Saṃyuktāgama, Volume 8

Original text:如是我闻。一时佛住毗舍离耆婆拘摩罗药师庵罗园。尔时世尊告诸比丘。有六触入处。云何为六。眼触入处。耳鼻舌身意触入处。沙门婆罗门于此六触入处。集灭味患离不如实知。当知是沙门婆罗门去我法律远。如虚空与地。

Explanation: The World-Honored One instructed the bhikṣus, saying that there are six sense-contact bases (ṣaḍāyatana): the eye faculty contacting the base of material sense-objects, and the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind faculties contacting the bases of sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas. If śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas, with regard to these six sense-contact bases, cannot truly and as they really are know the arising [of the six sense-contact bases], cannot truly know their ceasing, cannot truly know the relishing and craving attachment to the six sense-contact bases, cannot truly know the faults and dangers of the six sense-contact bases, and cannot truly know that one should depart from the craving desire for the six sense-contact bases, then one should know that such śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas are still very far from my Dharma and Vinaya—as far as empty space is from the earth.

Original text:时有异比丘从座起整衣服。为佛作礼。合掌白佛言。我具足如实知此六触入处。集灭味患离。佛告比丘。我今问汝。汝随问答我。比丘。汝见眼触入处。是我异我相在不。答言不也。世尊。

佛告比丘。善哉善哉。于此眼触入处。非我非异我不相在。如实知见者。不起诸漏。心不染著。心得解脱。是名初触入处。已断已知。断其根本。如截多罗树头。于未来法永不复起。所谓眼识及色。

Explanation: At that time, a bhikṣu from elsewhere rose from his seat, arranged his robes, paid homage to the World-Honored One, and with palms joined addressed the Buddha, saying: "I fully and truly know, as they really are, the arising, ceasing, relishing, faults, and departure [from craving] of these six sense-contact bases." The Buddha told this bhikṣu: "I now ask you; answer me according to my questions. Bhikṣu, do you see the eye-contact base as being self, as being other than self, or as self and the eye-contact base existing mutually within each other?" The bhikṣu replied: "No, World-Honored One."

The Buddha said to the bhikṣu: "Excellent, excellent! One who truly knows and sees, as they really are, that this eye-contact base is not self, not other than self, and does not exist mutually within self, will not give rise to the various outflows [of afflictions], the mind will not be tainted and attached, and the mind will attain liberation. This is called the first sense-contact base, already severed and already known, its root severed, like cutting off the crown of a tāla tree, never to arise again in future dharmas—namely, eye consciousness and form."

This means that the mental formations of craving eye consciousness and being tainted by material sense-objects will never again appear. Because eye contact is not self and not different from self, the eye consciousness and material sense-objects that arise depending on eye contact are likewise not self and not different from self. If one does not crave eye contact, one will not give rise to any discrimination based on eye contact; eye consciousness will not arise, and material sense-objects will not appear and manifest within eye consciousness, so the mind does not see form.

Original text:汝见耳鼻舌身意触入处。是我异我相在不。答言不也。世尊。佛告比丘。善哉善哉。于耳鼻舌身意触入处。非我非异我不相在。作如是如实知见者。不起诸漏。心不染著。心得解脱。是名比丘六触入处。已断已知。断其根本。如截多罗树头。于未来世欲不复生。谓意识法。佛说此经已，诸比丘闻佛所说，欢喜奉行。

Explanation: The World-Honored One continued to ask the bhikṣu: "Do you take the ear-contact base, nose-contact base, tongue-contact base, body-contact base, and mind-contact base as self and what belongs to self, thinking that self exists within the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact bases, or that the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact bases exist within self?" The bhikṣu replied: "World-Honored One, I do not see it thus."

The Buddha said to the bhikṣu: "Excellent! For one who can truly know and see that the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact bases are not self, not different from self, and do not exist mutually within self, the mind will no longer give rise to the outflows of afflictions such as greed, hatred, and delusion; the mind will no longer crave and be tainted by the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact bases, and the mind will attain liberation. The bhikṣus have already severed the view of self with regard to these ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind contact bases, and already know that they are not self, not different from self, and do not exist mutually within self, just like cutting off the crown of a tāla tree. Then in future lives, ear consciousness and sound objects, nose consciousness and smell objects, tongue consciousness and taste objects, body consciousness and touch objects will never again arise, and mind consciousness and mental objects will never again arise; one will no longer crave and cling to sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas, nor to the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousnesses."

This is speaking of who no longer craves and clings to the six consciousnesses and the six sense-objects? It is of course that the manas, the self, no longer craves and clings to them, because the manas has severed the view of self regarding the six sense-contact bases, and no longer delights in any discrimination arising dependent on the six faculties; then the six consciousnesses will not arise, and the six sense-objects will not appear within the minds of the six consciousnesses.

A person engaged in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) to eradicate the view of self gives rise to true knowledge and vision at the six faculties, generates genuine wisdom, and observes the true facts of the six faculties—that they are not self and not different from self. Afflictions are exhausted, the mind attains liberation, there is no longer any view of self, wrong views do not arise, and thus self-grasping is severed, and one enters Nirvāṇa without remainder. The manas's original wrong view

of taking the six faculties as self and what belongs to self now no longer takes the six faculties as self and what belongs to self; thus right view is fulfilled, true knowledge and vision are possessed, and by not taking the six faculties as self, the mind is liberated and afflictions are exhausted.

If you insert the eighth consciousness into this, it does not make sense. It cannot be that the manas's original wrong view took the six faculties as the eighth consciousness, and through contemplative practice obtained right knowledge and vision, no longer taking the six faculties as the eighth consciousness. If that were the case, was the original wrong view actually a wrong view? Was the right view after contemplative practice actually a right view? Not at all. If it were so, every sentient being would no longer need to eradicate the view of self, because every sentient being would originally already be without self—taking the eighth consciousness as self and not taking form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness as self. In that case, there would also be no need for the Buddha to come again to the Sahā world to teach the Āgama teachings on the truth of the Four Noble Truths, nor any need to have sentient beings again see the mind and realize the nature, awakening to the eighth consciousness. There would be no such necessity.