Not-self in the Samyukta Agama
Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:39 am
Ven Dhammanando has recently posted on Facebook about Ven Analayo's Translation of the Samyukta Agama:
Mike
Dhammanando Bhikkhu wrote:The second part of Ven. Anālayo’s translation of the Saṃyukta-āgama is now available:
http://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg. ... o/SA02.pdf
Hansi Zhai wrote: Yay! Finally another explicit denial of the existence of the Self - sutra #264. The Chinese says 我, while the Pali parallel has attabhāva. Take that, all you Not-Self strategists.
Dhammanando Bhikkhu wrote: Apparently in the Sanskrit too, where the slightly ambiguous Pali “na upalabbhati” is replaced with an unequivocal “n’asti”.
“The self, the self (atma atmeti), monks, [thinks] the foolish common person who follows speech (prajñaptim anupatito). But *there is no self and what belongs to self there* (na catrasty atma natmiyam va). This suffering, arising, arises, this suffering, ceasing, ceases. Formations, arising, arise, ceasing, cease (samskara utpadyamana utpadyante, nirudhyamana nirudhyante).” MA, 62, 498b, Sanghabhedavastu, I, 158, Waldschmidt, Catusparisatsutra, 354-356, Zitate, 210, Harivarman, Tattvasiddhi, T, 32, 1646, 259b1-3, 312c5-6. Trans. Tang Huyen.
I presume that Hansi Zhai is referring to this passage:Hansi Zhai wrote: Bhante, re the slightly ambiguous Pali "paṭilābha", I was just wondering if this word is a throwback to the Vedic concept of āpnoti, where knowledge of the Atman guarantees that sarvāṃs lokān āpnoti (one obtains all worlds). Soothill suggests that the Chinese 得 would have denoted prāpta, and the associated verbs include āpnoti and upalabhate.
SA264 wrote:"Blessed One, while meditating and reflecting, I had the thought:
'Is there a bodily form that is permanent, lasting and unchanging,
that firmly remains? In the same way, is there a feeling ... perception
... formations ... consciousness that is permanent, lasting and
unchanging, that firmly remains?' I now ask the Blessed One: 'Is
there a bodily form that is permanent, lasting and unchanging, that
firmly remains? Is there a feeling ... perception ... formations ...
consciousness that is permanent, lasting and unchanging, that firmly
remains?'"
At that time the Blessed One took in his hand a small ball of earth and
said to the monk: "Do you see the ball of earth in my hand?"
The monk said to the Buddha: "I have seen it, Blessed One."
[The Buddha said]: "Monk, [even] a self as much as this small [ball]
of earth cannot be obtained, supposing one could obtain a self which
is of a nature to be permanent, lasting and unchanging, that firmly
remains."
Mike