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Anguttara Nikaya III.134

Dhamma-niyama Sutta

The Discourse on the Orderliness of the Dhamma

Translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu.
For free distribution only.

"Monks, whether or not there is the arising of Tathagatas, this property stands -- this steadfastness of the Dhamma, this orderliness of the Dhamma: All processes are inconstant.

"The Tathagata directly awakens to that, breaks through to that. Directly awakening & breaking through to that, he declares it, teaches it, describes it, sets it forth. He reveals it, explains it, & makes it plain: All processes are inconstant.

"Whether or not there is the arising of Tathagatas, this property stands -- this steadfastness of the Dhamma, this orderliness of the Dhamma: All processes are stressful.

"The Tathagata directly awakens to that, breaks through to that. Directly awakening & breaking through to that, he declares it, teaches it, describes it, sets it forth. He reveals it, explains it, & makes it plain: All processes are stressful.

"Whether or not there is the arising of Tathagatas, this property stands -- this steadfastness of the Dhamma, this orderliness of the Dhamma: All phenomena are not-self.[1]

"The Tathagata directly awakens to that, breaks through to that. Directly awakening & breaking through to that, he declares it, teaches it, describes it, sets it forth. He reveals it, explains it, & makes it plain: All phenomena are not-self."


Note

1. The suttas are inconsistent on the question of whether Unbinding counts as a phenomenon (dhamma). Iti 90, among others, states clearly that it is. AN X.58, however, calls Unbinding the ending of all phenomena. Sn V.6 quotes the Buddha as calling the attainment of the goal the transcending of all phenomena, just as Sn IV.6 and Sn IV.10 state that the arahant has transcended dispassion, said to be the highest phenomenon. If the former definition applies here, Unbinding would be not-self. If the latter, the word phenomenon (as more inclusive than fabrication) would apply to the nonreturner's experience of the Deathless (see AN IX.36). The arahant's experience of Unbinding would be neither self nor not-self, as it lies beyond all designations (see DN 15). [Go back]
Revised: Saturday 2005-05-14
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/anguttara/an03-134.html