It is never other than the fact that the Tathagata is never identified with the Five Aggregates or skandhas which are impermanent, suffering and not the true self. But this is also true with the self or âtman. A disciple of the Buddha never identifies his self with the five skandhas. In this regard, both the Tathagata and the self are the same. In the commentarial literature we find the following: “tathagato’ti attâ” tr. The Tathagata is the âtman (Jayatilleke, Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge, p. 244).
In the Bâhuna Sutta, from the Anguttara-Nikaya (X, 81) we find a clear disassociation of the Tathagata from conditioned existence which includes the Five Aggregates of material shipe, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness.
Freed, dissociated, & released from ten things, the Tathagata dwells with a mind (cetasâ) free from boundries, Bahuna. Which ten? Freed, dissociated, & released from material shape ... feeling ... perception ... volitional formations ... consciousness ... birth ... aging ... death ... suffering ... defilement, he dwells with a mind free from boundaries. Just as a red, blue, or white lotus born in the water and growing in the water, rises up above the water and stands with no water adhering to it, in the same way the Tathagata—freed, dissociated, & released from these ten things – dwells with a mind free from boundaries.
This is not a metaphysical position but rather a state of mind one attains which is independent of all conditionality. If one has authentically realized the unconditioned or the One Mind, their mind is free from these boundaries which includes the five skanhdas. They don’t identify with them as being their self. Instead they identify (samâdhi) with what is unconditioned and undying which is the true self.
Thereupon the Tathàgata, from the sauvastika on His chest,
sent out a radiant multi-coloured precious Light which illuminated the Buddha lands in the ten directions as countless as the dust and which, after shining on the heads of all Buddhas everywhere, veered to ânanda and the assembly. The Buddha then said to ânanda: ‘I now hoist the banner of Great Dharma so that you and all living beings in the ten directions can realize the pure and bright Mind of your profound and subtle Nature and so win the Eye that is pure and clear.’
Surangama sutra
Posted by: n. yeti | February 26, 2015 at 06:47 PM