The '' Sutta'' (

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

) or ' (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

), is traditionally recorded as the second discourse delivered by

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

. The title translates to the "Not-Self Characteristic Discourse", but is also known as the ''Pañcavaggiya Sutta'' (Pali) or ''Pañcavargīya Sūtra'' (Skt.), meaning the "Group of Five" Discourse.

In this discourse, the Buddha analyzes the constituents of a person's body and mind ('' khandha'') and demonstrates that they are each impermanent ('' anicca''), subject to suffering ('' dukkha'') and thus unfit for identification with a "self" (''attan''). The Pali version of this discourse reads: ::"Form, ... feeling, ... perception, ... entalfabrications, ... consciousness is not self. If consciousness were the self, this consciousness would not lend itself to dis-ease. It would be possible o saywith regard to consciousness, 'Let my consciousness be thus. Let my consciousness not be thus.' But precisely because consciousness is not self, consciousness lends itself to dis-ease. And it is not possible o saywith regard to consciousness, 'Let my consciousness be thus. Let my consciousness not be thus.'... ::"Thus, monks, any form, ... feeling, ... perception, ... fabrications, ... consciousness whatsoever that is past, future, or present; internal or external; blatant or subtle; common or sublime; far or near: every consciousness is to be seen as it actually is with right discernment as: 'This is not mine. This is not my self. This is not what I am.' ::"Seeing thus, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with fabrications, disenchanted with consciousness. Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, he is fully released. With full release, there is the knowledge, 'Fully released.' He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'"Thanissaro (1993).
(Square-bracketed text is in the source.)

In Buddhist canons

In the

Pali Canon The Pāḷi Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhism, Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant Early Buddhist texts, early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from t ...

, the ''Anattalakkhana Sutta'' is found in the Samyutta Nikaya ("Connected Collection," abbreviated as either "SN" or "S") and is designated by either "SN 21.59" (SLTP) or "SN 22.59" (CSCD) or "S iii 66" ( PTS). This discourse is also found in the Buddhist monastic code (''

Vinaya The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines devel ...

''). In the Chinese set of Āgamas, this discourse can be found as Saṃyukta Āgama 34, or "SA 34". A version of this sutra, called the Aṇatvalakṣaṇa Sutra, is found among the Gāndhārī Buddhist Texts attributed to the

Dharmaguptaka The Dharmaguptaka (Sanskrit: धर्मगुप्तक; ; ) are one of the eighteen or twenty early Buddhist schools from the ancient region of Gandhara, now Pakistan. They are said to have originated from another sect, the Mahīśāsakas f ...

sect.

Notes

Sources

* * Chaṭṭha Sagāyana CD (CSCD) (n.d.), "Khandhasaṃyuttaṃ" ( SN 22). Retrieved 2010-12-29 from "The Pali Tipitaka" at http://tipitaka.org/romn/cscd/s0303m.mul0.xml. * Mendis, N.K.G. (tr., ed.) (1979). ''On the No-self Characteristic: The Anatta-lakkhana Sutta'' (The Wheel No. 268). Kandy:

Buddhist Publication Society The Buddhist Publication Society (BPS) is a publishing house with charitable status, whose objective is to disseminate the teachings of Gautama Buddha. It was founded in Kandy, Sri Lanka, in 1958 by two Sri Lankan lay Buddhists, A.S. Karunaratn ...

. Retrieved 2007-10-03 from "Access to Insight" (2007) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/mendis/wheel268.html. * Ñanamoli Thera (tr., ed.) (1981). ''Three Cardinal Discourses of the Buddha'' (The Wheel No. 17). Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society. Retrieved 2007-10-03 from "Access to Insight" (1995) at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/wheel017.html. * Rhys Davids, T.W. & Hermann Oldenberg (''tr.'') (1881). ''Vinaya Texts''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved 26 Sep 2007 from "Internet Sacred Texts Archive" at http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe13/index.htm. * Sri Lanka Tripitaka Project (SLTP) (n.d.), "Upayavaggo" ( SN 21.6). Retrieved 2010-12-19 from "MettaNet" at http://metta.lk/tipitaka/2Sutta-Pitaka/3Samyutta-Nikaya/Samyutta3/21-Khandha-Samyutta/02-01-Upayavaggo-p.html . * Thanissaro Bhikkhu (tr.) (1993). ''Pañcavaggi Sutta: Five Brethren'' ( SN 22.59). Retrieved 2010-12-29 from "Access to Insight" at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.059.than.html.

External links

Translations
The Characteristic of Nonself
translation by

Bhikkhu Bodhi Bhikkhu Bodhi (born December 10, 1944) () born Jeffrey Block, is an American Theravada Buddhist monk ordained in Sri Lanka. He teaches in the New York and New Jersey area. He was appointed the second president of the Buddhist Publication Soci ...

The Characteristic of Not-Self
translation by Bhikkhu Sujato * From the Saṃyukta Āgama translated by Guṇabhadra (T02n99). * {{Buddhism topics Samyutta Nikaya

Contents

In Buddhist canons

See also

Notes

Sources

External links