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**FjFHQLJQ** · 04-10-2012, 01:11 AM

This is another resource which is also worth reading:

The Problem of Personality
by Ajahn Sumedho

Most of us are very committed to ourselves as personalities. The habit of viewing ourselves as a person is deeply ingrained in us. In Pali, that is called sakkaya-ditthi, which can be translated as “personality-view” or “the ego.” It means that we regard the five khandhas (groups) – body, feelings, perceptions, conceptions, and consciousness – as belonging to this person, as making up our identity. In investigating the personality-view, we do not grasp on to the perceptionof “no person” either. It is possible to take the concept of anatta (no self) and grasp that, and say, “There’s no self because the Buddha said there’s anatta!” But in that case we’re still grasping a perception. Grasping a perception of yourself as a nonself gets to be a bit ridiculous.

It is so easy for us to conceive the conditions we attach to. Yet with satipanna (discriminating alertness) and sati-sampajanna (awareness), we begin to awaken ourselves to the way it is, rather than being committed to the conventional realities. I want to emphasize that this awareness is there before you become something. This point cannot be repeated often enough, because even though cultivating awareness might appear very simple on the face of it, our mindset is definitely geared to believing in the personality-view as our fundamental reality. If you grasp on to the conditions you create, you will end up in the same place every time – suffering. But don’t simply believe me; explore it for yourself.

Instead of starting with a perception or a conception of anything, the Buddha established a way based on awareness, or awakened attention. This is an immanent act in the present. It is sati-sampajanna, an intuitive awareness that allows the consciousness to be with the present moment. With this attention, you begin to explore sakkaya-ditthi (personality-view) in terms of the perceptions you attach to as yourself.

Continued here:

http://www.abhayagiri.org/main/article_print/593/

04-10-2012, 01:11 AM	#38
FjFHQLJQ Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 485 Senior Member	This is another resource which is also worth reading: The Problem of Personality by Ajahn Sumedho Most of us are very committed to ourselves as personalities. The habit of viewing ourselves as a person is deeply ingrained in us. In Pali, that is called sakkaya-ditthi, which can be translated as “personality-view” or “the ego.” It means that we regard the five khandhas (groups) – body, feelings, perceptions, conceptions, and consciousness – as belonging to this person, as making up our identity. In investigating the personality-view, we do not grasp on to the perceptionof “no person” either. It is possible to take the concept of anatta (no self) and grasp that, and say, “There’s no self because the Buddha said there’s anatta!” But in that case we’re still grasping a perception. Grasping a perception of yourself as a nonself gets to be a bit ridiculous. It is so easy for us to conceive the conditions we attach to. Yet with satipanna (discriminating alertness) and sati-sampajanna (awareness), we begin to awaken ourselves to the way it is, rather than being committed to the conventional realities. I want to emphasize that this awareness is there before you become something. This point cannot be repeated often enough, because even though cultivating awareness might appear very simple on the face of it, our mindset is definitely geared to believing in the personality-view as our fundamental reality. If you grasp on to the conditions you create, you will end up in the same place every time – suffering. But don’t simply believe me; explore it for yourself. Instead of starting with a perception or a conception of anything, the Buddha established a way based on awareness, or awakened attention. This is an immanent act in the present. It is sati-sampajanna, an intuitive awareness that allows the consciousness to be with the present moment. With this attention, you begin to explore sakkaya-ditthi (personality-view) in terms of the perceptions you attach to as yourself. Continued here: http://www.abhayagiri.org/main/article_print/593/
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