Identity and Experience_Hamilton_1996

The Rtipakkhandha * 7
manodhitu separately. The passage does not explicitly offer an explanation
of the meaning or function of manodhiitu, and from the context one can
only make a suggestion as to why it has been singled out, which I will do
below.
The passage states that the first five senses (that is, not including
manodhitu) manifest because of an erroneous belief in ~e1fhood.l~~ The next
sentence makes most sense if translated: "there are [also], bhikkhus, manas
and dhammi, which are the basis for kno~ledge/ignorance".'~~ The Sutta
goes on to state that it is through contact with ignorance that various
(false) views regarding selfhood arise in ordinary people,13' and a paraphrase
of its conclusion, in order to draw out its meaning, might be:
It is in the holding of such views that one persists as an individual in
samsara, that is, one who has the five senses. In the well-taught advanced
disciple ignorance comes to an end and insight arises, there are no more
(false) views concerning selfh00d.l~~
A consideration of the main implication of this passage, though it is not
precisely present in the Pali, serves to highlight the meaning of the passage
itself. The implication is that for the advanced disciple who gains insight
there will be no more persistence as an individual in samsiira; he or she will
therefore no longer be reborn as someone with five senses, the manifestation
of which is accompanied by the manifestation of a further so-called
sense which is associated with the cognitive process. So the significance of
the passage is that the arising of senses indicates that one is still ignorant
and bound in the cycle of samsara.
The use of aviji (ignorance) in one reading of this passage can be
explained because the cognitive process is that which takes place prior to
liberating insight: it is samsiric cognition, which from the point of view of
liberating insight is not viji but au;jii. Thus where v;jii means liberating
insight, manodhitu is associated with ignorance rather than knowledge.
Liberating insight is of a different nature, and according to this interpretation
it does not involve manodhitu, even though the individual with the five
senses is still manifest during the lifetime in which he or she achieves
Enlightenment. On the other hand, the use of viji in connection with
manodhitu can be explained because given that the eventual liberating
insight is to a certain extent dependent on the gradual elimination of
ignorance as the bhikkhu proceeds along the path, manodhiitu might be
associated with eventual knowledge: the samsiiric perspective from which
virtually everyone operates is that from which ignorance is gradually
diminished and liberating knowledge is correspondingly built up, culminating
in insight itself. And according to this interpretation, manodhitu may
even be involved in such insight.
What this passage establishes, whichever variant one reads, is that
manodhitu is different from the other senses. Since the context is concerned