blog 6

Both texts (Bhikku's and MN 148) talk out this concept of self and how it leads to suffering. Their argument is based around the idea that the notion of self pushes one to establish a certain identity and this whole process of establishment brings along a good deal of pain and suffering along with it. The most rational solution, therefore, is this concept of "no-self," which allows an individual to let go of this hurtful process of establishing an identity and, hence, end an imperative source of suffering. Another way to look at our subjective experience is in light of the "door" through which sense data reaches the mind: the eye-, ear-, nose-, tongue-, body- and mind-doors. Each of these organs is receptive to different sorts of stimuli, and each combines in an interactive relationship with a corresponding sort of sense object to give rise to different modes of conscious awareness. Each also touches off a cognitive series of processing by which we add perceptions and feelings to the sense data and construct a world, a personality, and a sense of self. According to the analysis of this cognitive process detailed MN 148, the craving that causes all our suffering emerges directly from the feeling tone of this constructed experience. Simply put, therefore, by eliminating this entire experience and the stress that comes along with it, one alleviates a lot of suffering.