..續本文上一頁e hand everything over to them. Any animals who want to eat away in our body can go ahead and do so. We”re no longer possessive. Whatever they want, whatever they like to eat, they can go ahead and have it: We don”t give a damn. That”s how we really feel. We”re not attached. If they want to eat our intestines, they can go ahead. If they want to eat our excrement, they can have it. If they want to eat our blood, they can eat all they like. We”re not possessive. Whatever any type of consciousness wants, they”re welcome to it. We give them their independence, so they can govern themselves, without our trying to snitch anything away from them. As a result, they gain a share of our goodness. The same for the bodiless consciousnesses in our body: They gain their independence. And we gain our independence, too. Everybody gets to live in his or her own house, eat his or her own food, sleep in his or her own bed. Everyone lives separately, so everyone can be at his or her own ease.

　　This is called "bhagava":The eye gets separated from forms, forms get separated from the eye, and consciousness gets separated from self.

　　The ear gets separated from sounds, sounds get separated from the ear, and consciousness gets separated from self.

　　The nose gets separated from smells, smells get separated from the nose, and consciousness gets separated from self.

　　The tongue gets separated from flavors, flavors get separated from the tongue, and consciousness gets separated from self.

　　The body gets separated from tactile sensations, tactile sensations get separated from the body, and consciousness gets separated from the body.

　　The mind gets separated from ideas, ideas get separated from the mind, and consciousness gets separated from the mind.

　　There”s no sense that this is our self or that”s our self. This is called "Sabbe dhamma anatta," all phenomena are not-self. We don”t claim rights over anything at all. Whoever can do this will gain release from the world, from the cycle of death and rebirth. This is asavakkhaya-ñana — the knowledge of the ending of mental fermentation — arising in the heart.

　　So now that you”ve listened to this, you should take it to ponder and contemplate so as to gain a clear understanding within yourself. That way you”ll be on the path to release from stress and suffering, using persistence and effort at all times to cleanse your own consciousness so as to know it clearly. That”s what will lead you to purity.

　　So, for today”s discussion of consciousnesses, I”ll ask to stop here.

《Consciousnesses》全文閱讀結束。