Visakha and Dhammadinna (5)

(Visakha continued asking questions.) “Is clinging (upādāna) and the aggregates (khandhas) separate or the same?” “Clinging is of four types: sensuous clinging, clinging to views, clinging to mere rules and rituals, and clinging to the doctrine of self. The aggregates are five. They are neither entirely separate, nor can they be said to be exactly the same. When the five aggregates are delighted in and clung to, they become the aggregates of clinging (upādānakkhandha). If they are not delighted in or clung to, they do not become the aggregates of clinging.” Everyone is attached to their own body. This attachment is craving (taṇhā). When craving grows strong, it becomes clinging. If one practices insight meditation (vipassanā) on the five aggregates, one will come to see this body as impermanent, as a mass of suffering, as something to be weary of. Affection and attachment towards the body will disappear. When the wisdom arises realizing that there is nothing worth being attached to or fond of, it is no longer the aggregates of clinging. It is only because the aggregates are clung to with craving and clinging that they are called the aggregates of clinging. They are the base for craving and clinging. The five aggregates are called the aggregates of clinging only when connected with craving. If not connected, they are not called the aggregates of clinging. If one focuses on one’s own body and contemplates, whether on feeling, mind, or any one of the aggregates, to see the arising and passing away, one will clearly comprehend that it is not one’s own self because one only sees phenomena that are arising and passing away. Only when one fully understands that it is not oneself will the craving and clinging towards the aggregates cease. Therefore, when affection, fondness, and attachment towards this body cease and are extinguished, Nibbāna will be attained. It is a Nibbāna that appears while the aggregates still exist. As long as one is attached and fond of the body, one will not realize Nibbāna. Only when there is no attachment or fondness for the body will Nibbāna be realized. It should be understood that contemplating the arising and passing away of the body is the effort to prevent affection for the body and to prevent it from becoming the aggregates of clinging. It is the effort to completely extinguish and abandon all forms of attachment. If attachment, craving, and clinging cease, one attains Nibbāna with the substrate remaining (sa-upādisesa nibbāna). It is a Nibbāna attained before the aggregates cease. It must be understood that even though the aggregates have not ceased, if craving and clinging cease, Nibbāna is attained. After the Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree on the golden throne, he proclaimed that he had attained Nibbāna. This was the Nibbāna attained while the aggregates still existed. It was the Nibbāna attained because he no longer had any attachment towards his own body. Therefore, in Dhammadinna’s answer, it should be understood that if one is attached to one’s own body, it is the aggregates of clinging; if not attached, it is not the aggregates of clinging but the aggregates without clinging (anupādānakkhandha). Clinging and the aggregates are neither entirely separate nor can they be said to be the same. When there is attachment, the aggregates are the object, and the clinging attachment is the subject taking the object. If the clinging attachment is cut off by the wisdom of insight or the path wisdom, it is no longer the aggregates of clinging but becomes the aggregates without clinging. It is no longer aggregates that can be clung to; it becomes aggregates that are not to be clung to. Therefore, there will be persons whose clinging and aggregates are connected, and there will be persons whose clinging and aggregates are not connected. Ordinary people mostly have clinging and aggregates connected. They are even said to be like a ‘touch-me-not’ golden plate. The fact that they cannot bear even a small mole or blemish is solely due to the clinging attachment towards the aggregates. However, for the Buddha, Arahants, and Noble Ones, the clinging factors do not connect with the aggregates. Therefore, the aggregates of the Buddha, Arahants, and Noble Ones can only be called aggregates. They can no longer be called the aggregates of clinging. Visakha, unable yet to gauge whether she had attained any path knowledge, continued to ask further questions. “Venerable Dhammadinna, please explain what identity view (sakkāya-diṭṭhi) is.” “Identity view is regarding form as self, feeling as self, perception as self, mental formations as self, or consciousness as self. The notion of ‘I’ is identity view.” If one regards form as self, then form and self become one. Form itself is self, and self itself is form. Similarly, feeling itself is self, and self itself is feeling, and so on for all five aggregates. This regarding as ‘I’ is identity view. It is this identity view that opens the door to the lower realms. Therefore, as long as identity view remains, the door to the lower realms will remain wide open. To make the notion of ‘I’ towards one’s own five aggregates, any one of them, disappear, to have the wisdom penetrate that it is not mine, not I, not myself (anatta), by contemplating arising and passing away – when the wisdom of non-self enters, the view of self regarding the five aggregates, identity view, will cease. One will come to know that it is not mine, not I, not myself. As soon as this understanding occurs, identity view is eradicated and the door to the lower realms is closed. It is identity view that opens the door to the lower realms, and it is the wisdom of insight and the path wisdom that closes it. If one can close the door to the lower realms, one will certainly reach Nibbāna. Therefore, it is often said that from the human realm, one can go to the lower realms or to Nibbāna. One who has much identity view will have the door to the lower realms open. One who is practicing to cease identity view will have the door to the lower realms temporarily closed. To close it permanently, one must practice to attain a true path knowledge. Only the true path can eradicate identity view root and all. Only when identity view is eradicated root and all can one be safe from the danger of the lower realms. It is for the purpose of closing the door to the lower realms and opening the door to Nibbāna that the Buddha appears in the human world. From this identity view, when it shifts, it turns into annihilationism (uccheda-diṭṭhi). Because one holds that form is self and self is form, when form dies, self is also lost. It dies. One comes to the conclusion that nothing happens afterwards. Because of this view of annihilation, it becomes annihilationism. Therefore, regarding form as self is identity view, and because form and self are taken as one, it is also annihilationism. Similarly, regarding feeling as self is identity view, and because feeling and self are taken as one, it is also annihilationism. The same should be understood for all five aggregates. During times of health, eternalism (sassata-diṭṭhi) is prevalent, and during times of suffering and ill health, annihilationism is prevalent. When healthy, one tends to think that nothing will happen, assuming one will always be healthy and happy, which is eternalism. When unhealthy, thoughts like “I will only find relief from this severe pain when I die” arise, leading to the view that when I die, the feeling also dies. This implies that if I perish, the feeling perishes. Therefore, it is said to be annihilationism. Particularly, if one can remove identity view, eternalism and annihilationism will automatically fall away. (To be continued.)