Non-Self

The Buddhist Mystery

The deep and beautiful truth of Anatta — No Self No Past No Pain

Anattā (non-self) is the hardest of Buddhist tenets to wrap your wits around — especially since there is no you and consequently no wits to tenet-wrap.

As Malalasekera, a distinguished Theravada Buddhist puts it:

“This is the one doctrine that separates Buddhism from all other religions, creeds, and systems of philosophy and which makes it unique in the world’s history.

“All its other teachings are found, more or less in similar forms, in one or other of the schools of thought or religions which have attempted to guide men through life and explain to them the unsatisfactoriness of the world. But in its denial of any real permanent Soul or Self, Buddhism stands alone. This teaching presents the utmost difficulty to many people and often provokes even violent antagonism towards the whole religion.

“Yet, this doctrine of No-soul or Anatta’ is the bedrock of Buddhism and all the other Teachings of the Buddha are intimately connected with it.

“Now, what is this ‘Soul’ the existence of which the Buddha denies? Briefly stated, the soul is the abiding, separate, constantly existing, and indestructible entity which is generally believed to be found in man. It is the thinker of all his thoughts, the doer of his deeds and the director of the organism generally. It is the lord not only of the body but also of the mind; it gathers its knowledge through the gateways of the senses.

“Buddhism denies all this and asserts that this belief in a permanent and a divine soul is the most dangerous and pernicious of all errors, the most deceitful of illusions, that it will inevitably mislead its victim into the deepest pit of sorrow and suffering.”

On the surface of it, yes, this is a grim outlook. But on a deeper level, it is glorious news. Assume for a moment that the individual soul or self is the flame of a candle. Nirvana, the goal of Buddhism, would be the extinguishing of that flame (yes, possibly, also a grim outlook) but as Rabindranath Tagore puts it, Nirvana extinguishes the flame since you no longer need it — you have now stepped into the sunlight.

I think that the best western word for the self the Buddha is talking about is Ego. And what must not be overlooked is that there is life other than the ego, and that life — the sunlight as it were — is never extinguished, has always existed, always bright. It is a deeply rooted delusion that makes us cling to an ego, a precious self that apparently (and I use apparently literally) must survive at all costs — at all costs.

And over history, these costs have mounted to the unconfrontable: wars, conflict, killing pretty much endlessly: all to keep the precious ego alive.

In today’s headlines, we see one of those egos, Mr. Putin, desperate to survive at the cost of thousands of lives if not — should things escalate — millions in another world war.

That’s ego for you.

Were we all to let go of that delusion the world would be a better, a very happy place.

Methinks.

© Wolfstuff

P.S. If you like what you’ve read here and would like to contribute to the creative motion, as it were, you can do so via PayPal: here.