Readings
Basic Principles
§1. “‘All phenomena are rooted in desire.’” —AN 10:58
§2. “With the arising of effluents there is the arising of ignorance. With the cessation of effluents there is the cessation of ignorance…. And what are effluents? … There are these three effluents: the sensuality-effluent, the becoming-effluent, & the ignorance-effluent. With the arising of ignorance there is the arising of effluents. With the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of effluents. —MN 9
§3. “I designate the rebirth of one who has sustenance [or: clinging], Vaccha, and not of one without sustenance. Just as a fire burns with sustenance and not without sustenance, even so I designate the rebirth of one who has sustenance and not of one without sustenance.”
“But, Master Gotama, at the moment a flame is being swept on by the wind and goes a far distance, what do you designate as its sustenance then?”
“Vaccha, when a flame is being swept on by the wind and goes a far distance, I designate it as wind-sustained, for the wind is its sustenance at that time.”
“And at the moment when a being sets this body aside and is not yet reborn in another body, what do you designate as its sustenance then?”
“Vaccha, when a being sets this body aside and is not yet reborn in another body, I designate it as craving-sustained, for craving is its sustenance at that time.” —SN 44:9
§4. Then Ven. Rādha went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: “‘A being,’ lord. ‘A being,’ it’s said. To what extent is one said to be ‘a being’?”
“Any desire, passion, delight, or craving for form, Rādha: When one is caught up [satta] there, tied up [visatta] there, one is said to be ‘a being [satta].’
“Any desire, passion, delight, or craving for feeling … perception … fabrications …
“Any desire, passion, delight, or craving for consciousness, Rādha: When one is caught up there, tied up there, one is said to be ‘a being.’” —SN 23:2
§5. “If one stays obsessed with form, that’s what one is measured by. Whatever one is measured by, that’s how one is classified.
“If one stays obsessed with feeling ….
“If one stays obsessed with perception ….
“If one stays obsessed with fabrications ….
“If one stays obsessed with consciousness, that’s what one is measured by. Whatever one is measured by, that’s how one is classified.
“But if one doesn’t stay obsessed with form, that’s not what one is measured by. Whatever one isn’t measured by, that’s not how one is classified.
“If one doesn’t stay obsessed with feeling ….
“If one doesn’t stay obsessed with perception ….
“If one doesn’t stay obsessed with fabrications ….
“If one doesn’t stay obsessed with consciousness, that’s not what one is measured by. Whatever one isn’t measured by, that’s not how one is classified.” —SN 22:36
§6. “Just as a dog, tied by a leash to a post or stake, keeps running around and circling around that very post or stake; in the same way, an uninstructed, run-of-the-mill person—who has no regard for noble ones, is not well-versed or disciplined in their Dhamma; who has no regard for people of integrity, is not well-versed or disciplined in their Dhamma—assumes form to be the self, or the self as possessing form, or form as in the self, or the self as in form.
“He assumes feeling to be the self.…
“He assumes perception to be the self.…
“He assumes fabrications to be the self.…
“He assumes consciousness to be the self, or the self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in consciousness.
“He keeps running around and circling around that very form… that very feeling… that very perception… those very fabrications… that very consciousness. Running and circling around form… feeling… perception… fabrications… consciousness, he is not set loose from form, not set loose from feeling… from perception… from fabrications… not set loose from consciousness. He is not set loose from birth, aging, & death; from sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs. He is not set loose, I tell you, from suffering & stress.” —SN 22:99
§7. “If a monk practices for the sake of disenchantment, dispassion, & cessation with regard to craving … with regard to fabrications, he deserves to be called a monk who practices the Dhamma in accordance with the Dhamma. If—through disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, and lack of clinging/sustenance with regard to craving … with regard to fabrications—he is released, then he deserves to be called a monk who has attained unbinding in the here-&-now.” —SN 12:67
§8. “And what are fabrications? There are these six classes of intention: intention aimed at sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, & ideas. These are called fabrications.” —SN 22:56
§9. Visākha: And what, lady, are bodily fabrications, what are verbal fabrications, what are mental fabrications?
Sister Dhammadinnā: In-&-out breathing is bodily, bound up with the body, therefore is it called a bodily fabrication. Having directed one’s thought and evaluated [the matter], one breaks into speech. Therefore directed thought & evaluation are called verbal fabrications. Perception & feeling are mental, bound up with the mind. Therefore perception & feeling are called mental fabrications. —MN 44
§10. “And why do you call them ‘fabrications’? ‘They fabricate the fabricated,’ thus they are called ‘fabrications.’ And what is the fabricated that they fabricate? For the sake of form-ness, they fabricate fabricated form. For the sake of feeling-ness, they fabricate fabricated feeling. For the sake of perception-hood… For the sake of fabrication-hood… For the sake of consciousness-hood, they fabricate fabricated consciousness. ‘They fabricate the fabricated,’ thus they are called ‘fabrications.’” —SN 22:79
