Saṃyukta Āgama Volume 1 (Part 4)

Thus have I heard. At one time, the Buddha was dwelling in Śrāvastī, at Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in the Jeta Grove. At that time, the World-Honored One addressed the bhikkhus: "Bhikkhus, for one who does not know, does not clearly understand form, does not abandon, does not relinquish desire, whose mind is not liberated, it is impossible to transcend the fear of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Similarly, for one who does not know, does not clearly understand feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness, does not abandon, does not relinquish desire and craving, whose mind is not liberated, it is impossible to transcend the fear of birth, aging, sickness, and death.

Bhikkhus, for one who knows and clearly understands form, who abandons and relinquishes desire, it is possible to transcend the fear of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Bhikkhus, for one who knows and clearly understands, who is free from desire and craving, whose mind is liberated, it is possible to transcend the fear of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Similarly, for one who knows and clearly understands feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness, who abandons and relinquishes desire and craving, whose mind is liberated, it is possible to transcend the fear of birth, aging, sickness, and death." At that time, the bhikkhus, hearing what the Buddha had said, rejoiced and respectfully put it into practice.

Explanation: The World-Honored One told the bhikkhus that if one does not understand the form aggregate, is not clear about it, cannot abandon the view that form is the self, cannot relinquish desire for form, and still clings to form, then one cannot transcend the fear of birth, aging, sickness, and death.

Conversely, if one can truly understand the form aggregate, clearly perceive the true nature of form, abandon the view of the form body as self, and become free from desire for form, then one can transcend the fear of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Thereafter, one will no longer fear the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death; one will extinguish the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death and attain the bliss of nirvana.

Here, "knowing" refers to a general understanding of the form aggregate, recognizing its impermanence, emptiness, suffering, and non-self nature—its arising, ceasing, and changing, its inability to endure. "Clearly understanding" means a more subtle comprehension of the form aggregate’s impermanence, emptiness, suffering nature, its arising, ceasing, and changing, its non-self nature. "Abandoning" means relinquishing the view that the form aggregate is the self. "Relinquishing desire" refers to the elimination of craving and desire for the form aggregate after attaining the first dhyāna and up to the third fruit [of stream-entry, once-returning, or non-returning]. After relinquishing desire, the mind is liberated from the form aggregate, no longer bound by it, and gains the capability to extinguish the form aggregate and transcend the three realms to attain liberation.

The World-Honored One continued to tell the bhikkhus that if one cannot properly recognize the feeling aggregate, perception aggregate, volitional formations aggregate, and consciousness aggregate, does not understand, is not clear, and does not realize their true nature of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self, then one cannot relinquish desire for the feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness aggregates. If craving is not abandoned, one cannot transcend the fear of birth, aging, sickness, and death; one will continue to experience the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death because the craving for feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness remains unbroken—where there is craving, there is suffering.

Conversely, if one can truly understand the feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness aggregates, clearly recognize their true nature, and realize their impermanence, emptiness, suffering, and non-self, then one will abandon the view of self regarding the feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness aggregates. Subsequently, one will be able to relinquish desire and craving for them. Thus, one can transcend the fear of birth, aging, sickness, and death and will never again experience the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Because craving is abandoned, one is freed from the bondage of the feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness aggregates, transcends the three realms, liberates oneself from birth and death, and attains the bliss of nirvana.

To practice this teaching, one must first achieve a general knowledge of the form aggregate, then a more subtle understanding of it. This requires meditative concentration (dhyāna) and contemplation (vipassanā). Only through contemplation within meditative concentration, by "maintaining a detached perspective," can one clearly perceive the form aggregate, recognize it, and realize its true nature—impermanent, empty, suffering, non-self. "Maintaining a detached perspective" involves the deliberative function of the mental faculty (manas); the consciousness must also stand at a certain height, observing apart from the physical body, not merging with it. This allows an objective and impartial view of the physical body, enabling one to recognize its essential nature, which differs greatly from previous perceptions. This makes abandoning the view of self and attaining the fruit [of enlightenment] relatively easier.

"Maintaining a detached perspective" means extracting and isolating the mind, not mixing it with the five aggregates subject to clinging. This is also called "reflective observation." Reflective observation easily gives rise to wisdom, facilitates recognition of objective facts, and aids in discovering new insights. "Maintaining a detached perspective" or "focusing intensely with a single eye" refers to meditative concentration, which can isolate old perceptions and give birth to wisdom. Day after day, morning and evening, with persistent effort over time, one overturns previous erroneous perceptions and attains liberating wisdom.

Understanding the problem is not difficult; changing one's views is the hardest part. Since beginningless time, the view has been to regard form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness as "I" or "mine"—deeply ingrained and habitual. Even understanding the impermanence of the five aggregates cannot easily change the mental faculty's old views. One must engage in prolonged contemplation, reflective observation, and deliberation within meditative concentration, striving to thoroughly investigate this matter and overturn the original conceptual framework. Finding a breakthrough point to abandon the entire view of self regarding the five aggregates subject to clinging brings great hope. The fortress must be breached step by step; initially, one should not seek too great an achievement to avoid overreaching.