A Discourse on the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta by The Venerable Mahāsi Sayādaw Translated by U Htin Fatt (Maung Htin) Buddha Sāsanānuggaha Organization Mahāsi Translation Committee, Rangoon A Discourse on the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta by The Venerable Mahāsi Sayādaw of Burma Translated by U Min Swe (Min Kyaw Thu) First printed and published in the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma September 1982 Latest Edition Edited by Bhikkhu Pesala September 2021 All rights reserved Contents Editor’s Preface...................................................................................vii Foreword...............................................................................................ix Rooting Out Attachment to Self..........................................................ix The Hemavata Sutta...............................................................................x The Five Monks Attained Stream-winning..........................................x Awakening Cannot Be Achieved without Contemplation..................xi A Full Explanation of the Noting Method.........................................xii Preferring Truth to Tradition............................................................xiii Seemingly Easy but Difficult.............................................................xiv One Should Not Underestimate the Suttanta.....................................xv Common Usage Is Not Easy to Interpret............................................xv A Discourse on the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta Introduction to the Sutta.......................................................................1 Date of the Discourse............................................................................2 Materiality Wrongly Conceived as Self.................................................4 How Materiality Oppresses.............................................................6 Materiality Is Not Subject to One’s Will.........................................7 Direct Evidence of How Materiality Is Not Self..............................8 Two Kinds of Soul..................................................................................8 The Story of Baka Brahmā................................................................8 Origin of the Belief in Creation.......................................................9 Attachment to Self................................................................................10 Not Understanding Clinging to Self............................................11 Self Must be Understood to Understand Not-self........................11 Four Kinds of Clinging to Self...........................................................12 Clinging to Self as the Master (Sāmi Atta)...................................12 Clinging to Self as an Abiding Soul (Nivāsī Atta)........................13 Clinging to Self as the Doer (Kāraka Atta)...................................13 Clinging to Self as the Experiencer (Vedaka Atta).......................13 Contemplation of Not-self...................................................................14 Summary of Materiality is Not-self...............................................16 Points to Remember About Clinging to Self......................................17 Part Two Feeling Is Not-self................................................................................18 Difference Between Abhidhamma and Suttanta..........................19 Feelings Misconceived As Self......................................................21 Why Feeling Is Not Self..................................................................21 How Feeling Oppresses.................................................................22 Feeling Is Ungovernable................................................................24 iii iv Contents The Dīghanakha Sutta....................................................................27 The Wanderer Dīghanakha..................................................................31 Weariness Through Contemplating Feeling.................................35 The Path and Fruition through Dispassion...................................36 One Who Speaks the Truth Does Not Dispute.............................37 Venerable Sāriputta Attains Arahantship.....................................37 A Spontaneous Congregation of Arahants....................................38 Part Three Perceptions Are Not-self......................................................................40 Why Perception Is Not-self.............................................................40 How Perception Oppresses...........................................................41 Mental Formations Are Not-self.........................................................44 Contrary to the Buddha’s Teaching...............................................46 Mental Formations in the Context of This Sutta...........................46 Why Mental Formations Are Not-self............................................47 How Mental Formations Inflict Suffering....................................48 Mental Formations Are Ungovernable..........................................48 A Hungry Ghost Tormented by Needles............................................49 How Realisation of Not-self Occurs..............................................52 Part Four Consciousness Is Not-self....................................................................54 Why Consciousness Is Not Self......................................................54 How Consciousness Oppresses.....................................................55 Consciousness Is Not Subject to One’s Will.......................................56 Dependent on Circumstances.............................................................57 The Story of Bhikkhu Sāti....................................................................59 A Summary of the True Dhamma.......................................................60 The Pheṇapiṇḍūpama Sutta...........................................................64 Materiality is Like Foam......................................................................65 Feelings Are like a Bubble..................................................................67 Perception Is Like a Mirage.................................................................68 Formations Are like a Plantain Trunk................................................69 Consciousness Is like an Illusion........................................................70 The Process of Eye-door Consciousness.............................................71 Summary of the Process of Cognition................................................73 Part Five The Characteristic of Not-self..............................................................75 Not-self Explained by Means of Impermanence................................76 Not-self Through Seeing Unsatisfactoriness.....................................78 Not-self Is Both Impermanent and Unsatisfactory............................78 The Wanderer Saccaka.........................................................................78 Contents v Refuting A Self Apart From the Five Aggregates..............................85 Why It Is Called Impermanent............................................................87 The Characteristics of Impermanence................................................91 Insight into the Nature of Impermanence.........................................91 Two Kinds of Suffering........................................................................92 Characteristics of Suffering................................................................92 Insight into the Nature of Suffering...................................................92 Clinging to Things as Mine................................................................93 Clinging With Conceit........................................................................94 Clinging With Wrong View................................................................95 Part Six Feeling Is Impermanent................................................................97 Perception Is Impermanent.........................................................104 Mental Formations Are Impermanent........................................106 Consciousness Is Impermanent..................................................110 Third Part of the Sutta........................................................................115 Contemplation of Materiality.......................................................115 Only the Present Moment Should Be Noted.....................................116 Contemplation of Impermanence and Not-self..........................118 Stream-winners Instructed to Contemplate Not-self........................119 Contemplating Materiality in Eleven Ways.................................121 Contemplating Internal and External Materiality...........................123 Contemplating Coarse and Fine Materiality....................................123 Contemplating Inferior and Superior Materiality...........................124 Contemplating Far and Near Materiality.........................................124 Part Seven Contemplating Feeling In Eleven Ways......................................126 Contemplating Feeling with Regard to Time...................................126 Contemplating Internal and External Feelings...............................128 Contemplating Coarse and Fine Feelings........................................129 Contemplating Inferior and Superior Feelings................................130 Contemplating Far and Near Feelings.............................................130