Why Can Contemplation Eradicate Self-View?

For instance, consider the practice of contemplative insight. Just as children are fond of toys, some children obtain a toy and become so attached that they cherish it for years without tiring of it, which indicates a lack of intellectual maturity. Other children, upon obtaining a toy, become curious: they disassemble and reassemble it repeatedly until they understand that the toy is nothing special. Once they comprehend it, their fascination wanes, and they move on to another toy. They adopt this same attitude toward all toys—taking them apart, examining them inside and out, and losing interest once they see through them. As they grow older and gain more experience, they cease to be interested in any toys whatsoever. This demonstrates that such a child possesses mature discernment.

Sentient beings are like these children. They, too, are attached to the "toy" of the five aggregates, clinging to them life after life, kalpa after kalpa, bound tightly by the five aggregates and suffering immensely. How then to be liberated from this bondage? One must act like the intellectually mature child: dismantle and analyze the world of the five aggregates, penetrate their true nature, and realize that the five aggregates are characterized by suffering and emptiness—beyond this, there is nothing. If sentient beings possess the discernment of the Mahayana, seeing through the five aggregates to perceive their essence as the empty Tathagatagarbha, realizing that the five aggregates fundamentally do not exist—this is the most mature discernment.

Because most sentient beings are deludedly attached to the five aggregates, immersed in them and unable to extricate themselves—just like children infatuated with toys, lacking mature discernment and unaware of how to dismantle the five aggregates—the Buddha established a skillful method. He taught sustained, meticulous, and proper observation, beginning with mindfulness of breathing within the four foundations of mindfulness. The purpose is to start with the breath to dismantle the five aggregates; this is the simplest and most effective method. Some practitioners, through observing the breath, gradually break through the five aggregates at one point. From this point, they penetrate the aggregate of form, realizing that the aggregate of form is characterized by suffering and emptiness—beyond this, there is nothing—and thus they abandon the view of the body as self. Others, while abandoning the view of the body as self, exert further effort and simultaneously dismantle the other four aggregates as well. They see through the entirety of the five aggregates as characterized by suffering, emptiness, and non-self, thereby eradicating the view of self. Those with even more refined discernment perceive the five aggregates clearly and thoroughly, inside and out, directly attaining the fourth fruition of Arhatship.

Therefore, this contemplative insight is an excellent method for dismantling the five aggregates and attaining liberation. It enables sentient beings—these "children"—to mature in discernment sooner, thereby developing revulsion toward the five aggregates and liberating themselves from the suffering of birth and death. The key is to know how to contemplate and to do so properly and rationally, which depends on the sentient being's discernment and concentration. Differences in concentration and wisdom among sentient beings are inevitable. However, there is no need for haste. As long as one practices contemplative insight daily and persists over time, one will inevitably penetrate the five aggregates thoroughly, no longer being deluded or bound by them. Liberation is only a matter of time.