One of the students in my Sutta Discovery class has asked me about a
statement made in a book on Ajahn Maha Boowa, entitled ARAHATTAMAGGA
ARAHATTAPHALA (2005) (based on Maha Boowa's Dhamma talks) translated
Bhikkhu Dick Silaratano.
On page 99, the opening paragraph reads:
"Being intrinsically bright and clear, the citta is always ready to make
contact with everything of every nature. Although all conditioned phenomena
without exception are governed by the three universal laws of anicca,
dukkha, and anatta, the citta's true nature is not subject to these laws.
The citta is conditioned by anicca, dukkha and anatta only because things
that are subject to these laws come spinning in to become involved with the
citta and so cause it to spin along with them."
I sense this is a free expression based on the pabhassara,citta of A 1:10.
At first blush, it appears this passage refers to or is parallel to the
Mahayana notion of Tathagata,citta.
However, the questioner (and I, too) are a little confused about the
statement "the citta's true nature is not subject to these laws [anicca,
dukkha, anatta]". Is citta here synonym for Nibbana?
I do not have the Thai original, so I cannot check this.
I hope someone can clarify this for us.
Sukhi,
Piya
Piya Tan
Lecturer & Instructor
Brahm Education Centre
Singapore
website: www.brahmec.com
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