<p>I was reading the <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.059.mend.html">Anatta-lakkhana Sutta: The Discourse on the Not-self Characteristic</a></p>

<p>and here the Buddha attempts to demonstrate that not in any of the five aggregates is the self to be found. He says this about form for example:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"Form, O monks, is not-self; if form were self, then form would not lead to affliction and it should obtain regarding form: 'May my form be thus, may my form not be thus'; and indeed, O monks, since form is not-self, therefore form leads to affliction and it does not obtain regarding form: 'May my form be thus, may my form not be thus.'</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Now with other aggregates he follows the same paragraph structure and just substitutes in for the word "form".</p>

<p>What I've noticed though, is that many other suttas employ this style of exposition and I wanted to know what the motivation was for this?</p>

<p>I've heard that repetition made memorization easier, which makes sense; but is there another reason for this? </p>

<p>Should I read through each paragraph even though its an almost exact replica of some other paragraphs? It can be tedious to read something that uses this style and I have simply just skipped such paragraphs.</p>

<p>What do you think? What is recommended?</p>

<p>edit: Some other translations of this sutta don't explicitly rewrite the paragraph and just place elipses to avoid repetition.</p>

<scripture>
Why do the scriptures employ so much repetition?
# Why do the scriptures employ so much repetition?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-01-10)

I was reading the [Anatta-lakkhana Sutta: The Discourse on the Not-self Characteristic](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.059.mend.html)

and here the Buddha attempts to demonstrate that not in any of the five aggregates is the self to be found. He says this about form for example:

> "Form, O monks, is not-self; if form were self, then form would not lead to affliction and it should obtain regarding form: 'May my form be thus, may my form not be thus'; and indeed, O monks, since form is not-self, therefore form leads to affliction and it does not obtain regarding form: 'May my form be thus, may my form not be thus.'

Now with other aggregates he follows the same paragraph structure and just substitutes in for the word "form".

What I've noticed though, is that many other suttas employ this style of exposition and I wanted to know what the motivation was for this?

I've heard that repetition made memorization easier, which makes sense; but is there another reason for this?

Should I read through each paragraph even though its an almost exact replica of some other paragraphs? It can be tedious to read something that uses this style and I have simply just skipped such paragraphs.

What do you think? What is recommended?

edit: Some other translations of this sutta don't explicitly rewrite the paragraph and just place elipses to avoid repetition.

**Tags:** scripture


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## 0 answers

