How to Contemplate the Non-Self of the Five Aggregates

Answer: You should contemplate it this way: the physical body is struck—what is the physical body? The physical body is a flesh body composed of the four great elements, a body formed by cells accumulating into muscles, bones, blood, and so on, combined together into a body like a piece of wood. This body is subject to arising, ceasing, and change; it is something produced by conditions; it is impermanent and empty—it is not me. If this body were me, then when this body perishes, do I perish? In reality I do not perish; I still have a next life, and countless lives. Therefore this body is not me.

To contemplate that the physical body is not me requires very deep meditative concentration (samādhi). Contemplate this physical body as if it were mechanized, like a robot. The arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of this physical body is not controlled by me, and therefore it is not me. This is a general principle; the details must be contemplated one by one by yourself, and each cognitive understanding must be verified and confirmed by yourself.

Next, contemplate the aggregate of feeling (vedanā). Someone hits me and curses me, and I get angry—anger is my feeling. Is this feeling real? How does this feeling arise? Feeling is the feeling of the mind consciousness; feeling pain is the feeling of the body consciousness. In any case, all feelings are the feelings of the six consciousnesses. Are the feelings of the six consciousnesses me? Are they real? These feelings are produced from seeds of consciousness, arising and ceasing, changing moment by moment. Feeling is also illusory, empty, and conjured—it disappears in a moment; therefore feeling is not me. Right now being hit and cursed feels unpleasant, but in a while, if you get rich or win a lottery, the feeling turns pleasant and you become happy—the feeling has changed. So this thing that is constantly arising, ceasing, and transforming, that cannot be fixed, that cannot exist forever, is simply not real—it is not me!

Then there is your perception (saṃjñā): you understand what words that person is cursing you with, and you know what his language means—all of this is the knowing capacity of the mind consciousness, which is the aggregate of perception. Where does this aggregate of perception come from? It is produced from seeds of consciousness, which form the aggregate of consciousness; once the aggregate of consciousness operates, there is the knowing capacity. This knowing capacity is subject to arising, ceasing, and change; it does not abide permanently, it is illusory and empty. Therefore the aggregate of perception is also not me. Anything that is not eternally abiding, that did not originally exist but arose later, is not me. As for this aggregate of perception, when you are asleep you know nothing, and you do not know however others curse you. Therefore it is subject to arising and ceasing, illusory, not permanently abiding, not fixed and unchanging—therefore it is not me.

Next is the aggregate of formations (saṃskāra), which is the actions and activities of the six consciousnesses, including bodily formations, verbal formations, and mental formations. All thoughts and ideas in the mind, the capacity for discrimination, the capacity for feeling—everything that arises and ceases and changes thought after thought belongs to the aggregate of formations. The operation of this mind of the aggregate of formations is also subject to arising, ceasing, and change; it is not fixed and unchanging, not forever enduring, and therefore it is also not me. As for the aggregate of consciousness of the six consciousnesses, the operation of consciousness itself, including the mental factors (caittas), all are subject to arising, ceasing, and change. So, to summarize the five aggregates themselves: not a single dharma is fixed and unchanging; all are subject to arising, ceasing, and change, transforming back and forth—now existing, now not existing, now like this, now like that—none are fixed; all are dharmas that are produced, and none are real.

Now, anger is a kind of feeling. Is the dharma of anger real? It is not real! In a while the anger is gone; it is always changing. Therefore the functions of all consciousnesses are entirely illusory—there is no real dharma! If after death there is no operation of the mind-consciousnesses in the physical body, and someone strikes your physical body, do you still feel pain? No! Do you still get angry? You simply do not get angry at all. Therefore, when the mind-consciousnesses leave the physical body, the body is just like a piece of wood—it is simply not me. Even the mind-consciousnesses in the physical body are not me, let alone the physical body, which is even more certainly not me. Since there is no "me," who is there to be angry, and who not to be angry?