Dear Piya,

< 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? >

If you take an unbiased look at what follows the suttanta states that a
pabhassara citta may be upakili.t.tha by upakilesas and it may also be free
of them. Now, if you read a litle further the text tells that whether or not
it is kili.t.tha is dependent upon cittabhaavanaa. And only a knowledable
ariyasaavaka is capable of performing a cittabhavanaa that is not
kili.t.tha.. This leads inevitably to the conclusion that pabhassara citta
is an intellectual capability of an ariyasaavaka, an intellectual readiness
to understand the saasana. There is nothing in this sutta that can be
claimed by Mahaayaaananists as supporting their views.

Best wishes,
Ole Pind





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