Reading guide
The formula, unchanged from its source
"This is mine, I am this, this is my self" (etaṁ mama, esohamasmi, eso me attā) — the identical three-part claim already examined at SN 22.151, applied here to each of the five aggregates in turn exactly as before.
Two discourses, one formula, two endings
SN 22.151 runs the aggregate catechism once and concludes with the arahant-refrain shared across most of Khandhavagga: seeing rightly, a noble disciple grows disillusioned, and "there is nothing further for this place." This discourse instead names a sixth ground ("that which is seen, heard, thought, known, attained, sought, and explored by the mind") and closes with giving up doubt about these grounds and the four noble truths — stream-entry, not liberation.
Nothing about the underlying analysis differs; what differs is which finish line this book's shared diagnostic machinery is aimed at.
A vagga built on reuse, one term at a time
Following SN 24.1's own new opening formula, this discourse settles into the compressed rhythm this vagga will keep for its remaining sixteen discourses: the view named once, applied to the aggregates with light elision, then the same closing formula repeated verbatim.
Why this material recurs across two saṃyuttas
The Pali canon reuses core formulas across different organizing frameworks routinely — Khandhavagga asks what liberates from self-view, Diṭṭhisaṃyutta asks what grounds a systematic catalog of eighteen named views. The self-view triad qualifies for both projects at once, appearing with a different destination in each.
Key terms
The text
§1At Sāvatthī. “Mendicants, when what exists, because of grasping what and insisting on what, does the view arise: ‘This is mine, I am this, this is my self’?” “Our teachings are rooted in the Buddha. …” “When form exists, because of grasping form and insisting on form, the view arises: ‘This is mine, I am this, this is my self.’ When feeling … perception … choices … consciousness exists, because of grasping consciousness and insisting on consciousness, the view arises: ‘This is mine, I am this, this is my self.’
§2What do you think, mendicants? Is form permanent or impermanent?” “Impermanent, sir.” … “Is feeling … perception … choices … consciousness permanent or impermanent?” “Impermanent, sir.” … “That which is seen, heard, thought, known, attained, sought, and explored by the mind: is that permanent or impermanent?” “Impermanent, sir.” “But if it’s impermanent, is it suffering or happiness?” “Suffering, sir.” “But by not grasping what’s impermanent, suffering, and perishable, would the view arise: ‘This is mine, I am this, this is my self’?” “No, sir.”
§3“When a noble disciple has given up doubt regarding these six grounds, and has given up doubt in suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the practice that leads to its cessation, they’re called a noble disciple who is a stream-enterer, not liable to be reborn in the underworld, assured, destined for awakening.”
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