Similarly, by taking to be real name-and-form, which is only an image reflected on consciousness leading to a personality view, sakkāyadiṭṭhi, both eternalism and nihilism, built on the two views of existence and non-existence, tended towards two extremes.
Under the influence of self love, eternalism took up the view that there is a self, and looked forward to its perpetuation. Prompted by self hate, annihilationism or nihilism cherished the fond hope that the release from this self will occur at death. Both these extreme views confuse the issue by not understanding the reflected image as such.
Now how did the middle path, which the Buddha introduced to the world, avoid these two extremes? It is by offering a knowledge and vision of things as they are, yathābhūtañāṇadassana, in place of those two views of existence and non-existence. In other words, he made known to the world the true knowledge and vision that name-and-form is merely an image reflected on consciousness….
[pdf]http://www.dhammikaweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Nibbana_Sermon_10_Ven_Kaṭukurunde_Ñāṇananda_Thero.pdf[/pdf]
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