The doctrine of eternalism

The contemporary Buddhist view of the doctrine of eternalism (sassatavada) is the belief that the individual has an unchanging self or soul.  In Buddhism, the doctrine of eternalism is generally found in this form:  “the self and the world are eternal" (sassato attâ ca loka ca) (Ud VI, v).  So what does this really mean?  The commentary to the Udana, the Udanatthakatha, translated by Peter Masefield, describes the phrase this way:

“[T]hey [eternalists] take some particular item amidst (the [five] khandhas of) material form and on to be "the self" and "the world", and then describe this as "eternal, permanent", also understanding that others likewise, in accordance with which there is said: "They [eternalists] declare material form to be the self and the world, stating such to be not only the self and the world but also eternal; they declare sensation ... perception ... the formations ... consciousness to be the self and the world, stating such to be not only the self and the world but also eternal (344, p. 882)." (Brackets are mine.)

What first stands out is eternalism rests on the Five Aggregates, namely, material form, sensation, perception, the formations, and consciousness.  Thus, an aggregate by an eternalist is held to be fundamentally eternal besides being the self and the world.  But according to the Buddha, the aggregates are impermanent and suffering; they are certainly not the self, either.  The common refrain by the Buddha is always, with respect to each aggregate:  "This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self." 

Given the position of the eternalist with respect to the Five Aggregates, that they are the self and the world and, moreover, eternal, the Buddha’s self transcends the aggregates. 

For modern Buddhists to insist that eternalism pertains to an unchanging or transcendent self is wrong.  This has the force of denying a self which transcends the Five Aggregates which the Buddha, in the discourses, does not deny.  How, for example, in this passage is the Buddha denying a self which transcends the aggregates?

"Now, Aggivessana, a disciple of mine in regard to whatever is material shape, past, future, present, subjective or objective, gross of subtle, low or excellent, distant or near, sees all material shape as it really is by means of perfect intuitive wisdom as [ditto with the rest of the aggregates]:  This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self” (M. i. 234).

The position that the Buddha takes in this passage is that the self is never an aggregate, or the same, it is never to be identified with the Five Aggregates.  The self is thus transcendent because it lies beyond the pale of the Five Aggregates.  This is not eternalism.  That the bulk modern Buddhists don’t get this is astonishing, to say the least.

Comments

[Bodhiratna]

I got to tell you Westerners American, (or European for that matter) this article is very profound, pdf it!>

what I will say is this, this is somewhat related to the article, but on a more personal note about 'ETERNALISM', I would like to convey this:

--You will be just like you are NOW after death.......but if you are an ignoramus, you will be the same after death, BUT without the body,........on the same token, you will be not be any wiser, however.

--Just because you have no physical body after you die, that does not mean you are free from 'pain'....if you did evil deed, spirits of the persons you killed (or cheated to, or lied too willingly) will come and torment you AND take you to hell.

--During the Bardo (as described in the Tibetan Book of the Death), the Buddha compassionate energy is SO SO SO GREAT, most of you will be scared of it!!!

--Most of you will run away from the BUDDHA 'spiritual' energy, thinking is is SATAN....and almost of you will end up in a womb again, trust me,.........I know how it happened, OK?

What is the SOLUTION to this.......know the 'energy', NO it is not from Gatorade drink!....stick with this blog, the master compassionate energy will show the way :)

Bodhiratna

[azanshi]

It is not easy to be spiritually deficient, eg. a puthujjana.

I recall this story about Lawrence of Arabia. After winning a battle against the turks, he took his closest men from the desert to France to see a modern city. When they entered a bathroom and saw water coming from the faucet, they were astonished.

When it was time to leave and return to the desert, the men were nowhere to be found. Lawrence eventually found them in the bathrooms trying to remove the faucets to take back to the desert. Their thought was, if they could just take the faucets, their water problems would be solved.

What was their mistake? Failing to recognize  the source of the water,  they went for  the faucet, which seemed to be THAT which offered them this lifesaving liquid,  simply because it was closest at hand in terms of tangibility concordant with their limited consciousness field.

A being that suffers from a spiritual disability due to such great vasana is not easy to approach much less teach with good light found in the genuine dharma. 

Even if one, as a spiritual guide, were to achieve the almost impossible act to make them face a glimpse of their true nature for even a tiny fraction of a second,  the thick curtain of their kamma (compounded body of descent)  would soon fall over their eyes, and their usual demons, those they've come to trust, would persuade them to keep seing what they desire to see,  and not what their unborn Mind always stands ready to reveal, eg. itself as the very source of the water. 

Buddha once said;  'The world is filled with pain and sorrow,  but I have found a serenity that you can find too.'

For these beings this most profound simple advice is not enough. Like hungry ghosts they always need more. Their thirst for any and all things becomed, remains unquenchable.

[Java Junkie Foghorn Leghorn]

actually, snagglepus, sassatavada is accurately translated as perpetualism, or means Karmayana, that "one is aught to make merit for better life or next life....for there is no escape".

the opposite of nihilism (uchedavada) isnt eternalism, but kammayana, or forever-faring in samara, life after life, good or bad.