5 Skandhas: The clinging-aggregates

The clinging-aggregates:

1. "form" or "matter" (rūpa): matter, body or "material form" of a being or any existence. Buddhist texts state rupa of any person, sentient being and object to be composed of four basic elements or forces: earth (solidity), water (cohesion), fire (heat) and wind (motion).
2. "sensation" or "feeling" (vedanā): sensory experience of an object. It is either pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.
3. "perception"[note 5] (saññā): sensory and mental process that registers, recognizes and labels (for instance, the shape of a tree, color green, emotion of fear).
4. "mental formations" (saṅkhāra): '"constructing activities","conditioned things", "volition", "karmic activities"; all types of mental imprints and conditioning triggered by an object. Includes any process that makes a person initiate action or act.
5. "consciousness" (viññāṇa): "discrimination" or "discernment". Awareness of an object and discrimination of its components and aspects.

(From Wikipedia)

I'm reading Maha-punnama Sutta: The Great Full-moon Night Discourse (MN 109). The root of these 5 clinging aggregates is desire.

"He assumes feeling to be the self, or the self as possessing feeling, or feeling as in the self, or the self as in feeling. He assumes perception to be the self, or the self as possessing perception, or perception as in the self, or the self as in perception. He assumes fabrications to be the self, or the self as possessing fabrications, or fabrications as in the self, or the self as in fabrications. 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."

"This, monk, is how self-identity view comes about."

We identify with the forms, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness. By not identifying with the 5 clinging-aggregates "self-identity view no longer comes about."

That eventually leads to:

"Seeing thus, the instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with fabrications, disenchanted with consciousness. Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, he is fully released. With full release, there is the knowledge, 'Fully released.' He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'"

And with this talk 60 monks became enlightened and, "were fully released from fermentations."

I asked my friend if he really thinks you can get rid of desire. My friend says you can't get rid of desire, you channel it to kusala desire, that is skillful, ethical, and that edges out sensory desire.

I asked my friend if he'd heard of Nietzsche's criticism of religion, that it just flips the stuff you like and makes it bad, and makes not so great stuff, good. He said that's not really going on with what enlightenment is about. It's about dispelling ignorance. Deep meditation can be very pleasurable was my thought. I think I'm still formulating the answer to that one.