Elements - Manyfold Elements II

The Buddha then explained still other ways of being skilled in the elements and further on we read that Ānanda asked again :

 

'Might there be another way also, revered sir,

according to which it suffices to say,

'The monk is skilled in the elements'?' 

 

'There might be, Ānanda.

There are these two elements, Ānanda:

the element that is constructed

and the element that is unconstructed.

When, Ānanda, he knows and sees these two elements,

it is at this stage that it suffices to say,

'The monk is skilled in the element.'

 

The element which is constructed is all conditioned realities (the five

khandhas), and the element which is unconstructed is nibbāna. Also nibbāna

is an element, it is devoid of self. Nibbāna is not a person, it is anattā. We

read in this sutta about the monk who knows and sees the elements. Knowing

and seeing the elements does not mean only knowing them in theory and

thinking about them. One knows and sees the elements when paññā realizes

nāma and rūpa as they are: only elements, not self. This knowledge will

lead to the end of 'fears, troubles and misfortunes'.