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 well-taught noble disciple, who has regard for noble ones and is skilled and disciplined in their Dhamma, who has regard for true men and is skilled and disciplined in their Dhamma, does not regard form as self, or self as possessing form, or form as in self, or self as in form. He does not regard 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 does not come to be.

What, lady, is the Noble Eightfold Path?

It is this Noble Eightfold Path, friend Visakha, that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.

Is the Noble Eightfold Path conditioned or unconditioned, lady? The Noble Eightfold Path, friend Visakha, is conditioned.

By the Noble Eightfold Path, lady, are the three aggregates included, or does the Noble Eightfold Path include the three aggregates?

Not by the Noble Eightfold Path, friend Visakha, are the three aggregates included; but the three aggregates include the Noble Eightfold Path. Right speech, right action, and right livelihood, these states are included in the aggregate of virtue.

Right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration, these states are included in the aggregate of concentration. Right view and right intention, these states are included in the aggregate of wisdom.

Friend Visakha, concentration is the unification of the mind; the four foundations of mindfulness are the signs of concentration; the four right efforts are the requisites for concentration. The frequent practice and cultivation of these very states is the development of concentration here.

How many formations are there, lady?

There are three formations, friend Visakha: bodily formation, verbal formation, and mental formation. What, lady, is the bodily formation, what is the verbal formation, what is the mental formation? In-breathing and out-breathing, friend Visakha, are the bodily formation; thought and examination are the verbal formation; perception and feeling are the mental formation.

Why, lady, are in-breathing and out-breathing the bodily formation, why are thought and examination the verbal formation, why are perception and feeling the mental formation?

In-breathing and out-breathing, friend Visakha, are bodily; these states are bound up with the body, that's why in-breathing and out-breathing are the bodily formation.

Having first thought and examined, one afterwards breaks into speech, that's why thought and examination are the verbal formation. Perception and feeling are mental; these states are bound up with the mind, that's why perception and feeling are the mental formation.

How, lady, does attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling occur? For a disciple who is entering the cessation of perception and feeling, friend Visakha, it does not occur to him: I shall enter the cessation of perception and feeling or I am entering the cessation of perception and feeling or I have entered the cessation of perception and feeling. But rather his mind has previously been developed in such a way that it leads him to that state.

For a disciple entering the cessation of perception and feeling, lady, which states cease first: the bodily formation, the verbal formation, or the mental formation?

For a disciple entering the cessation of perception and feeling, friend Visakha, the verbal formation ceases first, then the bodily formation, then the mental formation. How, lady, does emergence from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling occur?

For a disciple emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, friend Visakha, it does not occur to him: I shall emerge from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling or I am emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling or I have emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling. But rather his mind has previously been developed in such a way that it leads him to that state.

For a disciple emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, lady, which states arise first: the bodily formation, the verbal formation, or the mental formation?

For a disciple emerging from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, friend Visakha, the mental formation arises first, then the bodily formation, then the verbal formation.

For a disciple emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, lady, how many kinds of contact touch him?

For a disciple emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, friend Visakha, three kinds of contact touch him: voidness contact, signless contact, and desireless contact.

For a disciple emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, lady, in what way is his mind inclined?

For a disciple emerged from the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling, friend Visakha, his mind inclines towards seclusion, leans towards seclusion, tends towards seclusion.

How many feelings are there, lady? There are these three feelings, friend Visakha: pleasant feeling, painful feeling, and neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.

What, lady, is pleasant feeling, what is painful feeling, what is neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling? Whatever is felt bodily or mentally as pleasant and satisfying is pleasant feeling; whatever is felt bodily or mentally as painful and unsatisfying is painful feeling; whatever is felt bodily or mentally as neither satisfying nor unsatisfying is neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. Is pleasant feeling pleasant or painful, lady, is painful feeling pleasant or painful, is neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling pleasant or painful?

Pleasant feeling, friend Visakha, is pleasant when it persists, painful when it changes; painful feeling is painful when it persists, pleasant when it changes; neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling is pleasant in knowing, painful in ignorance.

What underlying tendency lies latent in pleasant feeling, lady, what underlying tendency lies latent in painful feeling, what underlying tendency lies latent in neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling? The underlying tendency to lust lies latent in pleasant feeling, friend Visakha, the underlying tendency to aversion lies latent in painful feeling, the underlying tendency to ignorance lies latent in neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling.

You are followed by attachment, she said. 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, she said.

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, she said.

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.

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, she said.

But, lady, what is the counterpart for pleasant feeling? For pleasant feeling, friend Visakha, painful feeling is the counterpart, she said. And for painful feeling, lady, what is the counterpart? For painful feeling, friend Visakha, pleasant feeling is the counterpart, she said. And for neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, lady, what is the counterpart? For neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling, friend Visakha, ignorance is the counterpart, she said.

And for ignorance, lady, what is the counterpart? For ignorance, friend Visakha, knowing is the counterpart, she said. And for knowing, lady, what is the counterpart? For knowing, friend Visakha, liberation is the counterpart, she said. And for liberation, lady, what is the counterpart? For liberation, friend Visakha, Nibbana is the counterpart, she said.

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, she said.

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.