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SN 18.21PTS SN 2.2521 min read

Tendency

Anusayasutta

Rāhula asks how to see so that conceit no longer occurs. The Buddha teaches him to investigate the five aggregates in terms of not-self.

Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 18.21Linked Discourses 18.21
  • 0.22. DutiyavaggaChapter Two

0.3AnusayasuttaTendency

1.1Sāvatthiyaṁ viharati.At Sāvatthī.

1.2Atha kho āyasmā rāhulo yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami; upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṁ abhivādetvā ekamantaṁ nisīdi. Ekamantaṁ nisinno kho āyasmā rāhulo bhagavantaṁ etadavoca:Then Venerable Rāhula went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and said to him:

1.3“kathaṁ nu kho, bhante, jānato kathaṁ passato imasmiñca saviññāṇake kāye bahiddhā ca sabbanimittesu ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā na hontī”ti?“Sir, how does one know and see so that there’s no I-making, mine-making, or underlying tendency to conceit for this conscious body and externally for all signs?”1

1.4“Yaṁ kiñci, rāhula, rūpaṁ atītānāgatapaccuppannaṁ ajjhattaṁ vā bahiddhā vā oḷārikaṁ vā sukhumaṁ vā hīnaṁ vā paṇītaṁ vā yaṁ dūre santike vā, sabbaṁ rūpaṁ ‘netaṁ mama, nesohamasmi, na meso attā’ti evametaṁ yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.“Rāhula, one truly sees any kind of form at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; solid or subtle; inferior or superior; far or near: <em>all</em> form—with right understanding: ‘This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.’1.5Yā kāci vedanā …pe…One truly sees any kind of feeling …1.6yā kāci saññā …perception …1.7ye keci saṅkhārā …choices …1.8yaṁ kiñci viññāṇaṁ atītānāgatapaccuppannaṁ ajjhattaṁ vā bahiddhā vā oḷārikaṁ vā sukhumaṁ vā hīnaṁ vā paṇītaṁ vā yaṁ dūre santike vā, sabbaṁ viññāṇaṁ ‘netaṁ mama, nesohamasmi, na meso attā’ti evametaṁ yathābhūtaṁ sammappaññāya passati.consciousness at all—past, future, or present; internal or external; solid or subtle; inferior or superior; far or near: <em>all</em> consciousness—with right understanding: ‘This is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.’

1.9Evaṁ kho, rāhula, jānato evaṁ passato imasmiñca saviññāṇake kāye bahiddhā ca sabbanimittesu ahaṅkāramamaṅkāramānānusayā na hontī”ti.That’s how to know and see so that there’s no I-making, mine-making, or underlying tendency to conceit for this conscious body and externally for all signs.”

1.10Ekādasamaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. “I-making” (ahaṅkāra) emphasizes the active role of the mind in creating a sense of self through its thoughts, habits, and desires. This is in contrast with the English notion of “ego”, which presents self as a given construct.

    “Mine-making” (mamaṅkāra) is the propensity of the mind to appropriate things as possessions.

    “Conscious body” (saviññāṇake kāye) echoes Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.4.2, where the dying man descends into a new life being “one with consciousness” (savijñano bhavati).

    “All signs” (sabbanimitta) are the “features” (also nimitta) that characterize sensory stimulation (eg. MN 112:15.1).

    ↩ sn18.21:1.3