Ajahn Dhammasīha cites the following short Pali quote at the beginning of his Dhamma Talk :

"Yena yena hi maññanti, tato taṃ hoti aññathā."

"By whatever they conceive, that is becoming otherwise."

= "Whatever they use as support for their illusion of identity, that is all changing and becoming otherwise"

(Majjhima Nikāya/Middle Length Discourses #113, "Sappurisa Sutta" / "Discourse on the Authentic Person")

In order to build up and maintain an illusion of self ('Entity View'/'Sakkāyadiṭṭhi'), we need prop ups. The self illusion has to be based on some foundation. In a profound sense, we try to make the five groups of clinging the foundation for our illusionary sense of self. On a more basic level, we use our name, title, degree, address, status symbols, knowledge, clothing, possessions, and so on as prop ups for our supposed identity.

But whether on the profound level, or in the more basic manifestations, all these prop ups are actually impermanent and unsatisfactory themselves, and thus any self illusion based on them is unstable and liable to collapse as well, leading to constant anxiety (vicikicchā saṃyojana) and desperate attempts to stabilize and sustain the delusion against the onslaught of impermanence. Which necessarily leads to a whole lot of suffering.

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#self #anatta #nonself #illusion #delusion #conceit #attachment #upadana #clinging #ego #identity