This body not "mine", not "me" and not "myself"...

Figure 1

Figure 2

Personality view or self Identity view (sakkaya-ditthi[sakkaaya-di.t.thi*]) is one of the main fetters that binds us to samsara. It is the first (lower fetter) of the ten fetters. Release from this is the hardest but the most important breakthrough to become a Stream Enterer and finally become a Stream Winner, the first stage of enlightenment. The stream winner also has break two more fetters and they are discussed in detail in other posts. (See labels to learn about fetters/stages of enlighenment/Stream Winner). For the purpose of this post we will mainly focus on the personality view.

There are 4 types of Personality Views that can arise for each of the five aggregates. (Please see Figure 2).

For example for the body (form)

1. The body is "me"

2. "I am" the body

3. The body is in "me"

4. "I am" in the body

The same applies to other four aggregates, feeling, perception, mental formation and consciousness. Therefore there are twenty types of personality views one could have (4X5=20). Please see Figure 1 and 2.

This view is driven by three fundamental defilements of the mind. Its the craving, conceit and ignorance.

The main three themes that comes up again and agin in the personality view are "mine" (due to craving), this is me (due to conceit) and this is my self (due to ignorance).

There is an Excellent sutta to contemplate and investigate Not-self (Anatta). This is the second disclose of the Buddha after his enlightenment. If one contemplates this sutta mindfully often enough applying to oneself, this can be excellent tool to gain some insight into the true nature of the personality view. This message of Not-self ("Anatta") comes up in many other suttas too and you can read them by clicking on the links given at the end of this post.

Before starting to contemplate on this sutta you need to contemplate on some background information on the five aggregates to gain some insight into how they work. First you need to know is their precursors or their nutriments. After that you need to contemplate on what basis you say that the five aggregates are impermanent. Otherwise the whole exercise may not make much sense.

1. The physical body or form- is made of the four main elements, the solid, liquid, heat and gas . The body is dependent on nutriments, the physical foods both coarse and fine. Without nutriments the body cannot be sustained. We all know that all condition things that are subject to birth, change while existing and cease to exist eventually. The body is no exception. It is not so difficult to see the impermanent nature of the body compared to the other aggregates. We just have be mindful and contemplate.

(Please see the labels to learn more about elements and nutriments)

2. Feeling- Feeling arises dependent on contact as its nutriment. Contact is impermanent as it depends of union of thee which are also impermanent. Something that arises of an impermanent thing cannot be permanent.

Please see the two beautiful similes in this post:

What is impermanence ?

This way we can contemplate on the nutriment and the impermanence of feeling.

3. Perception - same as feeling above.

4. Mental formation - same as feeling above.

5. Consciousness- The Nutriment for is Name-and-Form. From the suttas its not very clear the exact relationship between the two. However it is clearly stated that one cannot survive without the other, suggesting they are co-dependent. My "mind works" model give some some insights to how they may be co-dependent (please see label on the mind works model). To contemplate on impermanence of consciousness you can use same principal as in feeling. When name-and-form is impermanent it is impossible for the consciousness to be permanent.

Now to our main discussion....

To understand the sutta better here I have first extracted the discussion on the body (form) aggregate from the sutta.

Now this is how it goes:

"Bhikkhus, form is not-self. Were form self, then this form would not lead to affliction, and one could have it of form: 'Let my form be thus, let my form be not thus.' And since form is not-self, so it leads to affliction, and none can have it of form: 'Let my form be thus, let my form be not thus.'

"Bhikkhus, how do you conceive it: is form permanent or impermanent?" —

"Impermanent, venerable Sir." — "Now is what is impermanent painful or pleasant?" — "Painful, venerable Sir." — "Now is what is impermanent, what is painful since subject to change, fit to be regarded thus: 'This is mine, this is I, this is my self'"? —

"No, venerable sir."

"So, bhikkhus any kind of form whatever, whether past, future or presently arisen, whether gross or subtle, whether in oneself or external, whether inferior or superior, whether far or near, must with right understanding how it is, be regarded thus: 'This is not mine, this is not I, this is not myself.'

(same applies to feeling, perception, mental formation (translated here as determinations), and consciousness.

And to conclude the sutta Buddha said:

"Bhikkhus, when a noble follower who has heard (the truth) sees thus, he finds estrangement in form, he finds estrangement in feeling, he finds estrangement in perception, he finds estrangement in determinations, he finds estrangement in consciousness.

"When he finds estrangement, passion fades out. With the fading of passion, he is liberated. When liberated, there is knowledge that he is liberated. He understands: 'Birth is exhausted, the holy life has been lived out, what can be done is done, of this there is no more beyond.'"

Please read the full sutta:

Anatta-lakkhana Sutta: The Discourse on the Not-self Characteristic

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.059.nymo.html

To listen to a short talk on the personality view of sakkaya-ditthi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bspOKV8iosY&feature=player_embedded

Other sutta on Anatta:

Girimananda Sutta: To Girimananda ( Anatta used as a meditation subject here)

Nandakovada Sutta: Nandaka's Exhortation (MN 146) [Thanissaro]

Pañcavaggi Sutta: Five Brethren - Access to Insight

Udana Sutta: Exclamation

Sambodhi Sutta: Self-awakening

Ananda Sutta: To Ananda - Access to Insight

Channa Sutta: To Channa - Access to Insight

Maha-punnama Sutta: The Great Full-moon Night Discourse

Three Cardinal Discourses of the Buddha - Access to Insight

Further reading:

No-self or Not-self?

The Not-self Strategy

Meditating on No-Self: A Dhamma Talk (Edited for Bodhi Leaves)

* sakkaya-ditthi [sakkaaya-di.t.thi]:

Self-identification view. The view that mistakenly identifies any of the khandha as "self"; the first of the ten fetters (samyojana). Abandonment of sakkaya-ditthi is one of the hallmarks of stream-entry (see sotapanna).

The fetter of craving

"Monks, I don't envision even one other fetter* — fettered by which beings conjoined go wandering & transmigrating on for a long, long time — like the fetter of craving. Fettered with the fetter of craving, beings conjoined go wandering & transmigrating on for a long, long time."

*Fetters
The five lower fetters:
1. Self-identity views
2. Doubt (uncertainty)
3. Grasping at precepts & practices
4. Craving (Sensual desire)
5. Ill will.

The five higher fetters:
1. Passion for form
2. Passion for what is formless
3. Conceit
4. Restlessness
5. Ignorance

Iti 1.15; Iti 8

Itivuttaka: The Group of Ones

translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/iti/iti.1.001-027.than.html

The monk who has demolished conceit...

The monk who has demolished conceit* without leaving a trace,
as a great flood,
a very weak bridge made of reeds,
sloughs off the near shore & far** — as a snake,
its decrepit old skin.

* Conceit (one of the higher fetters) is thought to be totally abolished at the level of attaining Arahantship (please click on the following link to see the four stages of enlightenment).

The four stages of enlightenment

.

** Near and far shores are thought to be here the five lower and higher fetters**

***Fetters- See labels below

Uraga Sutta: The Snake

translated from the Pali by

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Uraga Sutta: The Snake (Sn 1.1) [Nyanaponika | Thanissaro]
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.01.than.html

The monk who has cut off craving ...

The monk who has cut off craving without leaving a trace, as if he had dried up a swift-flowing stream, sloughs off the near shore & far* — as a snake, its decrepit old skin.

* Near and far shores are thought to be here the five lower and higher fetters**

**Fetters- See labels below

Uraga Sutta: The Snake

translated from the Pali by

Thanissaro Bhikkhu

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/snp/snp.1.01.than.html

Just like a cloth, dirty & stained...

"Just like a cloth, dirty & stained: Its owners give it over to a washerman, who scrubs it with salt earth or lye or cow-dung and then rinses it in clear water. Now even though the cloth is clean & spotless, it still has a lingering residual scent of salt earth or lye or cow-dung. The washerman gives it to the owners, the owners put it away in a scent-infused wicker hamper, and its lingering residual scent of salt earth, lye, or cow-dung is fully obliterated.

"In the same way, friends, even though a noble disciple has abandoned the five lower fetters (see labels), he still has with regard to the five clinging-aggregates (see labels) a lingering residual 'I am' conceit, an 'I am' desire, an 'I am' obsession. But at a later time he keeps focusing on the phenomena of arising & passing away with regard to the five clinging-aggregates: 'Such is form, such its origin, such its disappearance. Such is feeling... Such is perception... Such are fabrications... Such is consciousness, such its origin, such its disappearance.' As he keeps focusing on the arising & passing away of these five clinging-aggregates, the lingering residual 'I am' conceit, 'I am' desire, 'I am' obsession is fully obliterated."

Khemaka Sutta: About Khemaka
translated from the Pali by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Cutting the fetters that tie us down....

Dhamma teaches us the the path, that finally liberate us (Nirvana) from Samsara. This is our final goal! Fetters tie us down to the Samsara. Cutting the fetters off using the practice of Dhamma is the art of liberation.

Dhamma is like a "shap knife" for this purpose... But you need to grab it from the right end !

Just as if a man were to grasp a branch with his hand ...

"There is the case where a monk enters & remains in a certain peaceful awareness-release. He attends to the cessation of self-identification*, but as he is attending to the cessation of self-identification his mind doesn't leap up, grow confident, steadfast, or firm in the cessation of self-identification. For him the cessation of self-identification is not to be expected.

Just as if a man were to grasp a branch with his hand smeared with resin, his hand would stick to it, grip it, adhere to it; in the same way, the monk enters & remains in a certain peaceful awareness-release. He attends to the cessation of self-identification, but as he is attending to the cessation of self-identification his mind doesn't leap up, grow confident, steadfast, or firm in the cessation of self-identification. For him the cessation of self-identification is not to be expected.

"Now, there is the case where a monk enters & remains in a certain peaceful awareness-release. He attends to the cessation of self-identification, and as he is attending to the cessation of self-identification his mind leaps up, grows confident, steadfast, & firm in the cessation of self-identification. For him the cessation of self-identification is to be expected.

Just as if a man were to grasp a branch with a clean hand, his hand would not stick to it, grip it, or adhere to it; in the same way, the monk enters & remains in a certain peaceful awareness-release. He attends to the cessation of self-identification, and as he is attending to the cessation of self-identification his mind leaps up, grows confident, steadfast, & firm in the cessation of self-identification. For him the cessation of self-identification is to be expected

* First fetter

(to understand fetters see lables below)

Jambali Sutta: The Waste-water Pool

Seven types of individuals ...

Seven types of individuals are to be found existing in the world...

1. An individual sinks down once and stays sunk... is like an individual is endowed with exclusively dark, unskillful qualities.

2. An individual, on coming to the surface, sinks down again... is like an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' But his conviction neither remains nor grows, but simply wanes away.

3. An individual, on coming to the surface, stays there... is like the case where an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' His conviction doesn't wane, but instead develops & remains. His conscience, his concern, his persistence, his discernment don't wane, but instead develop & remain.

4. An individual, on coming to the surface, opens his eyes & looks around... is like an individual, on coming to the surface, open his eyes & look around? There is the case where an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' With the total ending of [the first] three fetters, he becomes a stream-winner, steadfast, never again destined for states of woe, headed for self-awakening.

5. An individual, on coming to the surface, heads across... is like the case where an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' With the total ending of [the first] three fetters, and with the attenuation of passion, aversion, & delusion, he becomes a once-returner, who — on returning only one more time to this world — will make an ending to stress.

6. An individual, on coming to the surface, gains a foothold... is like the case where an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' With the total ending of the five lower fetters, he is due to be reborn [in the Pure Abodes], there to be totally unbound (non-returner), never again to return from that world.

7. An individual, on coming to the surface, crosses over, reaches the far shore, stands on high ground, a brahman... is like the case where an individual comes to the surface, [seeing,] 'Conviction in skillful qualities is good, conscience is good, concern is good, persistence is good, discernment with regard to skillful qualities is good.' With the ending of the mental fermentations (taints), he enters & remains in the fermentation-free awareness-release & discernment-release, having directly known and realized them for himself right in the here & now (arahant).

Note : This is a summary of the sutta. To read the full sutta follow the link below:

Udakupama Sutta-The Water Simile

The five groups of clinging

"Monks, there are these five groups of clinging*.

1. The body-group

2. The feeling-group

3. The perception-group

4. The mental-formation-group

5. The consciousness-group

"And when, monks, the Ariyan disciple understands as they really are the arising and the passing away, the attractiveness and the danger, and the deliverance from the five groups of clinging, he is called an Ariyan disciple who is a Stream-winner, not liable to states of woe, assured of final enlightenment."

Sotaapanno Sutta-The Sotaapanna ('Stream-winner')

* Clinging to The Five Aggregates (see labels)

It is the same as the self identity view -the first fetter (see labels)

The four stages of enlightenment

1. Arahant

"In this community of monks there are monks who are arahants, whose mental fermentations* are ended, who have reached fulfillment, done the task, laid down the burden, attained the true goal, totally destroyed the fetter of becoming (all ten fetters** are ended), and who are released through right gnosis...

2. Non-returner

"In this community of monks there are monks who, with the total ending of the five lower fetters, are due to be reborn [in the Pure Abodes], there to be totally unbound, never again to return from that world...

3. Once-returner

"In this community of monks there are monks who, with the total ending of [the first] three fetters, and with the attenuation of passion, aversion, & delusion, are once-returners, who — on returning only one more time to this world — will make an ending to stress...

4. Stream-winner

"In this community of monks there are monks who, with the total ending of [the first] three fetters, are stream-winners, steadfast, never again destined for states of woe, headed for self-awakening..."

— MN 118

*Fermentations-Pali word is 'asava' also sometimes translated "taints" or "fermentations."

**Fetters

The five lower fetters:

1. Self-identity views

2. Doubt (uncertainty)

3. Grasping at precepts & practices

4. Sensual desire

5. Ill will.

The five higher fetters:

1. Passion for form

2. Passion for what is formless

3. Conceit

4. Restlessness

5. Ignorance

Also read:Sarakaani Sutta-Sarakaani (Who Took to Drink)

stream-winners...never again destined for states of woe

"In this community of monks there are monks who, with the total ending of [the first] three fetters*, are stream-winners, steadfast, never again destined for states of woe**, headed for self-awakening..."

*Fetters- Please see the labels

**Ending states of woe - (States of Deprivation -apaya)-'Hell is ended; animal wombs are ended; the state of the hungry shades is ended; states of deprivation, destitution, the bad bourns are ended. (Also see: Who is a stream-winner ? )

Want to lean more about Buddhist cosmology? (different realms)-The Thirty-one Planes of Existence

The stream-winner...three fetters are abandoned in him

A Poppy blooming in my garden in the morning

after the three coverings are shed.*

For the stream-winner, the arising of the Dhamma eye — with its insight into the causal principles underlying the origination and cessation of stress — is what cuts through the first three fetters.**

"He attends appropriately, This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the way leading to the cessation of stress.*** As he attends appropriately in this way, three fetters are abandoned in him:

1. Self-identity view

2. Doubt

3. grasping at precepts (rituals) & practices

To read more click on the following link:
Stream Entry

*In the photograph (simile) above, the poppy blooming is compared to a "stream winner". The morning sun is the arising of the knowledge of The Four Noble Truths (The Right View). The shedding of the three coverings of the poppy bud is compared to the abandoning of the three fetters.

**Fetters

The five lower fetters:

1. Self-identity views

2. Doubt (uncertainty)

3. Grasping at precepts & practices

4. Sensual desire

5. Ill will.

The five higher fetters:

1. Passion for form

2. Passion for what is formless

3. Conceit

4. Restlessness

5. Ignorance

*** The four Noble Truths

Just as if a man were to grasp a branch with a clean hand...

"There is the case where a monk enters & remains in a certain peaceful awareness-release. He attends to the cessation of self-identification*, but as he is attending to the cessation of self-identification his mind doesn't leap up, grow confident, steadfast, or firm in the cessation of self-identification. For him the cessation of self-identification is not to be expected. Just as if a man were to grasp a branch with his hand smeared with resin, his hand would stick to it, grip it, adhere to it; in the same way, the monk enters & remains in a certain peaceful awareness-release. He attends to the cessation of self-identification, but as he is attending to the cessation of self-identification his mind doesn't leap up, grow confident, steadfast, or firm in the cessation of self-identification. For him the cessation of self-identification is not to be expected.

"Now, there is the case where a monk enters & remains in a certain peaceful awareness-release. He attends to the cessation of self-identification, and as he is attending to the cessation of self-identification his mind leaps up, grows confident, steadfast, & firm in the cessation of self-identification. For him the cessation of self-identification is to be expected. Just as if a man were to grasp a branch with a clean hand, his hand would not stick to it, grip it, or adhere to it; in the same way, the monk enters & remains in a certain peaceful awareness-release. He attends to the cessation of self-identification, and as he is attending to the cessation of self-identification his mind leaps up, grows confident, steadfast, & firm in the cessation of self-identification. For him the cessation of self-identification is to be expected.

Jambali Sutta -The Waste-water Pool

*self-identification- First fetter (see the label-fetters)

A man was being carried along by the flow of a river...

"Suppose a man was being carried along by the flow of a river, lovely & alluring. And then another man with good eyesight, standing on the bank, on seeing him would say: 'My good man, even though you are being carried along by the flow of a river, lovely & alluring, further down from here is a pool with waves & whirlpools, with monsters & demons. On reaching that pool you will suffer death or death-like pain.' Then the first man, on hearing the words of the second man, would make an effort with his hands & feet to go against the flow.

The meaning is this: the flow of the river stands for craving. Lovely & alluring stands for the six internal sense-media. The pool further down stands for the five lower fetters. The waves stand for anger & distress. The whirlpools stand for the five strings of sensuality. The monsters & demons stand for the opposite sex. Against the flow stands for renunciation. Making an effort with hands & feet stands for the arousing of persistence. The man with good eyesight standing on the bank stands for the Tathagata, worthy & rightly self-awakened."

Even if it's with pain,
you should abandon
sensual desires
if you aspire
to future safety from bondage.
Alert,
with a mind well-released,
touch release now here,
now there.
An attainer-of-wisdom,
having fulfilled the holy life,
is said to have gone
to the end of the world, gone
beyond.

Iti 4.10; Iti 114

Carrying the "burden"

"A burden indeed are the five aggregates,

and the carrier of the burden is the person.

Taking up the burden in the world is stressful.

Casting off the burden is bliss."- Buddha -Bhara Sutta -The Burden

Note: Five aggregates are essentially the suffering (stress). Buddha said this in his very first disclosure, Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion).
He said: "Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress: Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful."

If this is the cause for suffering or stress, why cant we let go this "burden"(five aggregates) and have no more suffering in our lives. This is the because we cling to these five aggregates as we have not eradicated what is called the the personality view or self-identity view (Pali: sakkāya-diṭṭhi). This is the the belief in an "individual self". This is laso one of the "fetters" or a strong bond that attaches us to the samsara. (Please see labels for previous posts on these subjects)

"Like a fish in the water tearing a net"

"Shattering fetters,*

like a fish in the water tearing a net,

like a fire not coming back to what's burnt"-Khaggavisana Sutta

*Fetter:

A fetter or "chain" or "bond" (Pāli: samyojana, saŋyojana, saññojana) shackles a person to samsara, the cycle of endless suffering. By completely cutting through all fetters, one attains Nibbana (Nirvana).

"There are these ten fetters. Which ten? Five lower fetters & five higher fetters. And which are the five lower fetters? Self-identity views, uncertainty, grasping at rituals & practices, sensual desire, & ill will. These are the five lower fetters. And which are the five higher fetters? Passion for form, passion for what is formless, conceit, restlessness, & ignorance. These are the five higher fetters. And these are the ten fetters."- Buddha
Sanyojana Sutta-Fetters