The Leash
SN 22.99 Gaddūla Sutta: The Leash
Just as a dog, tied by a leash to a post or stake, keeps running around and circling around that very post or stake; in the same way, an uninstructed person [..] assumes form to be the self, or the self as possessing form, or form as in the self, or the self as in form.
He assumes feeling to be the self…
He assumes perception to be the self…
He assumes fabrications to be the self…
He assumes consciousness to be the self, or the self as possessing consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in consciousness.