Saṃyukta Āgama, Volume One (24)

Original text:如是我闻。一时。佛住王舍城伽兰陀竹园。尔时。世尊告罗睺罗。比丘。云何知。云何见。我此识身及外境界一切相。令无有我我所见。我慢使系着。罗睺罗白佛言。世尊为法主。为导为覆。善哉。世尊当为诸比丘演说此义。诸比丘从佛闻已。当受持奉行。

佛告罗睺罗。谛听。谛听。善思念之。当为汝说。罗睺罗白佛。唯然。受教。佛告罗睺罗。当观诸所有色。若过去．若未来．若现在。若内．若外。若粗．若细。若好．若丑。若远．若近。彼一切非我．不异我．不相在。如是平等慧如实观。

如是受．想．行．识。若过去．若未来．若现在。若内．若外。若粗．若细。若好．若丑。若远．若近。彼一切非我．不异我．不相在。如是平等慧如实观。

比丘。如是知如是见。我此识身及外境界一切相。令无有我我所见，我慢使系着。罗睺罗。比丘如是识身及外境界一切相。无有我．我所见．我慢使系著者。超越疑心。远离诸相。寂静解脱。是名比丘断除爱欲。转去诸结。正无间等。究竟苦边。时。罗睺罗闻佛所说。欢喜奉行。

Explanation: The World-Honored One said to the Venerable Rāhula: "Bhikṣu, how should one know and how should one see that within this body of consciousnesses and all marks of external states there is no self and nothing belonging to self, so that one no longer allows oneself to be bound by the fetters of self-view, the view of what belongs to self, and conceit?" Rāhula said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, You are the Lord of the Dharma, the guide and protector of sentient beings. Excellent, World-Honored One! Please expound this meaning for the bhikṣus. Having heard it from the Buddha, the bhikṣus will receive, uphold, and practice it."

Why is the Buddha the Lord of the Dharma? The Lord of the Dharma is the master of the Dharma. The Buddha has already realized the entirety of the Dharma and possesses the entirety of the Dharma; He is the master of the Buddha-Dharma. All dharmas flow forth from the Buddha's own mind; there is not a single dharma He does not know, not a single dharma He has not realized. He is at ease with all dharmas, and therefore He is called the Lord of the Dharma. Self-view and conceit are two kinds of fetters that firmly bind sentient beings, causing them to sink and drift through birth and death, unable to attain liberation. Because there is self-view, there is conceit; self-view also includes the view of what belongs to self.

The Buddha said to Rāhula: To sever the bondage of the fetters of self-view and conceit, one must contemplate the aggregate of form—whether past, future, or present; whether inside the physical body or outside it. These dharmas include the coarse and the subtle, the beautiful and the ugly, those distant from the present and those near to the present. All such material form is not self, nor does it belong to self, and moreover self and what belongs to self do not exist in one another. Only this is the wisdom of equanimity, the contemplation in accordance with reality.

So it is with feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—whether past, future, or present; the feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness inside the physical body and those outside it; the coarse feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness and the subtle ones; the wholesome feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness and the unwholesome ones; those distant from the present and those near to the present. None of these is self, nor do they belong to self, and self and what belongs to self do not exist in one another. Contemplating in this way is the contemplation of the wisdom of equanimity, the contemplation in accordance with reality.

The Buddha said: A bhikṣu should know and see in this way—that this body of the seven consciousnesses and all marks of external states are not self and do not belong to self, and there is no bondage by the fetters of conceit. Rāhula, one who has realized that the body and mind of the five aggregates are without self and without anything belonging to self, and who is not bound by conceit, has transcended the doubting mind, has eliminated the doubt-view that takes the five aggregates as self, has inwardly distanced himself from all marks of the five aggregates, and his mind has attained tranquility and liberation. Such a bhikṣu can sever sensual craving, remove all afflictive fetters, maintain moment-by-moment right awareness, reach the far shore of the suffering of birth and death, and attain ultimate liberation in the end.