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SN 22.105PTS SN 3.1591 min read

Substantial Reality

Sakkāyasutta

The aggregates considered in light of the four noble truths in terms of identity.

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

  • 0.1Saṁyutta Nikāya 22.105Linked Discourses 22.105
  • 0.211. Antavagga11. Ends

0.3SakkāyasuttaSubstantial Reality

1.1Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.

1.2“Sakkāyañca vo, bhikkhave, desessāmi sakkāyasamudayañca sakkāyanirodhañca sakkāyanirodhagāminiñca paṭipadaṁ.“Mendicants, I will teach you substantial reality, the origin of substantial reality, the cessation of substantial reality, and the practice that leads to the cessation of substantial reality.1.3Taṁ suṇātha.Listen …

1.4Katamo ca, bhikkhave, sakkāyo?And what is substantial reality?11.5Pañcupādānakkhandhātissa vacanīyaṁ.It should be said: the five grasping aggregates.21.6Katame pañca?What five?1.7Seyyathidaṁ—rūpupādānakkhandho, vedanupādānakkhandho, saññupādānakkhandho, saṅkhārupādānakkhandho, viññāṇupādānakkhandho.That is, the grasping aggregates of form, feeling, perception, choices, and consciousness.1.8Ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sakkāyo.This is called substantial reality.

1.9Katamo ca, bhikkhave, sakkāyasamudayo?And what is the origin of substantial reality?1.10Yāyaṁ taṇhā ponobhavikā …pe…It’s the craving that leads to future lives, mixed up with relishing and greed, taking pleasure there wherever it alights. That is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for continued existence, and craving for nonexistence.1.11ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sakkāyasamudayo.This is called the origin of substantial reality.

1.12Katamo ca, bhikkhave, sakkāyanirodho?And what is the cessation of substantial reality?1.13Yo tassāyeva taṇhāya …pe…It’s the fading away and cessation of that very same craving no residue left behind; giving it away, letting it go, releasing it, and not clinging to it.1.14ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sakkāyanirodho.This is called the cessation of substantial reality.

1.15Katamā ca, bhikkhave, sakkāyanirodhagāminī paṭipadā?And what is the practice that leads to the cessation of substantial reality?1.16Ayameva ariyo aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo.It is simply this noble eightfold path, that is:1.17Seyyathidaṁ—sammādiṭṭhi …pe… sammāsamādhi.right view, right purpose, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right immersion.1.18Ayaṁ vuccati, bhikkhave, sakkāyanirodhagāminī paṭipadā”ti.This is called the practice that leads to the cessation of substantial reality.”

1.19Tatiyaṁ.

Translator’s notes

  1. Sakkāya (“substantial reality”) is often rendered as “identity” or “personality” based on the false etymology that the initial element is sa- (“one’s own”). But it is in fact from sat (“real”) and kāya (“substance”). The Jain form is astikāya, which refers to the fundamental substances (or ontological categories). Like the aggregates, there are five: the medium of motion (dharma), the medium of rest (adharma), space (ākāśa), soul (jīva), and matter (pudgala; Bhagavatīsūtra 1.10, Sarvadarśanasaṁgraha ch. 3). Note that the Suttas use kāya in the sense of “substance” or “mass” as a key doctrinal term for ascetic movements associated with Jainism (eg. DN 2:23.3, DN 2:26.2), whereas kāya appears to have had no philosophical importance in pre-Buddhist Vedic texts. The commentaries define sakkāya as “the three planes of cyclic existence”, i.e. all that exists. Thus sakkāya is the “substantial reality” that is mistakenly assumed to be a “self”.

    ↩ sn22.105:1.4

  2. Buddhism and Jainism, but not Hindusim, share three technical terms, all having the sense “mass”. For the Jains, “substantial reality” (astikāya) includes “mass” or “matter” (pudgala), a molecule of which is an aggregate (skandha). For Buddhists, “substantial reality” (sakkāya) is comprised of the “aggregates” (khandha), which make up the “individual” (puggala, see SN 22.22).

    ↩ sn22.105:1.5