MN44 — The Shorter Series of Questions and Answers
Thus have I heard: At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling at Rajagaha in the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel's Sanctuary.
Then Visakha, the lay follower, went to the nun Dhammadinna; having approached, after paying homage to the nun Dhammadinna, he sat down to one side. Sitting to one side, Visakha, the lay follower, said to the nun Dhammadinna:
Personality, personality, it is said, lady. What, lady, is the personality as declared by the Blessed One?
These five aggregates subject to clinging are the personality as declared by the Blessed One, friend Visakha, that is, the form aggregate subject to clinging, the feeling aggregate subject to clinging, the perception aggregate subject to clinging, the formations aggregate subject to clinging, the consciousness aggregate subject to clinging. These, friend Visakha, are the five aggregates subject to clinging as the personality as declared by the Blessed One.
Excellent, said Visakha, the lay follower, rejoicing and approving of the nun Dhammadinna's words, then he asked a further question:
The origin of personality, the origin of personality, it is said, lady. What, lady, is the origin of personality as declared by the Blessed One?
It is this craving, friend Visakha, which leads to rebirth, bound up with delight and lust, finding delight here and there; namely, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for non-existence. This, friend Visakha, is the origin of personality as declared by the Blessed One.
The cessation of personality, the cessation of personality, it is said, lady. What, lady, is the cessation of personality as declared by the Blessed One?
It is the remainderless fading and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, non-reliance on it. This, friend Visakha, is the cessation of personality as declared by the Blessed One.
The path leading to the cessation of personality, the path leading to the cessation of personality, it is said, lady. What, lady, is the path leading to the cessation of personality as declared by the Blessed One?
It is this Noble Eightfold Path, friend Visakha, that is the path leading to the cessation of personality as declared by the Blessed One, that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
Is that clinging the same as these five aggregates subject to clinging, or is it something apart from the five aggregates subject to clinging?
It is neither the same as these five aggregates subject to clinging, nor is it something apart from them. The desire and lust for them, that is the clinging there.
How does personality view come to be, lady?
Here, friend Visakha, an untaught ordinary person, who has no regard for noble ones and is unskilled and undisciplined in their Dhamma, who has no regard for true men and is unskilled and undisciplined in their Dhamma, regards form as self, or self as possessing form, or form as in self, or self as in form. He regards feeling... perception... formations... consciousness as self, or self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in self, or self as in consciousness. This is how personality view comes to be.
How does personality view not come to be, lady?
Here, friend Visakha, a disciple, having secluded himself from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, enters and remains in the first jhana, which is accompanied by applied and sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion. He abandons lust, there is no following of lust.
Here, friend Visakha, a disciple reflects: When will I enter and remain in that base that the noble ones now enter and remain in? Thus, there is the arising of longing, conditioned by longing is distress. He abandons aversion, there is no following of aversion.
Here, friend Visakha, a disciple, having abandoned pleasure and pain, and with the previous disappearance of joy and grief, enters and remains in the fourth jhana, which is neither-painful-nor-pleasant and includes the purity of mindfulness due to equanimity. He abandons ignorance, there is no following of ignorance.
Is it, lady, that for all pleasant feeling, attachment follows, for all painful feeling, aversion follows, and for all neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, ignorance follows?
No, friend Visakha, not for all pleasant feeling does attachment follow, not for all painful feeling does aversion follow, not for all neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling does ignorance follow.
But, lady, what should be abandoned for pleasant feeling, what should be abandoned for painful feeling, what should be abandoned for neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling?
For pleasant feeling, friend Visakha, attachment should be abandoned, for painful feeling, aversion should be abandoned, for neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, ignorance should be abandoned.
Is it, lady, that for all pleasant feeling, attachment should be abandoned, for all painful feeling, aversion should be abandoned, for all neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, ignorance should be abandoned?
No, friend Visakha, not for all pleasant feeling should attachment be abandoned, not for all painful feeling should aversion be abandoned, not for all neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling should ignorance be abandoned.
And for pleasant feeling, lady, what is the counterpart? For pleasant feeling, friend Visakha, painful feeling is the counterpart.
And for painful feeling, lady, what is the counterpart? For painful feeling, friend Visakha, pleasant feeling is the counterpart.
And for neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, lady, what is the counterpart? For neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, friend Visakha, ignorance is the counterpart.
And for ignorance, lady, what is the counterpart? For ignorance, friend Visakha, knowing is the counterpart.
And for knowing, lady, what is the counterpart? For knowing, friend Visakha, liberation is the counterpart.
And for liberation, lady, what is the counterpart? For liberation, friend Visakha, Nibbana is the counterpart.
And for Nibbana, lady, what is the counterpart?
You have gone beyond, friend Visakha, with this question, and cannot grasp the limit.
For, friend Visakha, the holy life is lived with Nibbana as its goal, Nibbana as its final end. And you may wish, friend Visakha, to approach the Blessed One and ask him this question, and as the Blessed One explains it to you, so you should remember it.
Then Visakha the lay follower, having delighted and rejoiced in the Bhikkhuni Dhammadinna's words, rose from his seat, paid homage to her, and, keeping her on his right, he went to the Blessed One.
After paying homage to him, he sat down at one side and reported to the Blessed One his entire conversation with the Bhikkhuni Dhammadinna. When he had finished, the Blessed One said: Visakha, the Bhikkhuni Dhammadinna is wise, she has great wisdom. If you had asked me that question, I would have answered it in the same way she did.
That is the meaning, and you should remember it, said the Blessed One. Visakha the lay follower was pleased and rejoiced in the Blessed One's words.