Day 43 of 365: Aggregates and You

Essentially, at some point, Nagarjuna wore down his questioners to such a degree that they asked, "Well, if actors, actions, mental afflictions, etc, are all mere appearance, then what is the true nature of reality?"  Nagarjuna's response was to explain the selflessness of the individual and the selflessness of phenomena.  He writes:

If the self were the aggregates,

It would be something that arises and ceases.

If the self were something other than the aggregates,

It would not have the aggregates' characteristics.

In other words, if the self were the aggregates, then it would be constantly arising and ceasing.  Through meditation, we can see that emotions, thoughts, and even our bodies, are constantly arising, changing, and ceasing.  Could they then be the self that we feel as unchanging, independent, and singular?  If the self were something other than the aggregates, then what could it be?  The aggregates constitute our entire experience. Thus, the self would have to be, as Khenpo puts it, an inert space.  Clearly, this is not how we take ourselves to be.

The self chases us,

Behind the jolt of nowness,

Frantic to label