Under the Bodhi Tree by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu

Author:Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Wisdom Publications

12 Damming the Streams of Suffering

Friends, any group of wanderers or priests when regarding things70 tends to regard self as existing in various ways. All of those wanderers or priests regard the five clinging-together aggregates collectively or one or another of the five clinging-together aggregates as being self.

What are the clinging-together aggregates? In this world, worldlings who have not paid attention, who have not seen noble ones, are not intelligent regarding the noble ones’ Dhamma, and have not received the Dhamma advice of the noble ones, and who have not seen true gentlemen, are not intelligent regarding the Dhamma of true gentlemen, and have not received the Dhamma advice of true gentlemen: (1) tend to regard form as being self, or regard self as having form, or regard form as being in self, or regard self as being in form; (2) tend to regard feeling as being self, or regard self as having feeling, or regard feeling as being in self, or regard self as being in feeling; (3) tend to regard perception as being self, or regard self as having perception, or regard perception as being in self, or regard self as being in perception; (4) tend to regard thought as being self, or regard self as having thought, or regard thought as being in self, or regard self as being in thought; and (5) tend to regard consciousness as being self, or regard self as having consciousness, or regard consciousness as being in self, or regard self as being in consciousness.

So it is that the regarding of self occurs, and so such thicksters also take possession of things regarded as self with “I am.”

When one takes possession with “I am,” the descent of the five faculties occurs, namely the eye-faculty, ear-faculty, nose-faculty, tongue-faculty, and body-faculty.

There is mind (as a sense door), there are phenomena (as objects of experience), and there is the ignorance-element.

When the untrained worlding experiences the feelings arising through ignorant contact, there is appropriation with “I am,” with “this is me,” with “I will be,” with “I will not be,” with “I will have form,” with “I will not have form,” with “I will have perception,” with “I will not have perception,” or with “I will neither have perception nor be without perception.”

The five faculties remain established amidst these appropriations. However, in the case that ignorance is something naturally abandoned by noble well-trained disciples, right knowing arises. With the arising of right knowing through the complete vomiting up of ignorance by that noble disciple, there is no appropriation with “I am,” nor with “this is me,” nor with “I will be,” nor with “I will not be,” nor with “I will have form,” nor with “I will not have form,” nor with “I will have perception,” nor with “I will not have perception,” nor with “I will neither have perception nor be without perception” in the noble disciple.71

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