202. [Discourse on Abandoning the View of Self] (SA202)

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was staying at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park.

Then a certain monk approached the Buddha, paid respect with his head at the Buddha’s feet, [withdrew to stand to one side], and said to the Buddha: “Blessed One, knowing what, seeing what, does one step by step abandon the view of self and give rise to the view of not-self?

The Buddha said to that monk: “One rightly contemplates the eye as not-self, and one also rightly contemplates forms, eye-consciousness, eye-contact, and feeling arisen in dependence on eye-contact, be it painful, pleasant, or neutral, as not-self. In this way … up to … one also rightly contemplates feeling arisen in dependence on mind-contact, be it painful, pleasant, or neutral, as not-self.

“Monk, knowing like this, seeing like this, one step by step abandons the view of self and gives rise to the view of not-self.”

Then, hearing what the Buddha had said, that monk was delighted. Being delighted, he paid respect and left.

Translated by Bhikkhu Anālayo. Originally published in "On the Six Sense-spheres (1) ―A Translation of Saṁyukta-āgama Discourses 188 to 229 (Fascicle 8)", Dharma Drum Journal of Buddhist Studies, 2016, vol. 18 pp. 1–61.

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