Dear Bhante,

> Thanks for this interesting reference. Please help my Skt:
> does 'aasa.msaarika' mean 'not-sa.msaara-ish'? (with the initial a
> lengthened due to the ending '-ika').

No, as far as I know, based on the Tib and Ch parallels, it is the long "aa"
prefix. This is a reconstructed term (though it might be attested in the
ABhiKBh or Yasomitra's Vyakhya thereupon), but is used by Lamotte, Nagao and
Schmidthausen in reference to this passage. They translate it as "the
skandha which continues as long as Samsara does" or similar. The term is
supposed to be found in the Mahasisaka Agama, where they recognize three
classes of skandhas: 1. k.sa.nika-skandha, 2. janmi-skandha and 3.
aasa.msaarika-skandha -- momentary skandhas, skandhas lasting a lifetime and
those lasting until one enter the vajropama-samaadhi.

Your comments on the problem of momentariness are welcome. Momentariness
seems to have been a good idea that then entailed further problems. I think
you are right about the Sarvastivadin connection -- though this is
interesting in view of their idea of the enduring existence of dharmas. As
you mention, the problems that arose vis a vis continuity seem to have
arisen in part from the idea of momentariness and the various attempted
solutions are perhaps, as you say, attempts to solve a pseudo-problem.

My dinner is almost done now, so I'll post some bibliographical references
later for those interested.

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge