These forms and the Self do not include each other

“We should observe that none of the forms—past, future, or present; internal or external; coarse or refined; good or ugly; faraway or close—is the self or different from the self, and that these forms and the self do not include each other. We should observe correctly in this fashion, with the wisdom of equality.” Saṃyukta Āgama, Vol. 1

 《雜阿含經》卷1：「當觀若所有諸色，若過去、若未來、若現在，若內、若外，若麁、若細，若好、若醜，若遠、若近，彼一切悉皆非我、不異我、不相在，如是平等慧正觀。」

Remarks:

If we are endowed with wisdom, we will pursue the true self implicitly stated in the Āgamas; otherwise, we will not even know it. 

Our physical body, whether it is the inner or outer form (materiality) dharma of the past, present, or future lifetimes, does not denote the “imperishable self.” In other words, the physical body will perish and is therefore not the “true self.”

However, the Buddha also stated that the body is “not different from the self.” That is, one can neither say that the body is not the self nor is the self. On one hand, the physical body is perishable; thus, it is not the “true self.” On the other hand, although the physical body is not the “true self,” it is not entirely unrelated to the “true self.” Because the physical body was brought forth by the “true self,” the eighth consciousness. Parents and the four great elements (earth, water, fire, and wind) are only supporting conditions for the conditional factors (for the embryo to grow). Our physical body is brought forth by our own eighth consciousness, relying on the embryo springing forth from our parents and the four great elements supported by nutrition from our mothers. Hence, our mothers did not make us. Our mothers only provided us with the necessary conditions for our existence. The physical body was brought forth by the “real self,” tathagatagarbha.

In the Buddha’s teaching, does the line “all forms are neither the self nor different from the self and that these forms and the self do not include each other” imply that a “Self” exists? Of course, there is certainly a “self” that exists, and that is why we say that it is the “True Self.”

#Buddha #Buddhism #tathagatagarbha #vijnana #alayavijnana