The History of Buddhist Thought c16.43

c16.43

Body (rūpa) consists of the four great elements and what is included in them. Earth is either external (i.e. solid matter) or internal forming the parts of the body : hair, nails, teeth, and the rest of the individual. Water is either external or internal as the various liquids of the body. Internal heat is heat which produces digestion and so on. Internal air is the various breaths and winds of the body. After each of these comes the formula, “ this is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self ; even so, should it rightly be regarded and considered.” In the well-known Anattalakkhaṇa-sutta,² and repeatedly in other places, all the khandhas are treated in the same way, ending with consciousness. “ Is it fitting to consider what is impermanent, painful, and subject to change as ‘ this is mine, I am this, this is my self ’ ? No, Lord. Therefore, monks, whatever consciousness, past, future, or present, internal or external, gross or subtle, low or eminent, far or near, all this consciousness is not mine, I am not this, this is not my self.”