There has to be a little of Ockkham’s Razor or the principle simplicity in each of us when we review what the Buddha said or did not say about self both in the Pali canon and the Mahayana canon. Needless to say, I have seen a lot of anti-self Buddhists, in an attempt to cover their arses, go in a direction opposite of Ockkham’s Razor. They will use any number of needless entities to explain why the Buddha denied the self (when in fact he did not).
However, the simplest explanation is the best one, I am convinced. It dipicts the real teaching of the Buddha, in fact. In the Pali canon, the Buddha taught his followers not to mistake the Five Aggregates for their true self or atman (P., attâ), these aggregates being rife with impermanence and pain (nothing is mentioned about the self being impermanent or painful). In the Brahmajala Sutta, which teaches what Buddhism is not consisting of 62 wrong views, the teaching of atman is not once mentioned. In his book, The History of Buddhist Thought Edward J. Thomas, right out in front states:
“But even in the Brahmajala- sutta, where all the heresies are supposed to be included, there is no denial of an atman” (p. 98).
It is not to hard to imainge the Buddha telling his followers one day that the corporeal body (i.e., the Five Aggregates) is like a prison and those who tenaciously cling to it will never be able to realize nirvana by doing so escape from samsara. Certainly, the Buddha never once said that if we reject the self, thereby affirming what is not the self (anatman), we shall attain nirvana!
Frankly, it takes an odd kind of psychological frame of mind to believe that the Buddha really denied the self. In addition, while doing this, a great deal of time is being wasted. We are not working on what really needs to be dumped and done away with (which has nothing to do with the self).
By taking the position of being against the self (anatman) one is really refusing to decouple from the Five Aggregates, assuming first of all, that death will do the job, eventually. This is total rubbish. Death is only a radical transformation of the being who takes up Five Aggregates again. In point of fact, we are born into the aggregates, live in them and, at death, recouple with new ones. Our desires for the aggregated life keeps the ancient wheel of samsara turning! But then maybe some of us like complexity and not simplicity.
"Nurse! Nurse!! He's out of bed again!"
Posted by: Yontim Nyinma | May 25, 2010 at 12:57 PM
Youre nothing but a stinking Hindu! You damned dot-head telling these good people holy buddha preached the atman! That Hindu crap is a damned lie and you know it. He preached nothingness as the utmost samadhi.
To be blown into the cosmic womb of oblivion is paranirvana and you know it.
Only an ass monkey would believe there is an atman or something that transmigrates from one body to another. Im warning other people to stay away from this website!
I love reading about soul rejection from my Theravadin brethren, and talk of emptiness makes me sexually excited, sometimes to the point of messing on my laptop screen. Then I google this atman loving dogcrap and I loose my stiffy.
How dare you, you miserable S.O.B. Burn in Hades.
Posted by: happy emptiness glowing-nothing | May 25, 2010 at 08:48 AM