Average Western Buddhists do not comprehend Buddhist negation which if not rightly comprehended will give a totally different reading of Buddhism. It will be a reading that strays into nihilism; even becoming dogma, i.e., becoming authoritative without adequate grounds.
Buddhist negation is never other than negation with positive implication which serves to orient us to the unconditioned nature or the same, the absolute. In other words, the unconditioned can only be approached by a logic of negation.
For the worldling who lives in a state of ignorance (avidya), such negation means nothing to them. In a state of ignorance, the worldling delights in the entity of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha)—their psychophysical organism. This is not any different than believing I am this entity (asmimāna) even though the truth the Buddha discovered is otherwise.
When the curious begin to study Buddhism, their first impression is that it teaches there is no such thing as a self or ātman. For the typical Western Buddhist this sounds almost the same as saying there is no God which appeals to many who are atheists which includes many Buddhists. But this is not what Buddhism is about. The Westerner has it all wrong and will, in all likelihood, continue the rest of their life with a wrong view.
In order to find out who we really are we have to set aside what we are not. This is the false self or the same, the not-self. The entity of the five aggregates the Buddha tells us is not our self. Forms are not our self, along with feeling, perception, volition, and consciousness.
The positive implication of negation, that is, setting aside, completely, these aggregates is the revelation of the true self which is the Buddha-nature. Not only this, by this realization we can now see what is appearance and what transcends appearance which is absolute. No longer do we cling to the false self, i.e., the entity of the five aggregates.
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