, scattered in 
       all directions--here a hand bone, there a foot bone, here a 
       shin bone, there a thigh bone, here a hip bone, there a back 
       bone, here a rib, there a chest bone, here a shoulder bone, 
       there a neck bone, here a jaw bone, there a tooth, here a 
       skull...the bones whitened, somewhat like the color of 
       shells...piled up, more than a year old...decomposed into a 
       powder, he applies it to this very body, 'This body, too:  
       Such is its nature, such is its future, such its unavoidable 
       fate.'  So he abides contemplating the body in & of itself, 
       internally, externally or both internally & externally.
  
                      D 22
  
  
  
    The purpose of this contemplation is not to develop a morbid 
  fascination with the grotesque, but simply to correct the distortion 
  of perception that tries to deny the unattractive aspects of the body 
  and to admit only 'the sign of the beautiful'--its attractive side.  
  Now of course this contemplation has its dangers, for it can go 
  overboard into states of aversion & depression, but these are not 
  incurable.  At several points in the Canon, where the Buddha sees that 
  monks have let the contemplation of foulness adversely affect their 
  minds, he recommends that they calm their aversion by focusing on the 
  in & out breath as a companion meditation.     
    
    Ultimately, as a more balanced perception of the body develops, one 
  may make use of the second prong of the approach:  turning one's 
  attention from the object of the lust to the act of lust itself, 
  seeing it as an act of mental fabrication--foolish, inconstant, & 
  stressful--and so removing any sense of identification with it.  This, 
  in turn, can calm the mind to an even deeper level and lead on to its 
  Unbinding.
  
  
  
     Ven. Vangisa:
       With sensual lust   I burn.
       My mind             is on fire.
       Please, Gotama,          from compassion,
            Tell me how to put it out.
       
     The Buddha: 
       From distorted perception
            your mind is on fire.
       Shun the sign       of the beautiful,
                           accompanied by lust.
       See mental processes     as other
                           as stress
                           & not as self.
            Extinguish your great lust.
            Do not keep burning again & again.
  
                      Thag xxi.1
  
  
  
    For one who keeps focusing on the foulness (of the body), any 
  underlying tendencies to lust for the property of beauty are 
  abandoned.  When mindfulness of breathing is internally 
  well-established before one, there are no annoying inclinations to 
  external thinking.  For one who keeps focusing on the inconstancy of 
  all processes, whatever is ignorance is abandoned; whatever is 
  knowledge arises.
  
  
  
       Focusing on foulness
            with regard to the body,
       Mindful
            of in & out breathing,
       Seeing
            the calming of all processes
               --always ardent--
       The right-seeing monk,
            when released there, 
       is truly a master of direct knowledge.
                 Calm.
       He is truly a sage
               gone beyond bonds.
                      Iti 85
  
  
  
     Sister Nanda:
       As I, uncomplacent,
            examined it aptly
       (a vision of a beautiful person
            growing sick, unclean & putrid)
       This body--as it actually is--
            was seen inside & out.
       Then was I disenchanted with the body
            and dispassionate within:
       Uncomplacent, detached,
            calmed was I.
                 Unbound.
                      Thig v.4
  
  
  
  VIEWS
  =====
    Views are the second mode of clinging/sustenance.  And, as with the 
  abandoning of attachment to sensuality, the abandoning of attachment 
  to views can lead to an experience of Unbinding.
  
  
  
       'This I maintain,' does not occur
            to one who would investigate 
            what is seized (as a view)
            with reference to (actual) phenomena.
       Looking for what is unseized
            with reference to views,
       And detecting inner peace,
                 I saw.
                      Sn iv.9
  
  
  
    Attachment to views can block an experience of Unbinding in any of 
  three major ways.  First, the content of the view itself may not be 
  conducive to the arising of discernment, and it may even have a 
  pernicious moral effect on one's actions, leading to an unfavorable 
  rebirth.
  
  
  
       I have heard that once the Master was dwelling among the 
       Koliyans...Then Punna the Koliyan, a bovine, and Seniya, a 
       canine naked ascetic, approached the Master.  On 
       approaching, Punna the Koliyan bovine, saluting the Master, 
       sat down to one side, while Seniya, the canine naked 
       ascetic, exchanged greetings with the Master, and having 
       made agreeable polite conversation, sat down to one side, 
       curling up like a dog.  Punna the Koliyan bovine, sitting to 
       one side, said to the Master, 'Sir, Seniya, this naked 
       ascetic, is a canine, a doer-of-hard-tasks.  He eats food 
       that is thrown on the ground.  He has long undertaken & 
       conformed to that dog-practice.  What is his future 
       destination, what is his future course?'
       
       (The Buddha at first declines to answer, but on being 
       pressed, finally responds:)  'There is the case where a 
       person develops the dog-practice fully & perfectly...Having 
       developed the dog-practice fully & perfectly, having 
       developed a dog's virtue fully & perfectly, having developed 
       a dog's mind fully & perfectly, having developed a dog's 
       demeanor fully & perfectly, then on the break-up of the 
       body, after death, he reappears in the company of dogs.  But 
       if he is of such a view as, "By this virtue or practice or 
       asceticism or holy life I shall become a greater or lesser 
       god," that is his wrong view.  Now, Punna, there are two 
       destinations for one with wrong view, I say:  purgatory or 
       the animal womb.  So the dog-practice, if perfected, leads 
       him to the company of dogs; if defective, to purgatory.'
  
                      M 57
  
  
  
       Just as if in the last month of the hot season a maluva 
       creeper pod were to burst open, and a maluva creeper seed 
       were to fall at the foot of a sala tree.  The deity living 
       in the tree would become frightened, apprehensive & anxious.  
       Her friends & companions, relatives & kin--garden deities, 
       forest deities, tree deities, deities living in herbs, grass 
       & forest monarchs--would gather together to console her:  
       'Have no fear, have no fear.  In all likelihood a peacock is 
       sure to swallow this maluva creeper seed, or a deer will eat 
       it, or a brush fire will burn it up, or woodsmen will pick 
       it up or termites will carry it off, and it probably isn't 
       really a seed.'  
  
       And then no peacock swallowed it, no deer ate it, no brush 
       fire burned it up, no woodsmen picked it up, no termites 
       carried it off and it really was a seed.  Watered by a 
       rain-laden cloud, it sprouted in due course and curled its 
       soft, tender, downy tendril around the sala tree.
       
       The thought occurred to the deity living in the sala tree:  
       'Now what future danger did my friends...foresee, that they 
       gathered together to console me?...It's pleasant, the touch 
       of this maluva creeper's soft, tender, downy tendril.'  
       
       Then the creeper, having enwrapped the sala tree, having 
       made a canopy over it, & cascading down around it, caused 
       the massive limbs of the sala tree to come crashing down.  
       The thought occurred to the deity living in the tree:  'This 
       was the future danger my friends...foresaw, that they 
       gathered together to console me...It's because of that 
       maluva creeper seed that I'm now experiencing sharp, burning 
       pains.' 
       
       In the same way, monks, there are some priests & 
       contemplatives who hold to a doctrine, a view like this:  
       'There is no harm in sensual pleasures.'  Thus they meet 
       with their downfall through sensual pleasures.  They consort 
       with women wanderers who wear their hair coiled and long.  
       The thought occurs to them:  'Now what future danger do 
       those (other) priests & contemplatives foresee that they 
       teach the relinquishment & analysis of sensual pleasures?  
       It's pleasant, the touch of this woman wanderer's soft, 
       tender, downy arm.'
       
       Thus they meet with their downfall through sensual 
       pleasures.  With the break-up of the body, after death, they 
       will go to a bad bourn, destitution, the realm of the hungry 
       shades, purgatory.  There they will experience sharp, 
       burning pains.  The thought will occur to them:  'This was 
       the future danger those priests & contemplatives foresaw 
       that they taught the relinquishment & analysis of sensual 
       pleasures.  It's because of sensual pleasures, as a result 
       of sensual pleasures, that we are now experiencing these 
       sharp, burning pains.'
  
                      M 45
  
  
  
    Secondly, apart from the actual content of the views, a person 
  attached to views is bound to get into disputes with those who hold 
  opposing views, resulting in unwholesome mental states for the winners 
  as well as the losers.
  
  
  
       Engaged in disputation in the midst of an assembly,
            --desirous of praise, anxious--
        he is staggered when defeated.
       Shaken with criticism, he seeks for an opening.
            He whose doctrine is (judged as) demolished,
            Defeated, by those who judge the question:
       He laments, he grieves--the inferior exponent--
            'He beat me,' he mourns.
       These disputes have arisen among contemplatives.
            In them are victory & defeat.
       Seeing this, one would abstain from disputes,
       For they have no other goal than the gaining of praise.
       He who is praised there
            for expounding his doctrine 
            in the midst of the assembly,
       Laughs on that account and grows haughty,
            attaining his heart's desire.
       That haughtiness will be his grounds for vexation,
            for he will speak in pride & over-estimation.
       Seeing this, one should abstain from disputes.
       No purity is attained by them, say the wise.
                      Sn iv.8
  
  
  
    Thirdly, and more profoundly, attachment to views implicitly 
  involves attachment to a sense of 'superior' & 'inferior,' and to the 
  criteria used in measuring and making such evaluations.  As we saw in 
  Chapter I, any measure or criterion acts as a limitation or bond on 
  the mind.
  
  
  
       That, say the wise, is a fetter,
       In dependence on which
       One sees others as inferior.
                      Sn iv.5
  
  
  
       Whoever construes
            'equal'
            'superior' or
            'inferior,' 
       by that he would dispute;
       Whereas to one unaffected by these three,
            'equal'
            'superior'
       do not occur.
       Of what would the Brahman* say 'true' or 'false,'
            disputing with whom,
       he in whom 'equal' & 'unequal' are not....
       As the prickly lotus
       is unsmeared by water & mud,
       So the sage,
            an exponent of peace, 
                 without greed,
            is unsmeared by sensuality & the world.
       An attainer-of-wisdom
       is not measured
                 made proud
            by views or by what is thought,
            for he is not altered by them.
       Not by rituals is he led, nor by traditional lore,
            nor with reference to dogmas.
       For one dispassionate towards perception
            there are no ties;
       for one released by discernment,
            no delusions.
       Those who seize at perceptions & views
        
       go about disputing in the world.
  
                      Sn iv.9
  
  
  
    An important point to notice is that attachment to views must be 
  abandoned through knowledge, and not through skepticism, agnosticism, 
  ignorance, or a mindless openness to all views.  This point is made 
  clear in the Discourse of the Supreme Net.  There the Buddha gives a 
  list of 62 philosophical positions concerning the nature of the self, 
  the cosmos, & the state of ultimate freedom in the immediate present.  
  The list is intended to be exhaustive--the 'net' in the title of the 
  discourse--covering all possible views & positions on these subjects 
  divided into ten categories, one of the 
  categories--equivocation--including cases of agnosticism.
  
  
  
       There are, monks, some contemplatives & priests who, being 
       asked questions regarding this or that, resort to verbal 
       contortions, to eel-like wriggling, on four grounds...There 
       is the case of a certain priest or contemplative who does 
       not discern as it actually is that 'This is good,' or that 
       'This is not good.'  The thought occurs to him: 'I don't 
       discern as it actually is that "This is good," or that "This 
       is not good."  If I...were to declare that "This is good," 
       or that "This is not good," desire, passion, aversion, or 
       irritation would occur to me; that would be a falsehood for 
       me.  Whatever would be a falsehood for me would be a 
       distress for me.  Whatever would be a distress for me would 
       be an obstacle for me.'  So, out of fear of falsehood, a 
       loathing for falsehood, he does not declare that 'This is 
       good,' or that 'This is not good."  Being asked questions 
       regarding this or that, he resorts to verbal contortions, to 
       eel-like wriggling:  'I don't think so.  I don't think in 
       that way.  I don't think otherwise.  I don't think not.  I 
       don't think not not.'
       
       
       
  The second case is virtually identical with the first, substituting 
  'clinging' for 'falsehood.'
       
       
       
       The third case:  There is the case of a certain priest or 
       contemplative who does not discern as it actually is that 
       'This is good,' or that 'This is not good'...'If I, not 
       discerning as it actually is that "This is good,"  or that 
       "This is not good," were to declare that "This is good," or 
       that "This is not good"--There are priests and 
       contemplatives who are pundits, subtle, skilled in debate, 
       who prowl about like hair-splitting marksmen, as it were, 
       shooting philosophical positions to pieces with their 
       dialectic.  They might cross-question me, press me for 
       reasons, rebuke me.  I might not be able to stand my ground, 
       that would be a distress for me...an obstacle for me.'  So, 
       out of a fear for questioning, a loathing for 
       questioning...he resorts to verbal contortions, to eel-like 
       wriggling...
       
       The fourth case:  There is the case of a certain priest or 
       contemplative who is dull & exceedingly stupid.  Out of 
       dullness & exceeding stupidity, he--being asked questions 
       regarding this or that--resorts to verbal contortions, to 
       eel-like wriggling:  'If you ask me if there exists another 
       world (after death), if I thought that there exists another 
       world, would I declare that to you?  I don't think so.  I 
       don't think in that way.  I don't think otherwise.  I don't 
       think not.  I don't think not not.  If you asked me if there 
       isn't another world...both is & isn't...neither is nor 
       isn't...if there are beings who transmigrate...if there 
       aren't...both are & aren't... neither are nor aren't...if 
       the Tathagata exists after death... 
       doesn't...both...neither...I don't think so.  I don't think 
       that way.  I don't think otherwise.  I don't think not.  I 
       don't think not not.'
  
                      D 1
  
  
  
    Agnosticism, then, is not a way of abandoning standpoints but is 
  simply another standpoint:  Like all standpoints, it must be abandoned 
  through knowledge.  The type of knowledge called for--in which 
  standpoints are regarded, not in terms of their content, but as events 
  in a causal chain--is indicated by the refrain that follows each of 
  the ten categories of the Supreme Net.
  
  
  
       This, monks, the Tathagata discerns.  And he discerns that 
       these standpoints, thus seized, thus held to, lead to such & 
       such a destination, to such & such a state in the world 
       beyond.  And he discerns what surpasses this.  And yet 
       discerning that, he does not hold to it.  And as he is not 
       holding to it, Unbinding (nibbuti) is experienced right 
       within.  Knowing, for what they are, the origin, ending, 
       allure, & drawbacks of feelings, along with the emancipation 
       from feelings, the Tathagata, monks--through lack of 
       sustenance/clinging-- is released.
  
                      D 1
  
  
  
    Another list of speculative views--a set of ten positions 
  summarizing the standard topics debated by the various schools of 
  contemplatives in the Buddha's time--recurs frequently in the Canon.  
  Non-Buddhist debaters used it as a ready-made checklist for gauging an 
  individual's positions on the controversial issues of the day, and 
  they often put it to the Buddha.  Invariably, he would reply that he 
  did not hold to any of the ten positions.
  
  
  
       'Seeing what drawback, then, is the venerable Gotama thus 
       entirely dissociated from each of these ten positions?'
       
       'Vaccha, the position that "the world is eternal" is a 
       thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of 
       views, a writhing of views, a fetter of views.  It is 
       accompanied by suffering, distress, despair, & fever, and it 
       does not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, stopping; to 
       calm, direct knowledge, full awakening, Unbinding.
       
       'The position that "the world is not eternal"...
  
       '..."the world is finite"...
       
       '..."the world is infinite"...
       
       '..."the soul & the body are the same"...
       
       '..."the soul is one thing and the body another"...
       
       '..."after death a Tathagata exists"...
       
       '..."after death a Tathagata does not exist"...
       
       '..."after death a Tathagata both exists & does not 
       exist"...
       
       '..."after death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not 
       exist"...does not lead to disenchantment, dispassion, 
       stopping; to calm, direct knowledge, full awakening, 
       Unbinding.'
       
       'Does Master Gotama have any position at all?'
       
       'A "position," Vaccha, is something that a Tathagata has 
       done away with.  What a Tathagata sees is this:  "Such is 
       form, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is 
       feeling, such its origin, such its disappearance; such is 
       perception... such are mental processes...such is 
       consciousness, such its origin, such its disappearance."  
       Because of this, I say, a Tathagata,--with the ending, 
       fading out, stopping, renunciation & relinquishment of all 
       construings, all excogitations, all I-making & mine-making & 
       tendencies to conceits--is, through lack of 
       sustenance/clinging, released.'
  
                      M 72
  
  
  
    The construings the Buddha relinquished include views not only in 
  their full-blown form as specific positions, but also in their 
  rudimentary form as the categories & relationships that the mind reads 
  into experience.  This is a point he makes in his instructions to 
  Bahiya, which led immediately to the latter's attaining the goal.  
  When the mind imposes interpretations on its experience, it is 
  engaging implicitly in system-building, and all the limitations of 
  location & relationship that system-building involves.  Only when it 
  can free itself of those interpretations and the fetters they place on 
  it, can it gain true freedom. 
  
  
  
       Therefore, Bahiya, you should train yourself thus:  In 
       reference to the seen, there will be only the seen.  In 
       reference to the heard, only the heard.  In reference to the 
       sensed, only the sensed.  In reference to the cognized, only 
       the cognized.  That is how you should train yourself. 
       
       When for you there will be only the seen in reference to the 
       seen...only the heard...only the sensed...only the cognized 
       in reference to the cognized, then, Bahiya, you will not be 
       'thereby.'  When you are not thereby, you will not be 
       'therein.'  When you are not therein, you will be neither 
       'here' nor 'there' nor between the two.  This, just this, is 
       the end of stress.
  
                      Ud i.10
  
  
  
  PRECEPTS & PRACTICES.
  ====================
    The Canon mentions a variety of precepts & practices--the third 
  mode of clinging/sustenance.  Prominent among them are Brahmanical 
  rituals & Jain practices of self-torture, and according to the 
  Commentary these are the precepts & practices referred to in this 
  context.  Yet although the goal will always remain out of reach as 
  long as one remains attached to such practices, the abandonment of 
  this attachment is never in & of itself sufficient for attaining the 
  goal.
  
    But there is another practice which, though a necessary part of the 
  Buddhist path, can nevertheless offer sustenance for becoming; and 
  which--as the object of attachment to be transcended--figures 
  prominently in descriptions of the goal's attainment.  That practice 
  is jhana, or meditative absorption.  It might be argued that this is 
  stretching the term practice (vata) a little far, but jhana does not 
  fall under any of the other three sustenances for becoming at all, and 
  yet it definitely does function as such a sustenance, so there seems 
  to be little choice but to place it  here.
    
    Different passages in the Canon number the levels of jhana in 
  different ways.  The standard description gives four, although the 
  pure mindfulness & equanimity attained on the fourth level may further 
  be applied to four progressively more & more refined formless 
  sensations--termed the 'peaceful emancipations, formlessness beyond 
  forms'--that altogether give eight levels, often referred to as the 
  eight attainments.
    
    A number of objects can serve as the basis for jhana.  The breath 
  is one, and an analysis of the Canon's description of the first stages 
  of breath meditation will give an idea of what jhana involves.
    
    The first step is simply being mindful of the breath in the 
  present:
  
  
  
       There is the case of a monk who, having gone to a forest, to 
       the shade of a tree or to an empty building, sits down 
       folding his legs crosswise, holding his body erect, & 
       keeping mindfulness to the fore.  Always mindful, he 
       breathes in; mindful he breathes out.
  
  
  
    Then comes evaluation:  He begins to discern variations in the 
  breath:
  
  
  
       Breathing in long, he discerns that he is breathing in long; 
       or breathing out long, he discerns that he is breathing out 
       long.  Or breathing in short, he discerns that he is 
       breathing in short; or breathing out short, he discerns that 
       he is breathing out short. 
  
  
  
    The remaining steps are willed, or determined:  He 'trains 
  himself', first by manipulating his sense of conscious awareness, 
  making it sensitive to the body as a whole.  (This accounts for the 
  term 'mahaggatam'--enlarged or expanded--used to describe the mind in 
  the state of jhana.)
  
  
  
       He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to the entire 
       body, and to breathe out sensitive to the entire body.
  
  
  
    Now that he is aware of the body as a whole, he can begin to 
  manipulate the physical sensations of which he is aware, calming 
  them--i.e., calming the breath--so as to create a sense of rapture & 
  ease.
  
       He trains himself to breathe in calming the bodily 
       processes, and to breathe out calming the bodily processes.  
       He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to rapture, and to 
       breathe out sensitive to rapture.  He trains himself to 
       breathe in sensitive to pleasure and breathe out sensitive 
       to pleasure.
  
  
  
    (As we will see below, he maximizes this sense of rapture & 
  pleasure, making it suffuse the entire body.)
  
    Now that bodily processes are stilled, mental processes become 
  apparent as they occur.  These too are calmed, leaving--as we will see 
  below--a radiant awareness of the mind itself.
  
  
  
       He trains himself to breathe in sensitive to mental 
       processes, and to breathe out sensitive to mental processes.  
       He trains himself to breathe in calming mental processes and 
       to breathe out calming mental processes.  He trains himself 
       to breathe in sensitive to the mind, and to breathe out 
       sensitive to the mind....
  
                      M 118
  
  
  
    The standard description of jhana, however, does not refer to any 
  particular object as its basis, but simply divides it into four levels 
  determined by the way the mind relates to the object as it becomes 
  more & more absorbed in it.
  
  
  
       Furthermore, monks, the monk--quite withdrawn from sensual 
       pleasures, withdrawn from unwise (mental) qualities--enters 
       and remains in the first jhana:  rapture & pleasure born 
       from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought & 
       evaluation.  He permeates & pervades, suffuses & fills this 
       very body with the rapture & pleasure born from withdrawal.  
       There is nothing in his body unpervaded by rapture & 
       pleasure born from withdrawal. 
       
       Just as a skilled bathman or bathman's apprentice would pour 
       bath powder into a brass basin and knead it together, 
       sprinkling it again & again with water, so that his ball of 
       bath powder--saturated, moisture-laden, permeated within & 
       without--would nevertheless not drip; even so, monks, the 
       monk permeates...this very body with the rapture & pleasure 
       born of withdrawal.  And as he remains thus earnest, ardent 
       & intent, any longings related to the household life are 
       abandoned, and with their abandoning his mind gathers & 
       settles inwardly, one-pointed & composed.  That is how a 
       monk develops mindfulness immersed in the body.
       
       And furthermore, with the stilling of directed thought & 
       evaluation, he enters & remains in the second jhana:  
       rapture & pleasure born of composure, one-pointedness of 
       awareness free from directed thought & evaluation--internal 
       assurance.  He permeates & pervades, suffuses & fills this 
       very body with the rapture & pleasure born of composure.  
       There is no part of his entire body unpervaded by rapture & 
       pleasure born of composure. 
       
       Just like a lake with spring-water welling up from within, 
       having no inflow from east, west, north or south, and with 
       the skies supplying abundant showers time & again, so that 
       the cool fount of water welling up from within the lake 
       would permeate & pervade, suffuse & fill it with cool 
       waters, there being no part of the lake unpervaded by the 
       cool waters; even so monks, the monk permeates...this very 
       body with the rapture & pleasure born of composure.  And as 
       he remains thus earnest, ardent & intent...he develops 
       mindfulness immersed in the body.
       
       And furthermore, with the fading of rapture, he remains in 
       equanimity, mindful & fully aware, and physically sensitive 
       of pleasure.  He enters & remains in the third jhana, and of 
       him the Noble Ones declare, 'Equanimous & mindful, he has a 
       pleasurable abiding.'  He permeates & pervades, suffuses & 
       fills this very body with the pleasure divested of rapture, 
       so that there is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by 
       pleasure divested of rapture. 
       
       Just as in a blue-, white-, or red-lotus pond, there may be 
       some of the blue, white, or red lotuses that, born & growing 
       in the water, stay immersed in the water and flourish 
       without standing up out of the water, so that they are 
       permeated & pervaded, suffused & filled with cool water from 
       their roots to their tips, and nothing of those blue, white, 
       or red lotuses would be unpervaded with cool water; even so, 
       monks, the monk permeates...this very body with the pleasure 
       divested of rapture.  And as he remains thus earnest, ardent 
       & intent...he develops mindfulness immersed in the body.
       
       And furthermore, with the abandoning of pleasure & 
       stress--as with the earlier disappearance of elation & 
       sorrow--he enters & remains in the fourth jhana:  purity of 
       equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor stress.  He 
       sits, permeating the body with a pure, bright awareness, so 
       that nothing of his entire body is unpervaded by pure, 
       bright awareness. 
       
       Just as if a man were sitting covered from head to foot with 
       a white cloth so that there would be no part of his body to 
       which the white cloth did not extend; even so, monks, the 
       monk sits, permeating the body with a pure, bright 
       awareness.  And as he remains thus earnest, ardent & 
       intent...he develops mindfulness immersed in the body.
  
                      M 119
  
  
  
    'Directed thought' mentioned in the reference to the first level of 
  jhana corresponds, in the description of breath meditation, to the 
  mindfulness directed to the breath in the present.  'Evaluation' 
  corresponds to the discernment of variations in the breath, and to the 
  manipulation of awareness & the breath so as to create a sense of 
  rapture & pleasure throughout the body (the bathman kneading moisture 
  throughout the ball of bath powder).  The still waters in the simile 
  for the third level of jhana, as opposed to the spring waters welling 
  up in the second level, correspond to the stilling of mental 
  processes.  And the pure, bright awareness in the fourth level 
  corresponds to the stage of breath meditation where the meditator is 
  sensitive to the mind.
    
    Thus as the mind progresses through the first four levels of jhana, 
  it sheds the various mental activities surrounding its one object:  
  Directed thought & evaluation are stilled, rapture fades, and pleasure 
  is abandoned.  After reaching a state of pure, bright, mindful, 
  equanimous awareness in the fourth level of jhana, the mind can start 
  shedding its perception (mental label) of the form of its object, the 
  space around its object, itself, & the lack of activity within itself.  
  This process takes four steps--the four formlessnesses beyond 
  form--culminating in a state where perception is so refined that it 
  can hardly be called perception at all.
  
  
  
       With the complete transcending of perceptions of (physical) 
       form, and the passing away of perceptions of resistance, and 
       not heeding perceptions of diversity, thinking, 'Infinite 
       space,' one enters & remains in the sphere of the infinitude 
       of space... 
       
       With the complete transcending of the sphere of the 
       infinitude of space, thinking, 'Infinite consciousness,' one 
       enters & remains in the sphere of the infinitude of 
       consciousness... 
       
       With the complete transcending of the sphere of the 
       infinitude of consciousness, thinking, 'There is nothing,' 
       one enters & remains in the sphere of nothingness... 
       
       With the complete transcending of the sphere of nothingness, 
       one enters & remains in the sphere of neither perception nor 
       non-perception.
  
                      D 15
  
  
  
    To abandon attachment to jhana as a sustenance for becoming means, 
  not to stop practicing it, but rather to practice it without becoming 
  engrossed in the sense of pleasure or equanimity it affords, so that 
  one can discern its true nature for what it is.
  
  
  
       When this had been said, the Venerable Ananda asked the 
       Master:  'In the case, Sir, where a monk has reached the 
       point that--(thinking) "It should not be, it should not 
       occur to me; it will not be, it will not occur to me.  What 
       is, what has come to be, that I abandon"--he obtains 
       equanimity.  Would this monk be totally unbound, or not?'
       
       'A certain such monk might, Ananda, and another might not.'
       
       'What is the cause, what is the reason, whereby one might 
       and another might not?'
       
       'There is the case, Ananda, where a monk has reached the 
       point that--(thinking) "It should not be, it should not 
       occur to me; it will not be, it will not occur to me.  What 
       is, what has come to be, that I abandon"-- he obtains 
       equanimity.  He relishes that equanimity, welcomes it, 
       remains fastened to it.  As he does so, his consciousness is 
       dependent on it, sustained by it.  With sustenance, Ananda, 
       a monk is not totally unbound.'
       
       'Being sustained, where is that monk sustained?'
       
       'The sphere of neither perception nor non-perception.'
       
       'Then, indeed, being sustained, he is sustained by the 
       supreme sustenance.'
       
       'Being sustained, Ananda, he is sustained by the supreme 
       sustenance; for this--the sphere of neither perception nor 
       non-perception--is the supreme sustenance.  There is 
       (how-ever) the case where a monk...reaches equanimity.  He 
       does not relish that equanimity, does not welcome it, does 
       not remain fastened to it.  Such being the case, his 
       consciousness is not dependent on it, is not sustained by 
       it.  Without sustenance, Ananda, a monk is totally unbound.'
  
                      M 106
  
  
  
    Once the mind can detach itself from the pleasure & equanimity 
  offered by jhana, it can be inclined toward that which transcends 
  jhana--the unconditioned quality of deathlessness.
  
  
  
       There is the case, Ananda, where a monk...enters & remains 
       in the first jhana:  rapture & pleasure born of withdrawal, 
       accompanied by directed thought & evaluation.  He regards 
       whatever phenomena there that are connected with form, 
       feeling, perceptions, mental processes, & consciousness as 
       inconstant, stressful, a disease, a cancer, an arrow, 
       painful, an affliction, alien, a dissolution, a void, 
       not-self.  He turns his mind away from those phenomena, and 
       having done so, inclines it to the quality of deathlessness:  
       'This is peace, this is exquisite--the resolution of all 
       mental processes; the relinquishment of all the 
       paraphernalia of becoming; the ending of craving; 
       dispassion; stopping; Unbinding.'  
       
       Having attained this point, he reaches the ending of the 
       mental effluents.  Or, if not, then--through passion & 
       delight for this very phenomenon (the discernment inclining 
       to deathlessness) and from the total ending of the first of 
       the five Fetters*--he is due to be reborn (in the Pure 
       Abodes), there to be totally unbound, never again to return 
       from that world.   (Similarly with the other levels of 
       jhana.)  
  
                      M 64
  
  
  
    The fact that the various levels of jhana are nurtured & willed, 
  and thus dependent on conditions, is important:  A realization of 
  exactly how they are nurtured--a realization acquired only through 
  practical experience with them--can give insight into the conditioned 
  nature of all mental events and is one of the ways in which the 
  attachment to jhana, as sustenance for becoming, can be abandoned.
  
    An indication of how this happens is given in outline form in the 
  Discourse on Mindfulness of In & Out Breathing.  To take up the 
  description of breath meditation where we left off:  Once there is 
  direct awareness of the mind itself, the various levels of jhana are 
  reviewed.  Now, however, primary attention is focused, not on the 
  object, but on the mind as it relates to the object--the different 
  ways in which it can be satisfied & steadied, and the different 
  factors from which it can be released by taking it through the 
  different levels (e.g., releasing it from directed thought & 
  evaluation by taking it from the first to the second level, and so 
  forth).
  
  
  
       He trains himself to breathe in satisfying the mind, and out 
       satisfying the mind.  He trains himself to breathe in 
       steadying the mind, and out steadying the mind.  He trains 
       himself to breathe in releasing the mind, and out releasing 
       the mind.
  
  
  
    The states of satisfaction, steadiness, & release experienced on 
  these levels, though, are willed, and therefore conditioned.  The next 
  step is to focus on the fact that these qualities, being conditioned, 
  are inconstant.  Once the mind sees directly that inconstancy is 
  inherent both in the pleasure offered by jhana and in the act of will 
  that brings it about, one becomes dispassionate towards it, stops 
  craving it, and can relinquish any & all attachment to it.
  
  
  
       He trains himself to breathe in focusing on inconstancy, and 
       out focusing on inconstancy.  He trains himself to breathe 
       in focusing on dispassion, and out focusing on dispassion.  
       He trains himself to breathe in focusing on stopping, and 
       out focusing on stopping.  He trains himself to breathe in 
       focusing on relinquishment, and out focusing on 
       relinquishment.
  
                      M 118
  
  
  
    At the conclusion to the discourse, the Buddha states that breath 
  meditation, when practiced often & repeatedly in this way, results in 
  the maturation of clear knowledge & release.
    
    A more vivid description of how mastery of jhana can lead to the 
  insight that transcends it, is given in the Discourse on the 
  Exposition of the Properties:
  
  
  
       (On attaining the fourth level of jhana) there remains only 
       equanimity:  pure & bright, pliant, malleable & luminous.  
       Just as if a skilled goldsmith or goldsmith's apprentice 
       were to prepare a furnace, heat up a crucible, and, taking 
       gold with a pair of tongs, place it in the crucible.  He 
       would blow on it time & again, sprinkle water on it time & 
       again, examine it time & again, so that the gold would 
       become refined, well-refined, thoroughly refined, flawless, 
       free from dross, pliant, malleable & luminous.  Then 
       whatever sort of ornament he had in mind--whether a belt, an 
       earring, a necklace, or a gold chain--it would serve his 
       purpose.  In the same way, there remains only equanimity:  
       pure & bright, pliant, malleable & luminous.  He (the 
       meditator) discerns that 'If I were to direct equanimity as 
       pure & bright as this toward the sphere of the infinitude of 
       space, I would develop the mind along those lines, and thus 
       this equanimity of mind--thus supported, thus 
       sustained--would last for a long time.  (Similarly with the 
       remaining formless states.)'
       
        He discerns that 'If I were to direct equanimity as pure & 
       bright as this towards the sphere of the infinitude of space 
       and to develop the mind along those lines, that would be 
       fabricated.  (Similarly with the remaining formless 
       states.)'  He neither fabricates nor mentally fashions for 
       the sake of becoming or unbecoming.  This being the case, he 
       is not sustained by anything in the world (does not cling to 
       anything in the world).  Unsustained, he is not agitated.  
       Unagitated, he is totally unbound right within.  He discerns 
       that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task 
       done.  There is nothing further for this world.'
  
                      M 140
  
  
  
  
  DOCTRINES OF THE SELF
  =====================
    Doctrines of the self. These form the fourth mode of clinging/ 
  sustenance.  The Canon reports a wide variety of doctrines of the self 
  that were current in the Buddha's time, only to reject them  
  out-of-hand for two major reasons.  The first is that even the least 
  articulated sense of self or self-identification inevitably leads to 
  stress & suffering.
  
  
  
       'Monks, do you see any clinging/sustenance in the form of a 
       doctrine of self which, in clinging to, there would not 
       arise sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, & despair?'
  
       'No, Lord.'
       
       '...Neither do I...How do you construe this, monks:  If a 
       person were to gather or burn or do as he likes with the 
       grass, twigs, branches & leaves here in Jeta's Grove, would 
       the thought occur to you, "It's us that this person is 
       gathering, burning, or doing with as he likes"?'
       
       'No, sir.  Why is that?  Because those things are not our 
       self and do not pertain to our self.'
       
       'Even so, monks, whatever is not yours:  Let go of it.  Your 
       letting go of it will be for your long-term happiness & 
       benefit.  And what is not yours?  Form (body) is not 
       yours... Feeling is not yours...Perception...Mental 
       processes...Consciousness is not yours.  Let go of it. Your 
       letting go of it will be for your long-term happiness & 
       benefit.'
  
                      M 22
  
  
  
    The second reason for rejecting doctrines of the self is that, 
  whatever form they take, they all contain inherent inconsistencies.  
  The Buddha's most systematic treatment of this point is in the Great 
  Discourse on Causation, where he classifies all theories of the self 
  into four major categories:  those describing a self (a) possessed of 
  form (a body) & finite; (b) possessed of form & infinite; (c) formless 
  & finite; and (d) formless & infinite.  The text gives no examples for 
  the categories, but we might cite the following as illustrations:  (a) 
  theories that deny the existence of a soul, and identify the self with 
  the body; (b) theories that identify the self with all being or with 
  the universe; (c) theories of discrete souls in individual beings; (d) 
  theories of a unitary soul or identity immanent in all things. 
    
    Discussing these various categories, the Buddha states that people 
  who adhere to any of them will state that the self already is of such 
  a nature, that it is destined to acquire such a nature after death, or 
  that it can be made into such a nature by various practices.  He then 
  goes on to discuss the various ways people assume a self as defined in 
  relation to feeling.
  
  
  
       'In what respect, Ananda, does one assume when assuming a 
       self?  Assuming feeling to be the self, one assumes that 
       "Feeling is my self" (or) "Feeling is not my self:  My self 
       is oblivious (to feeling)" (or) "Neither is feeling my self, 
       nor is my self oblivious to feeling, but rather my self 
       feels, in that my self is subject to feeling." 
       
       'Now, one who says, "Feeling is my self," should be 
       addressed as follows:  "There are these three feelings, my 
       friend--feelings of pleasure, feelings of pain, and feelings 
       of neither pleasure nor pain.  Which of these three feelings 
       do you assume to be the self?  At a moment when a feeling of 
       pleasure is sensed, no feeling of pain or of neither 
       pleasure nor pain is sensed.  Only a feeling of pleasure is 
       sensed at that moment.  At a moment when a feeling of pain 
       is sensed, no feeling of pleasure or of neither pleasure nor 
       pain is sensed.  Only a feeling of pain is sensed at that 
       moment.  At a moment when a feeling of neither pleasure nor 
       pain is sensed, no feeling of pleasure or of pain is sensed.  
       Only a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain is sensed at 
       that moment.  
  
       'Now, a feeling of pleasure is inconstant, compounded, 
       dependent on conditions, subject to passing away, 
       dissolution, fading, & stopping.  A feeling of pain...A 
       feeling of neither pleasure nor pain is inconstant...subject 
       to stopping.  Having sensed a feeling of pleasure as 'my 
       self,' then with the stopping of one's very own feeling of 
       pleasure, 'my self' has perished.  Having sensed a feeling 
       of pain as 'my self'... Having sensed a feeling of neither 
       pleasure nor pain as 'my self,' then with the stopping of 
       one's very own feeling of neither pleasure nor pain, 'my 
       self' has perished." 
       
       'Thus he assumes, assuming in the immediate present a self 
       inconstant, entangled in pleasure & pain, subject to arising 
       & passing away, he who says, "Feeling is my self."  Thus in 
       this manner, Ananda, one does not see fit to assume feeling 
       to be the self.
       
       'As for the person who says, "Feeling is not the self:  My 
       self is oblivious (to feeling)," he should be addressed as 
       follows:  "My friend, where nothing whatsoever is sensed 
       (experienced) at all, would there be the thought, 'I am'?"'
       
       'No, sir.'
       
       'Thus in this manner, Ananda, one does not see fit to assume 
       that "Feeling is not my self:  My self is oblivious (to 
       feeling)."
       
       'As for the person who says, "Neither is feeling my self, 
       nor is my self oblivious to feeling, but rather my self 
       feels, in that my self is subject to feeling," he should be 
       addressed as follows:  "My friend, should feelings 
       altogether and every way stop without remainder, then with 
       feeling completely not existing, owing to the stopping of 
       feeling, would there be the thought, 'I am'?"'
       
       'No, sir.'
       
       'Thus in this manner, Ananda, one does not see fit to assume 
       that "Neither is feeling my self, nor is my self oblivious 
       to feeling, but rather my self feels, in that my self is 
       subject to feeling."
       
       'Now, Ananda, in as far as a monk does not assume feeling to 
       be the self, nor the self as oblivious, nor that "My self 
       feels, in that my self is subject to feeling," then, not 
       assuming in this way, he is not sustained by anything in the 
       world.  Unsustained, he is not agitated.  Unagitated, he is 
       totally unbound right within.  He discerns that "Birth is 
       ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done.  There is 
       nothing further for this world." 
       
       'If anyone were to say with regard to a monk whose mind is 
       thus released that "The Tathagata exists after death," is 
       his view, that would be mistaken; that "The Tathagata does 
       not exist after death"...that "The Tathagata both exists & 
       does not exist after death"...that "The Tathagata neither 
       exists nor does not exist after death" is his view, that 
       would be mistaken.  Why?  Having directly known the extent 
       of designation and the extent of the objects of designation, 
       the extent of expression and the extent of the objects of 
       expression, the extent of description and the extent of the 
       objects of description, the extent of discernment and the 
       extent of the objects of discernment, the extent to which 
       the cycle revolves:  Having directly known that, the monk is 
       released.  (To say that,) "The monk released, having 
       directly known that, does not see, does not know is his 
       opinion," that would be mistaken.'  (This last sentence 
       means that the monk released is not an agnostic concerning 
       what lies beyond the extent of designation, and so forth.  
       He does know & see what lies beyond, even though--as Ven. 
       Sariputta said to Ven. MahaKotthita--he may not express it 
       inasmuch as it lies beyond differentiation.  See the 
       discussion on pages 31-32.)
  
                      D 15
  
  
  
    Views of the self can center around not only feeling, but also 
  physical form, perception, mental processes, & consciousness--the five 
  aggregates for sustenance--which, according to another passage in the 
  above discourse, cover the extent of what can be designated, 
  expressed, & described, but none of which, on investigation, can 
  rightfully be designated as self.
  
  
  
       I have heard that on one occasion the Master was staying at 
       Varanasi, in the Game Refuge at Isipatana.  There he 
       addressed the group of five monks: 
  
       'Physical form, monks, is not the self.  If physical form 
       were the self, this body would not lend itself to disease.  
       One could get physical form to be like this and not be like 
       that.  But precisely because physical form is not the self, 
       it lends itself to disease.  And one cannot get physical 
       form to be like this and not be like that.
  
       'Feeling is not the self...Perception is not the 
       self...Mental processes are not the self... 
       
       'Consciousness is not the self.  If consciousness were the 
       self, this consciousness would not lend itself to disease.  
       One could get consciousness to be like this and not be like 
       that.  But precisely because consciousness is not the self, 
       it lends itself to disease.  And one cannot get 
       consciousness to be like this and not be like that.
       
       'How do you construe thus, monks--Is physical form constant 
       or inconstant?'--'Inconstant, Lord.'--'And whatever is 
       inconstant:  Is it easeful or stressful?'--'Stressful, 
       Lord.'--'And is it right to assume with regard to whatever 
       is inconstant, stressful, subject to change, that "This is 
       mine.  This is my self.  This is what I am"?'--'No, Lord.'
       
       '...Is feeling constant or inconstant?...Is perception 
       constant or inconstant?...Are mental processes constant or 
       inconstant?... 
       
       'Is consciousness constant or inconstant?'--'Inconstant, 
       Lord.'--'And whatever is inconstant:  Is it easeful or 
       stressful?'--'Stressful, Lord.'--'And is it right to assume 
       with regard to whatever is inconstant, stressful, subject to 
       change, that "This is mine.  This is my self.  This is what 
       I am"?'--'No, Lord.'
       
       'Thus, monks, any physical form whatsoever--past, future, or 
       present; internal or external; blatant or subtle, common or 
       sublime, far or near:  every physical form--is to be seen as 
       it actually is with right discernment as:  "This is not 
       mine.  This is not my self.  This is not what I am." 
       
       'Any feeling whatsoever...Any perception whatsoever...Any 
       mental processes whatsoever...
       
       'Any consciousness whatsoever--past, future, or present; 
       internal or external; blatant or subtle, common or sublime, 
       far or near:  every consciousness--is to be seen as it 
       actually is with right discernment as:  "This is not mine.  
       This is not my self.  This is not what I am."
       
       'Seeing thus, the instructed noble disciple grows 
       disenchanted with the body, disenchanted with feeling, 
       disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with mental 
       processes, and disenchanted with consciousness.  
       Disenchanted, he grows dispassionate.  Through dispassion, 
       he is released.  With release, there is the knowledge, 
       "Released."  He discerns that "Birth is ended, the holy life 
       fulfilled, the task done.  There is nothing further for this 
       world."'
       
       That is what the Master said.  Glad at heart, the group of 
       five monks delighted at his words.  And while this 
       explanation was being given, the hearts of the group of five 
       monks, through not clinging (not being sustained), were 
       released from the mental effluents.
  
                      S xxii.59
  
  
  
    On the surface, doctrines about the self would appear simply to be 
  another variety of speculative view.  They deserve separate treatment, 
  though, because they all come down to a deeply rooted sense of 'I 
  am'--a conceit coloring all perception at the most basic level.
  
  
  
       Monks, whatever contemplatives or priests who assume in 
       various ways when assuming a self, all assume the five 
       aggregates for sustenance, or a certain one of them.  What 
       five?  There is the case where an uninstructed, 
       run-of-the-mill person...assumes the body to be the self, or 
       the self as possessing the body, the body as in the self, or 
       the self as in the body.  He assumes feeling to be the 
       self...perception to be the self...mental processes to be 
       the self...He assumes consciousness to be the self, or the 
       self as possessing consciousness, consciousness as in the 
       self, or the self as in consciousness. 
  
       Thus, both this assumption & the understanding, 'I am,' 
       occur to him.  And so it is with reference to the 
       understanding 'I am' that there is the appearance of the 
       five faculties--eye, ear, nose, tongue, & body (the senses 
       of vision, hearing, smell, taste, & touch). 
       
       Now, there is the intellect, there are ideas (mental 
       qualities), there is the property of ignorance.  To an 
       ordinary run-of-the-mill person, touched by experience born 
       of the contact of ignorance, there occur (the thoughts):  'I 
       am,' 'I am thus,' 'I shall be,' 'I shall not be,' 'I shall 
       be possessed of form,' 'I shall be formless,' 'I shall be 
       percipient (conscious),' 'I shall be non-percipient,' or 'I 
       shall be neither percipient nor non-percipient.'
       
       The five faculties, monks, continue as they were.  And with 
       regard to them the instructed noble disciple abandons 
       ignorance and gives rise to clear knowledge.  Owing to the 
       fading of ignorance, (the thoughts)--'I am,' 'I am 
       this,'...'I shall be neither percipient nor 
       non-percipient'--do not occur to him.
  
                      S xxii.47
  
  
  
    The sense of 'I am' can prevent a person from reaching the goal, 
  even when he feels that he has abandoned attachment to sensuality, 
  speculative views, & the experience of jhana.
  
  
  
       There is the case, monks, where a certain contemplative or 
       priest, with the abandonment of speculations about the past 
       and the abandonment of speculations about the future, from 
       the thorough lack of resolve for the fetters of sensuality, 
       and from the surmounting of the rapture of withdrawal (in 
       the first level of jhana), non-material pleasure and the 
       feeling of neither pleasure nor pain (in the fourth level of 
       jhana), thinks, 'I am at peace, I am unbound, I am without 
       clinging/ sustenance!'
       
       In this regard, the Tathagata perceives:  'This venerable 
       contemplative or priest, with the abandonment of 
       speculations about the past...thinks, "I am at peace, I am 
       unbound, I am without clinging/sustenance!'  To be sure, he 
       affirms the practice conducive to Unbinding.  Still, he 
       clings, clinging to a speculative view about the past or...a 
       speculative view about the future...or a fetter of 
       sensuality...or the rapture of withdrawal...or formless 
       pleasure...or a feeling of neither pleasure nor pain.  And 
       the fact that he thinks, "I am at peace, I am unbound, I am 
       without clinging/sustenance!"--that in itself proclaims his 
       clinging.' 
  
       Now, with regard to that--conditioned, gross--there is still 
       this: the stopping of mental processes.  Knowing this, 
       seeing the emancipation from it, the Tathagata has gone 
       beyond it.
  
                      M 102
  
  
  
    Whereas the contemplative or priest under discussion in this 
  passage reads an 'I' into what he is experiencing, the Buddha simply 
  observes that 'There is this....'  This unadorned observation--which 
  simply sees what is present in an experience as present, and what is 
  absent as absent--is treated in detail in the Lesser Discourse on 
  Voidness.  There the Buddha describes how to develop it methodically, 
  in ascending stages passing through the levels of jhana--in this case 
  based on the object 'earth', or solidity--and leading ultimately to 
  Awakening.
  
  
  
       Ananda, just as this palace of Migara's mother (in the 
       monastery constructed by Lady Visakha near Savatthi) is 
       devoid of elephants, cattle & mares, devoid of gold & 
       silver, devoid of assemblies of women & men, and there is 
       only this non-voidness--the singleness based on the 
       community of monks; even so, Ananda, a monk--not attending 
       to the perception (mental note) of village, not attending to 
       the perception of human being--attends to the singleness 
       based on the perception of forest.  His mind takes pleasure, 
       finds satisfaction, settles, & indulges in its perception of 
       forest.  
       
       He discerns that 'Whatever disturbances would exist based on 
       the perception of village...whatever disturbances would 
       exist based on the perception of human being, are not 
       present.  There is only this modicum of disturbance:  the 
       singleness based on the perception of forest.'  He discerns 
       that 'This mode of perception is void of the perception of 
       village.  This mode of perception is void of the perception 
       of human being.  There is only this non-voidness:  the 
       singleness based on the perception of forest.'  Thus he 
       regards it as void of whatever is not there.  Whatever 
       remains, he discerns as present:  'There is this.'  And so 
       this, his entry into voidness, accords with actuality, is 
       undistorted in meaning, & pure. 
       
       Further, Ananda, the monk--not attending to the perception 
       of human being, not attending to the perception of 
       forest--attends to the singleness based on the perception of 
       earth.  His mind takes pleasure, finds satisfaction, 
       settles, & indulges in its perception of earth.  Just as a 
       bull's hide is stretched free from wrinkles with a hundred 
       stakes, even so--without attending to all the ridges & 
       hollows, the river ravines, the tracts of stumps & thorns, 
       the craggy irregularities of this earth--he attends to the 
       singleness based on the perception of earth.  His 
       mind...settles & indulges in its perception of earth. 
       
       He discerns that 'Whatever disturbances would exist based on 
       the perception of human being...whatever disturbances would 
       exist based on the perception of forest, are not present.  
       There is only this modicum of disturbance:  the singleness 
       based on the perception of earth.'  He discerns that 'This 
       mode of perception is void of the perception of human 
       being...void of the perception of forest.  There is only 
       this non-voidness:  the singleness based on the perception 
       of earth.'  Thus he regards it as void of whatever is not 
       there.  Whatever remains, he discerns as present:  'There is 
       this.'  And so this, his entry into voidness, accords with 
       actuality, is undistorted in meaning, & pure.
       
       Further, Ananda, the monk--not attending to the perception 
       of forest, not attending to the perception of earth--attends 
       to the singleness based on the perception of the sphere of 
       the infinitude of space...(and so on through the four levels 
       of formless jhana. Then:)
       
       Further, Ananda, the monk--not attending to the perception 
       of the sphere of nothingness, not attending to the 
       perception of the sphere of neither perception nor 
       non-perception--attends to the singleness based on the 
       signless concentration of awareness.  His mind takes 
       pleasure, finds satisfaction, settles, & indulges in its 
       signless concentration of awareness. 
       
       He discerns that 'Whatever disturbances would exist based on 
       the perception of the sphere of nothingness...whatever 
       disturbances would exist based on the perception of the 
       sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, are not 
       present.  And there is only this modicum of disturbance:  
       that connected with the six sensory spheres, dependent on 
       this very body with life as its condition.'  He discerns 
       that 'This mode of perception is void....(etc.)'
       
       Further, Ananda, the monk--not attending to the perception 
       of the sphere of nothingness, not attending to the 
       perception of the sphere of neither perception nor 
       non-perception--attends to the singleness based on the 
       signless concentration of awareness.  His mind takes 
       pleasure, finds satisfaction, settles, & indulges in its 
       signless concentration of awareness. 
       
       He discerns that 'This signless concentration of awareness 
       is fabricated & mentally fashioned.'  And he discerns that 
       'Whatever is fabricated & mentally fashioned is inconstant & 
       subject to stopping.'  For him--thus knowing, thus 
       seeing--the mind is released from the effluent of 
       sensuality, the effluent of becoming, the effluent of 
       ignorance.  With release, there is the knowledge, 
       'Released.'  He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life 
       fulfilled, the task done.  There is nothing further for this 
       world.' 
       
       He discerns that 'Whatever disturbances would exist based on 
       the effluent of sensuality...the effluent of becoming...the 
       effluent of ignorance, are not present.  And there is only 
       this modicum of disturbance:  that connected with the six 
       sensory spheres, dependent on this very body with life as 
       its condition.'  He discerns that 'This mode of perception 
       is void of the effluent of 
       sensuality...becoming...ignorance.  And there is just this 
       non-voidness:  that connected with the six sensory spheres, 
       dependent on this very body with life as its condition.'  
       Thus he regards it as void of whatever is not there.  
       Whatever remains, he discerns as present:  'There is this.'  
       And so this, his entry into voidness, accords with 
       actuality, is undistorted in meaning, pure--
       
                           superior & unsurpassed.
  
                      M 121
  
  
  
     Ananda:  It is said that the world is void, the world is 
       void, venerable sir.   In what respect is it said that the 
       world is void?
  
     The Buddha:  Insofar as it is void of a self or of anything 
       pertaining to a self:  Thus it is said that the world is 
       void.  And what is void of a self or of anything pertaining 
       to a self?  The eye is void of a self or of anything 
       pertaining to a self.  Forms...Visual consciousness...Visual 
       contact is void of a self or of anything pertaining to a 
       self.
  
       The ear...The nose...The tongue...The body...
       
       The intellect is void of a self or of anything pertaining to 
       a self.  Ideas...Mental consciousness...Mental contact is 
       void of a self or of anything pertaining to a self.  Thus it 
       is said that the world is void.
  
                      S.xxxv.85
  
  
  
    In abandoning the notion of self with regard to the world--here 
  defined in the same terms as the 'All' (page 31, above)--the Buddha 
  did not, however, hold to a theory that there is no self. 
  
  
  
       Having taken a seat to one side, Vacchagotta the wanderer 
       said to the Master, 'Now then, Venerable Gotama, is there a 
       self?'  When this was said, the Master was silent.
  
       'Then is there no self?'  Again, the Master was silent.
       
       Then Vacchagotta the wanderer got up from his seat and left.
       
       Then, not long after Vacchagotta the wanderer had left, the 
       Venerable Ananda said to the Master, 'Why, sir, did the 
       Master not answer when asked a question asked by Vacchagotta 
       the wanderer?'
       
       'Ananda, if I, being asked by Vacchagotta the wanderer if 
       there is a self, were to answer that there is a self, that 
       would be conforming with those priests & contemplatives who 
       are exponents of eternalism (i.e., the view that there is an 
       eternal soul).  And if I...were to answer that there is no 
       self, that would be conforming with those priests & 
       contemplatives who are exponents of annihilationism (i.e. 
       that death is the annihilation of consciousness).  If 
       I...were to answer that there is a self, would that be in 
       keeping with the arising of knowledge that all phenomena are 
       not-self?
       
       'No, Lord.'
       
       'And if I...were to answer that there is no self, the 
       bewildered Vacchagotta would become even more bewildered:  
       "Does the self that I used to have, now not exist?"'
  
                      S xliv.10
  
    This dialogue is one of the most controversial in the Canon.  Those 
  who hold that the Buddha took a position one way or the other on the 
  question of whether or not there is a self have to explain away the 
  Buddha's silence, and usually do so by focusing on his final statement 
  to Ananda.  If someone else more spiritually mature than Vacchagotta 
  had asked the question, they say, the Buddha would have revealed his 
  true position.  
    
    This interpretation, though, ignores the fact that of the Buddha's 
  four express reasons for not answering the question, only the last is 
  specific to Vacchagotta.  The first two hold true no matter who is 
  asking the question:  To say that there is or is not a self would be 
  to fall into one of two philosophical positions that the Buddha 
  frequently attacked as incompatible with his teaching.  As for his 
  third reason, the Buddha wanted to be consistent with 'the arising of 
  knowledge that all phenomena are not-self,' not because he felt that 
  this knowledge was worth holding onto in & of itself (cf. his 
  statement to Upasiva, on page 28, that in the experience of the goal 
  all phenomena are done away with), but because he saw that the arising 
  of such knowledge could, through causing the mind to let go of all 
  forms of clinging/sustenance, lead to liberation.  
    
    This point becomes clear when we compare the exchange with 
  Vacchagotta, given above, to this one with Mogharaja:  
  
       
  
     Mogharaja:
       In what way does one view the world
       so that the King of Death does not see one?
  
     The Buddha:
       Having removed any view 
            in terms of self,
       always mindful, Mogharaja,
            view the world as void.
       This way one is above & beyond death.
       This is the way one views the world
       so that the King of Death does not see one.
  
                      Sn v.16
  
       
  
    The fundamental difference between this dialogue & the preceding 
  one lies in the questions asked:  In the first, Vacchagotta asks the 
  Buddha to take a position on the metaphysical question of whether or 
  not there is a self, and the Buddha remains silent.  In the second, 
  Mogharaja asks for a way to view the world so that one can go beyond 
  death, and the Buddha speaks, teaching him to view the world without 
  reference to the notion of self.  
    
    This suggests that, instead of being a metaphysical assertion that 
  there is no self, the teaching on not-self is more a strategy, a 
  technique of perception aimed at leading beyond death to Unbinding--a 
  way of perceiving things that involves no self-identification, no 
  sense that 'I am', no attachment to 'I' or 'mine.'   And this would be 
  in keeping with the discernment the Buddha recommends in the Discourse 
  on the Supreme Net (see page 64):  one that judges views not in terms 
  of their content, but in terms of where they come from and where they 
  lead.
    
    If a person aiming at Unbinding is not to view the world in terms 
  of self, then in what terms should he or she view it?  The Buddha's 
  comment to Anuradha (page 25)--'It is only stress that I describe, and 
  the stopping of stress'--suggests an answer, and this answer is borne 
  out by a series of other passages in the Canon. 
  
  
  
       'Lord, "Right view, right view," it is said.  In what 
       respect is there right view?'
       
       'By & large, Kaccayana, this world is supported by (takes as 
       its object) a polarity, that of existence & non-existence.  
       But when one sees the origin of the world as it actually is 
       with right discernment, "non-existence" with reference to 
       the world does not occur to him.  When he sees the stopping 
       of the world as it actually is with right discernment, 
       "existence" with reference to the world does not occur to 
       him. 
       
       'By & large, Kaccayana, this world is in bondage to 
       attachments, clingings (sustenances), & biases.  But the 
       awareness of a person such as this is not attached, does not 
       cling to these attachments, clingings, fixations, biases, & 
       propensities; nor is it resolved on "my self."  He has no 
       uncertainty or doubt that, when there is arising, only 
       stress is arising; and that when there is passing away, only 
       stress is passing away.  In this, his knowledge is 
       independent of others.  It is in this respect, Kaccayana, 
       that there is right view.'
  
                      S xii.15
  
  
  
       There is the case where an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill 
       person...does not discern what ideas are fit for attention, 
       or what ideas are unfit for attention.  This being so, he 
       does not attend to ideas fit for attention, and attends 
       (instead) to ideas unfit for attention...This is how he 
       attends inaptly:   'Was I in the past?  Was I not in the 
       past? What was I in the past?  How was I in the past?  
       Having been what, what was I in the past?  Shall I be in the 
       future?  Shall I not be in the future?  What shall I be in 
       the future?  How shall I be in the future?  Having been 
       what, what shall I be in the future?'  Or else he is 
       inwardly perplexed about the immediate present:  'Am I?  Am 
       I not?  What am I?  How am I?  Where has this being come 
       from?  Where is it bound?'
  
       As this person attends inaptly in this way, one of six kinds 
       of view arises in him:  The view I have a self arises in him 
       as true & established, or the view I have no self...or the 
       view It is precisely because of self that I perceive 
       self...or the view It is precisely because of self that I 
       perceive not-self...or the view It is precisely because of 
       not-self that I perceive self arises in him as true & 
       established, or else he has a view like this:  This very 
       self of mine--the knower that is sensitive here & there to 
       the ripening of good & bad actions--is the self of mine that 
       is constant, everlasting, eternal, not subject to change, 
       and will endure as long as eternity.  This is called a 
       thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of 
       views, a writhing of views, a fetter of views.  Bound by a 
       fetter of views, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person  is 
       not freed from birth, ageing, & death, from sorrow, 
       lamentation, pain, grief, & despair.  He is not freed from 
       stress, I say.
       
       The well-taught noble disciple...discerns what ideas are fit 
       for attention, and what ideas are unfit for attention.  This 
       being so, he does not attend to ideas unfit for attention, 
       and attends (instead) to ideas fit for attention...He 
       attends aptly, This is stress...This is the origin of 
       stress...This is the stopping of stress...This is the way 
       leading to the stopping of stress.  As he attends aptly in 
       this way, three fetters are abandoned in him:  
       identity-view, doubt, and grasping at precepts & practices.
  
                      M 2
  
  
  
       Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress:  Birth is 
       stressful, ageing is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, 
       lamentation, pain, grief, & despair are stressful; 
       association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from 
       the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is 
       stressful.  In short, the five aggregates for sustenance are 
       stressful.
       
       And this, monks, is the noble truth of the origination of 
       stress:  the craving that makes for further 
       becoming--accompanied by passion & delight, relishing now 
       here & now there--i.e., craving for sensual pleasure, 
       craving for becoming, craving for non-becoming.
       
       And this, monks, is the noble truth of the stopping of 
       stress:  the remainderless fading & stopping, renunciation, 
       relinquishment, release & letting go of that very craving.
       
       And this, monks, is the noble truth of the way leading to 
       the stopping of stress:  precisely this Noble Eightfold 
       Path--right view, right intention, right speech, right 
       action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, 
       right concentration.
       
       Vision arose, insight arose, discernment arose, knowledge 
       arose, illumination arose within me with regard to things 
       never heard before: 'This is the noble truth of 
       stress'...'This noble truth of stress is to be 
       comprehended'...'This noble truth of stress has been 
       comprehended'...'This is the noble truth of the origination 
       of stress'...'This noble truth of the origination of stress 
       is to be abandoned'...'This noble truth of the origination 
       of stress has been abandoned'...'This is the noble truth of 
       the stopping of stress'...'This noble truth of the stopping 
       of stress is to be directly experienced'...'This noble truth 
       of the stopping of stress has been directly 
       experienced'...'This is the noble truth of the way leading 
       to the stopping of stress'...'This noble truth of the way 
       leading to the stopping of stress is to be 
       developed'...'This noble truth of the way leading to the 
       stopping of stress has been developed.'
       
       And, monks, as long as this knowledge & vision of mine--with 
       its three rounds and twelve permutations concerning these 
       four noble truths as they actually are--was not pure, I did 
       not claim to have directly awakened to the unexcelled right 
       self-awakening...But as soon as this knowledge & vision of 
       mine--with its three rounds and twelve permutations 
       concerning these four noble truths as they actually are--was 
       truly pure, then did I claim to have directly awakened to 
       the unexcelled right self-awakening...The knowledge & vision 
       arose in me:  'Unprovoked is my release.  This is the last 
       birth.  There is now no further becoming.'
  
                      S lvi.11
  
  
  
       Just as if there were a pool of water in a mountain 
       glen--clear, limpid & unsullied--where a man with good eyes 
       standing on the bank could see shells, gravel & pebbles, and 
       also shoals of fish swimming about & resting, and it would 
       occur to him, 'This pool of water is clear, limpid & 
       unsullied.  Here are these shells, gravel & pebbles, and 
       also these shoals of fish swimming about & resting.'  So 
       too, the monk discerns as it actually is, that 'This is 
       stress...This is the origination of stress...This is the 
       stopping of stress...This is the way leading to the stopping 
       of stress...These are mental effluents...This is the 
       origination of mental effluents...This is the stopping of 
       mental effluents...This is the way leading to the stopping 
       of mental effluents.'  His heart, thus knowing, thus seeing, 
       is released from the effluent of sensuality, released from 
       the effluent of becoming, released from the effluent of 
       ignorance.  With release, there is the knowledge, 
       'Released.'  He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life 
       fulfilled, the task done.  There is nothing further for this 
       world.'
  
       This, great king, is a fruit of the contemplative life, 
       visible here & now, more excellent than the previous ones 
       and more sublime.  And as for another visible fruit of the 
       contemplative life, higher & more sublime than this, there 
       is none.
  
                      D 2
  
       
  
    Thus for the person who aims at Unbinding, the Buddha recommends a 
  technique of perception that regards things simply in terms of the 
  four truths concerning stress, with no self-identification, no sense 
  that 'I am', no attachment to 'I' or 'mine' involved.  Although, as 
  the following passage states, there may be a temporary, functional 
  identity to one's range of perception, this 'identity' goes no further 
  than that.  One recognizes it for what it is:  inconstant & 
  conditioned, and thus not worthy of being taken as a self--for in 
  transcending attachment to it, there is the realization of 
  deathlessness.
  
  
  
     Ananda:  'It is wonderful, sir; it is marvelous.  For truly, 
       the Master has pointed out the way to cross over the flood 
       by going from one support to the next.  But what then, sir, 
       is the Noble Liberation?'
     
     The Buddha:  'There is the case, Ananda, where a noble 
       disciple considers that "Sensual pleasure here & now and in 
       lives to come; form here & now and in lives to come; 
       perceptions of form here & now and in lives to come; 
       perceptions of imperturbability, perceptions of the sphere 
       of nothingness, perceptions of the sphere of neither 
       perception nor non-perception:  (All) that is an identity, 
       to the extent that there is identity.  (But) this is 
       deathless: the liberation of the mind through lack of 
       clinging/sustenance."'
  
                      M 106
  
   
  
    Once the sense of self is transcended, its polar opposite--the 
  sense of something standing in contradistinction to a self--is 
  transcended as well.  In the Discourse at Kalaka's Park, the Buddha 
  expresses this lack of a self/non-self polarity directly in terms of 
  sensory experience.  For a person who has attained the goal, 
  experience occurs with no 'subject' or 'object' superimposed on it, no 
  construing of experience or thing experienced.  There is simply the 
  experience in & of itself.
  
  
  
       Monks, whatever in this world--with its gods, Maras & 
       Brahmas, its generations complete with contemplatives & 
       priests, princes & men--is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, 
       attained, sought after, pondered by the intellect:  That do 
       I know.  Whatever in this world...is seen, heard, sensed, 
       cognized, attained, sought after, pondered by the intellect:  
       That I directly know.  That is known by the Tathagata, but 
       the Tathagata has not been obsessed with it...
       
       Thus, monks, the Tathagata, when seeing what is to be seen, 
       does not construe an (object as) seen.  He does not construe 
       an unseen.  He does not construe an (object) to-be-seen.  He 
       does not construe a seer.
       
       When hearing...When sensing...
       
       When cognizing what is to be cognized, he does not construe 
       an (object as) cognized.  He does not construe an 
       uncognized.  He does not construe an (object) 
       to-be-cognized.  He does not construe a cognizer.
       
       Thus, monks, the Tathagata--being such-like with regard to 
       all phenomena that can be seen, heard, sensed, & 
       cognized--is 'Such.'  And I tell you:  There is no other 
       'Such' higher or more sublime.
       
       Whatever is seen or heard or sensed
            and fastened onto as true by others,
       One who is Such--among those who are self-bound--
       would not further assume to be true or even false.
       Having seen well in advance that arrow
            where generations are fastened & hung
            --'I know, I see, that's just how it is!'--
       There is nothing of the Tathagata fastened.
       
       A iv.24
  
    A view is true or false only when one is judging how accurately it 
  refers to something else.  If one is regarding it simply as an event 
  in & of itself, true & false no longer apply.  Thus for the 
  Tathagata--who no longer needs to impose notions of subject or object 
  on experience, and can regard sights, sounds, feelings, & thoughts 
  purely in & of themselves--views are not necessarily true or false, 
  but can simply serve as phenomena to be experienced.  With no notion 
  of subject, there is no grounds for 'I know, I see;' with no notion of 
  object, no grounds for 'That's just how it is.'  So--although a 
  Tathagata may continue using 'true' & 'false' in the course of 
  teaching others, and may continue reflecting on right view as a means 
  of abiding mindfully & comfortably in the present--notions of true, 
  false, self, & not self have lost all their holding power over the 
  mind.  As a result, the mind can see conditioned events in their 
  suchness--'such are the aggregates, such their origin, such their 
  disappearance'--and is left free to its own Suchness:  unrestrained, 
  uninfluenced by anything of any sort.
  
                                 * * *
  
    This concludes our survey of the four modes of 
  clinging/sustenance--passion & delight for sensuality, for views, for 
  precepts & practices, and for doctrines of the self--and should be 
  enough to give a sense of what is loosed in the Unbinding of the mind.  
  All that remains now is the question of how.  
    
    Many of the passages we have considered seem to suggest that total 
  Unbinding may be realized by letting go of any one of these four modes 
  of sustenance.  What most likely happens in such cases, though, is 
  that the abandoning of one mode immediately triggers an abandoning of 
  the remaining three, for there are other cases reported in the Canon 
  where the experience of Unbinding comes in stages spread over time:  
  the arising of the eye of Dhamma, which frees one from passion & 
  delight for doubt, self-identity views, and grasping at precepts & 
  practices; the attainment of Non-returning, which frees one from 
  passion & delight for sensuality; and the attainment of Arahantship, 
  which frees one from passion & delight for all views, the practice of 
  jhana, & the conceit 'I am.'   Why these stages happen in this order, 
  and how they relate to the practices meant to induce them, is what we 
  will take up next.
  
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