“ The
equality-conceit (thinking of oneself as the same as others).
The
inferiority-conceit (thinking of oneself as lesser than others).
And
the superiority-conceit (thinking of oneself as better than others).
This three-fold conceit
should be overcome.
One
who has overcome this,
through
the full investigation of conceit,
is
said to have put an end to suffering.”
~ A 6.49
Investigation of the
conceit: ‘I am’
Can feel like trying to split a hair with a pin.
It can be very subtle
Hard to see.
Anatta (not-self) is a negation tool used in Buddhism to reveal what is not the self,
like the practise of neti neti (not this, not that).
Anatta investigates the five khandhas (skandhas in Sanskrit), these are: the body; feelings; perceptions; mental
formations; consciousness (of
the six senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental objects).
The khandhas (also known as the five aggregates of clinging) are conditioned
phenomena, uncertain, unstable, fragile. Changing. Interdependent. And largely
outside our control. Their impermanence causes attachment to them to be bound
up with the pain of wanting, frustration, dissatisfaction, stress and
sorrow.
There is some gratification in them otherwise we wouldn’t cling to them. But
that gratification is transient and when it goes, we suffer and thirst for
more, feel pain at loss and separation.
Still, it's not all bad, because some of the aggregates are within our ability to change, we
can make a path out of them that leads to the end of suffering: the noble
eightfold path.
Seeing the skandhas do not last, are empty of self, and bound up with suffering. One becomes less attached to them, less
enthralled by them. One feels dispassionate towards them and stops identifying with them. Stops taking things personally.
Knowing the khandas are not me, not mine, not self, one lets go, stops clinging to them –
and what remains then is the deathless.
It is not meant to be depressing. If done correctly this will bring rapture and
peace to the mind. Bliss. The relief of letting go, of relinquishment, of releasing it
all. Liberation. Freedom. It's not a dry unemotional experience.
To think of nibbana or nirvana as annihilation is incorrect. If
this were the case, it wouldn't be called the deathless.
Nibbana is a conscious experience. Said to be the finest experience that any
being can have. If it was about annihilation, it would not be an experience.
…
