The True Meaning of Vedanā as Self and Non-Self

Saṃyukta Āgama, Volume Five, Original Text: "How is it that feeling is seen as the self? It refers to the six bases of feeling—feeling born of eye-contact, feeling born of ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind-contact. Each of these six bases of feeling is seen as the self: 'I am feeling.' This is called 'feeling is the self.' How is it that feeling is seen as different from the self? It is seeing form as the self, and feeling as what belongs to me; seeing perception, formations, and consciousness as the self, and feeling as what belongs to me. This is called 'feeling is different from the self.'

How is it that feeling is seen as within the self? It is seeing form as the self, with feeling residing within it; seeing perception, formations, and consciousness as the self, with feeling residing within them. How is it that the self is seen as within feeling? It is seeing form as the self, dwelling within feeling, spreading throughout the four limbs; seeing perception, formations, and consciousness as the self, dwelling within feeling, spreading throughout the four limbs. This is called 'the self is within feeling.'

Explanation: How is the feeling aggregate the self? The feeling aggregate is the six bases of feeling: The eye faculty contacts a visual object, giving rise to eye-consciousness; eye-consciousness has feeling. The ear faculty contacts a sound, giving rise to ear-consciousness; ear-consciousness has feeling. The nose faculty contacts an odor, giving rise to nose-consciousness; nose-consciousness has feeling. The tongue faculty contacts a taste, giving rise to tongue-consciousness; tongue-consciousness has feeling. The mind faculty contacts a mental object, giving rise to mind-consciousness; mind-consciousness has feeling. The mind takes all six of these feelings to be the self, considering 'I' (the mind) to be feeling. This is called 'feeling is the self' (the mind).

How is feeling seen as different from me? The mind considers the form aggregate to be the self; then the feeling aggregate is what belongs to me. If the mind takes the perception aggregate, formation aggregate, and consciousness aggregate as the self, it will take the feeling aggregate as what belongs to me. This is called 'feeling is different from me.'

What is seeing feeling within me (the mind)? The mind considers the form aggregate to be the self, so feeling resides within the form aggregate. The mind considers the perception, formation, and consciousness aggregates to be the self, so feeling resides within the perception, formation, and consciousness aggregates. Feeling is what belongs to me.

What is the self within feeling? The mind considers the form aggregate to be the self; the form aggregate dwells within feeling, so the self dwells within feeling, spreading throughout the limbs and the whole body. The mind considers the perception, formation, and consciousness aggregates to be the self; the perception, formation, and consciousness aggregates dwell within feeling, so the self dwells within feeling, spreading throughout the whole body. This is called 'the self is within feeling.'

The 'self' mentioned above refers respectively to the self that takes the form aggregate as the self, then takes the other aggregates as what belongs to it; or takes the feeling aggregate as the self, then takes the other aggregates as what belongs to it, and so on. This self is the mind-self (manas). If it were switched to the eighth consciousness (alaya-vijnana), the meaning of the entire scripture would become incoherent. The 'self' here is unrelated to the eighth consciousness. If 'self' were replaced with the eighth consciousness, it would be completely illogical. How then could the conclusion of contemplation be that the perception aggregate is not the eighth consciousness?

Here, similarly, the subject 'self' cannot be replaced with the eighth consciousness. If replaced, the preceding and following text would become incoherent and disconnected. It is the mind that appropriates these functions and effects as its own, not the eighth consciousness. The sixth consciousness (mano-vijnana) also appropriates them as its own functions. However, regarding the functions and effects of the five sense consciousnesses, the sixth consciousness cannot appropriate them because it cannot command the five sense consciousnesses; both the five sense consciousnesses and the sixth consciousness are directed by the mind.

The consciousness that can command and act as master is the true master, the so-called 'self.' Whatever the mind intends to do, the eighth consciousness enables it to accomplish it. After accomplishing it, the mind considers, 'I accomplished such-and-such a thing,' and so on. The 'I' arises, wrong views arise, usurping the host's place.

Whatever the mind intends to do, the six consciousnesses follow and do it. After accomplishing it, it considers, 'I accomplished it,' not knowing it was all done by the six consciousnesses, taking the functions of the six consciousnesses as its own. If it is not accomplished, it considers, 'I failed to accomplish anything,' becomes dejected, and feels unhappy, not realizing it might be due to the inadequacy of the six consciousnesses as tools.

A general of an army commands thousands of troops. When about to engage in battle, he tells the soldiers, 'Our army's morale is high, we will surely win.' Only the general has the qualification to say 'our army, our army'; he has the authority to command, holding great power, having the final say over the army. Therefore, if the general is subdued, the entire army is subdued, and the battle ends. The foolish person, however, is not like this; they go about subduing soldiers one by one, thinking capturing a few soldiers is a great accomplishment, ringing gongs and shouting: 'We are victorious!' But soon, the opposing general leads a large force sweeping in, and the foolish person is routed and defeated.

Being satisfied with having the sixth consciousness sever the view of self, shouting 'victory!'— yet the master, the mind, has a fiercely burning view of self, clinging to 'I' everywhere. The sixth consciousness, helpless, still obeys the master, acting to benefit the 'I,' with 'I' and 'my actions' still manifesting. What use is such practice? A wise and intelligent person wanting to fell a big tree will certainly cut through the roots. A foolish person goes to pick leaves and break branches, thinking that breaking branches means the tree will soon fall. But the broken branches do not affect the tree's growth; the tree still lives on.

The master, the mind, connects both ends: with one hand grasping the functions of the eighth consciousness, with the other hand grasping the functions of the six consciousnesses, appropriating them all as its own, using them all for itself. This 'I' is formidable, very hard to shake. That is why the cycle of birth and death is so firmly entrenched, revolving for countless kalpas upon countless kalpas. Severing the mind's view of self is therefore extremely difficult. Many people, wanting to sever the view of self quickly, create a phantom city, where the sixth consciousness ponders and thinks a little and severs the view of self, then rests in this phantom city, thinking it is safe. Suddenly one day, the master becomes furious, the phantom city's houses collapse, and they still have to endure wind, rain, and sun.

Actually, whether in Mahayana sutras or the Hinayana Agamas, this subject 'self' implicitly refers to the mind, not the sixth consciousness. Wise people should go and savor this in the scriptures themselves. If I were to explain everything clearly all at once, some people might go mad, unable to bear it. Nevertheless, I still intend to gradually uncover the implications of this bit by bit, in order to reveal the truth and deliver the deluded.