“Me”: the Nature of Conceit
Living Word of the Buddha SDvol 19 no 2a “Me”: The nature of conceit “Me” The Nature of Conceit [The psychological complexes and narcissism] by Piya Tan ©2007 “What is in our mind appears more real than what is outside of it.” [7.5] 1 Complexes 1.1 STATUS AND CONCEIT. The Alagaddûpama Sutta (M 22) teaches that the five aggregates, each and every one of them, should be regarded as ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’1 These statements are the opposite of the threefold graspings (ti,vidha gāha), namely, “Thisismine” (etam mama) (arises through craving, tahā,gāha) = “mine-making”; “This I am” (eso’ham asmi) (arises through conceit, māna,gāha) = “conceit”;and “Thisismyself” (eso me attā) (arises through wrong view, dihi,gāha) = “I-making.” (Anattā,lakkhaa Sutta, S 3:68 = SD 1.2) These three wrong attitudes are also known as the “latent tendencies to ‘I’-making, ‘mine’-making and conceit” (aha.kāra,mama.kāra,mānnusaya).2 These threefold graspings are the main factors behind conception (maññana) (M 1) and mental proliferation (papañca) (M 18). In short, such experiences are not merely “beliefs” but are direct reactions to reality.3 In this essay, we shall discuss the second of the threefold graspings—that of “This I am” (eso’ham asmi)—which arises because of grasping through conceit (māna,gāha). When we hold the view, “This I am,” we are clinging to the notion of duality, that is, there is an “I” and “other” beyond the mere conven- tional usage of the words.
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