That Spoken Elimination

‘Venerable Sir, it is said, ‘elimination, elimination.’ Through the elimination of what things is elimination spoken of?’

Form, Ānanda, is impermanent, conditioned, dependently arisen, subject to destruction, to vanishing, to fading away, to elimination. Through its elimination, elimination is spoken of.

Feeling is impermanent, conditioned, dependently arisen, subject to destruction, to vanishing, to fading away, to elimination. Through its elimination, elimination is spoken of.

Perception is impermanent, conditioned, dependently arisen, subject to destruction, to vanishing, to fading away, to elimination. Through its elimination, elimination is spoken of.

Volitional formations (choices/decisions) are impermanent, conditioned, dependently arisen, subject to destruction, to vanishing, to fading away, to elimination. Through its elimination, elimination is spoken of.

Consciousness is impermanent, conditioned, dependently arisen, subject to destruction, to vanishing, to fading away, to elimination. Through its elimination, elimination is spoken of.

It is through the elimination of these things, Ānanda, that elimination is spoken of.

(Reference: SN 22.21)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares that through eliminating The Five Aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volitional formations (choices/decisions), and consciousness that one has eliminated The Cycle of Rebirth.

A being is described by The Buddha in other Teachings as a collection of The Five Aggregates. For there to be a living being, there needs to be form, feelings, perceptions, volitional formations (choices/decisions), and consciousness. If these five things do not exist, it is not a living being.

Therefore, to eliminate The Cycle of Rebirth, a Practitioner needs to eliminate clinging to The Five Aggregates, which causes discontentedness.

The Four Noble Truths as explained by The Buddha helps a Practitioner understand that discontentedness is caused by clinging to The Five Aggregates.

It is through the elimination of clinging to The Five Aggregates that there is elimination of discontentedness and elimination of existence in The Cycle of Rebirth.

The Five Aggregates are what makes “a being, a being”. A living being will have all five aggregates, also known as “elements” or “collections”.

The Five Aggregates

Form: the physical body.

Feelings: results of experiences in the mind through The Six Sense Bases.

Perceptions: a belief or opinion based on how things seem.

Volitional Formations: choices or decisions that are made.

Consciousness: the mind.

It is when the mind “clings” or “holds on” to The Five Aggregates that the mind experiences continued discontentedness. Observing the impermanent nature of The Five Aggregates, a human being can “let go” no longer experiencing discontentedness due to “holding on” to The Five Aggregates experiencing constant rebirth in The Cycle of Rebirth.

Due to clinging to The Five Aggregates and a being coming into existence, the mind will experience discontentedness.

All unEnlightened beings will experience discontentedness.

Discontentedness: Gotama Buddha describes three feelings as discontent. The goal of these Teachings is to eliminate discontentedness of mind providing the mind a permanent place to reside in Enlightenment.

• A pleasant feeling (happiness, excitement, elation, thrill, exhilaration, euphoria, etc.)

• A painful feeling (sadness, anger, frustration, irritation, annoyance, guilt, shame, fear, stress, etc.)

• A feeling that is neither painful-nor-pleasant (boredom, loneliness, shyness, displeased, uncomfortable, unsatisfied, etc.)

  
  

Detailed explanation of The Four Noble Truths as explained by The Buddha is available in this same book series found in Chapter 7 of the book “Walking The Path with The Buddha” (Volume 2).