ANATTA: NO-SELF

[HylianSpirit]

Look at your thoughts. Who thinks the thoughts? No one. Thoughts happen. Digestion happens. Organ function happens. Life happens.

Move your hands. Who is the puppeteer who moves the body? The do-er of do-ing. You won't find it anywhere.

Who stands behind the camera which is perception? Who is it who perceives? Where is the cameraman?

Life lives itself. There is no You. You are not the body, mind or the perception of either thereof.

Don't understand this. LOOK for yourself.

[danmeast]

No-Self is an idea that is impossible for anyone to verify, because it is impossible to experience not existing, for even if you did, you wouldn't remember it. The self is a transcendent conscious entity- the Buddha was pointing to a personal consciousness that exists independent of any impersonal processes that it experiences which will always be changing and passing away. The body is not the self, nor our consciousness of the physical, nor thoughts, sensations- we are a non-physical entity.

[gotami2500]

Most people are so utterly desperate to cling to this "self" or "soul" or "eternal god" that they rationalize away the Buddha's plain statements...THERE IS NO PERMANENT SELF, SOUL, OR GOD. period.

[kateadam28]

@gotami2500 haha you half right people do seem to love to cling to this idea but could it not be a simple as honestly expressing how you feel ?

So true self could be feeling then interpret ,then express?

[DarkBeauty1989]

@gotami2500 No buddha taught there is a eternal soul (what goes on into the next life) but he did deny their idea of soul (reincarnation) which teaches the soul is the eternal self.Buddha was trying to tell them there is no eternal self but there is a eternal soul. But since they believed the soul is the self they were confused.

[gotami2500]

love 'em all you want --

they still ain't stayin'!

[rhinohippo]

I know they are only five aggregates, but I like them, like them, yes i do

[oliness]

Excellent video. What we imagine to be "me" is conditioned by what is outside of "me" - therefore there is neither a permanent essence to me or true split between self and other. Even when you are alone with your thoughts, the language you use to think came from the world - if you had been born somewhere else you may have had a different language and so "you" would be different. No individual can ever be truly apart from the world.

[sadunsilva]

thanks ...Great !!!!!!!!!!!!

[deftones7]

In buddism the term "No Self" doesn't mean no soul. It means removing the "I" from our consciousness In buddsim "I", I want this, I dont want to feel like this, etc is seen as the root cause of suffering. It has nothing to do with the soul.

[archdeaconj]

The trouble with 'anatta' is that it cannot get properly into language. This is why it has to be apprehended by an intuitive leap. We are all in essence the same ONE. It is the ONE that is the reality; the many is an illusion.  Yet 'one' implies 'other', and this is not what is meant. Calling it the UNDIFFERENTIATED comes closer. Cf both the Kantian 'Thing-in-Itself' and Wittgenstein's 'metaphysical Self' in the Tractatus. There is only the Undifferentiated . I am THAT, as you are.

[BladeNstick]

What goes from life to life is the most subtle level of the self. Its called the indestructible drop in tantra, and is also described as the extremely subtle body and mind You can actually call it the soul. Now Buddhists stupidly run around saying there is no soul and there is no self, which are ridiculous statements. The Buddhas famous doctrine of selflessness had to do with the metaphysical status of the essence of the person. His whole point was that there is no fixed rigid self -

[BladeNstick]

no absolutely unchanging, independent soverign self with your name and serial number engraved on it, which never changes and which is plopped from one existence to another. What the Buddha constantly maintained, however, was that there is a relative constantly living, constantly changing self. He said the person who controls the self is the one who is the master.

[BladeNstick]

Use yourself to conquer yourself, he said. So, for the Buddhist the soul is the most subtle level of that self. - Prof. Robert Thurman - Dalai Lama's number one ordained disciple in N. America.

Like all philosophies and religions, different sects, groups, disagree with each other.

[fragrantrain86]

Very good. I have been on and off with Buddhist thought throughout the years because of troubles with my understanding of the doctrine of anatta. You have hit the nail on the head as to its true meaning. It is not a nihilistic self denial. In fact I wish we would translate the word as no-independant-self instead of just no-self.

[oliness]

That's right, it's not so much that the self doesn't exist as that it doesn't exist separate from the world. We are bound up in a dependent-relationship with others - the real illusion is not that I exist but that I am completely apart from you and from the world in which I am a part.

[craigMellow]

great video, you have exactly shown the true words of Lord Buddha.

[filosophia22]

humans ARE the 5 aggregates, but these aggregates subsist off of Brahman.

This video's analysis of the Buddha's teachings are atheistic and unreal. The Truth is not Unreal, but rather Real. Though Soul is ambiguous, if you use it in a sentence you must understand its meaning, and that meaning is the "soul" of an individual.

True, life is impermanent, but who is it that is witnessing impermanence?

Buddhism is NOT nihilistic

[buddhabubbieboy]

You are already presupposing things. What is Brahman? Atheist is a person who is "without" belief in a god. And just because there must be "something" to witness impermanence does not automatically make it the "soul." Who or what witnesses it I don't know but I don't pretend to know that it is something I can name. My appeal with Buddhism is that it is not as dogmatic as other religions-and I have issues even calling Buddhism a religion. No more space or time to debate it but I have much to say.

[craigMellow]

Buddha ridiculed the notion of self and soul, further one of three major chracteristics of life is Anatta -no soul, which is a fundamental teaching of buddha.

Two truth are described in buddhism, Conventional or relative truths, and absolute truth - Nirvana. what is real in Quantum mechanics? does electron EXIST without observer???

[pratyah]

There are lots of contradictions and errors in the video message. Please don't distort the teachings of Buddha. I agree the seperate personal self or so called jiva is impermanant but other than that the video is totally misleading. It is for this reason Buddhists were driven out of India. Buddha was a Hindu and got his original message alright. But his followers distorted his spiritual discovery. The end result of Buddhism is well known in India, a total flop. 1 out of 10. Very poor video.

[planetfrog]

Thank youuuuuu! (even though there is no intrinsic "you"!!)

[wayyward]

The postulate of Buddha that there is no self put forth so beautifully here is meant to arouse interest in questioning and looking directly at what you THINK you are. Its not an idea to be taken like a pill. Then its just belief. So if there is in you a sense that I am there is me the thinker doer - investigate directly "What is this thing called me?" Like a scientist yourself the microscope and the subject and the object- Buddha says "Be a Light unto yourself" Paradox ?

investigate

[archdeaconj]

Anatta cannot get properly into language, but let's try analogy as a stepping stone for an intuitive leap. There is only the ONE born over and over again. This One is Anatta. It is YOU and it is ME. How can it be both you and me? The Dreamer dreams he is Lao-tsu chasing a butterfly. Then he dreams he is a butterfly being chased by a man (Lao-tsu). How can Anatta be both Lao-tsu and butterfly? How can Anatta be both YOU and ME? There is no Lao-tsu, no butterfly, no you, no me, only Anatta.

[diserydoo]

I think one must be carefull and look at the original teachings of Buddha. Yes, down the line of buddhism over time, the idea of an eternal Self had been resurected... But no little self or big SELF... that wasn't his teachings!!!

[diserydoo]

As Buddhaghosa says:

"Mere suffering exists, but no sufferer is found; The deeds are, but no doer is found."

[netelsg]

If there is no sufferer, then why do you practice the Dharma to end suffering.

[archdeaconj]

This is so redolent of the English philosopher, David Hume, parodied by 'there is a pain somewhere in this room but I don't know whose it is.' You can get a handle on this idea by asking yourself: where is the self to be found? There are perceptions, yes, thoughts, yes, feelings, intentions, sensations, yes...but where is there to be found a self that has those perceptions, thoughts, feelings etc? Again, if you take away those perception, thoughts etc. what are you left with? NOTHING.

[diserydoo]

We are made up of the 5 Agregates and nothing else... this is also in keeping with Conditional Genesis and there being no first cause. Is there any mention of a Self in the 12 factor formula? Nope...

Probably one of the best books I've read on buddhism is "What the Buddha Taught" by Walpola Rahula. He states over and over that "everything is relative, conditional and interdependent... nothing is absolute and independent." Done deal...

[keltischerDrache]

I agree. I am writing an essay on this at the moment. I think anatman is so misunderstood, the Buddha does indeed affirm the atman on several occasions. Though the majority are in mahayana Sutras, rejected by Theravada. Shows that fundamentalism exists in all religions.

[netelsg]

Pls read the Mayahana - Suragama Sutra on Buddha Nature or True Mind, which is No Arising and No Ceasing (as in Heart Sutra).

[netelsg]

The teaching of "No Self" has mostly been misunderstood.

[archdeaconj]

Could you expand on this?

[netelsg]

Robot can walk and talk like human because there is a Battery or power source connected to it which enable it to walk, talk and move its arms like humans. So, our spirit self or buddha nature is just like the battery or power source that allow a living human to talk and walk whilst a dead corpse without spirit can't. GOT IT !

[buddhabubbieboy]

So, do we reduce ourselves to this "power source?" Is this power source eternal?

[netelsg]

Just compare our human body with a robot. Our human body is make of flesh, bones, blood, etc while robot is make of metals. Metals of robot are dead material which cannot move by itself. But why robots can talk, move its hands and walk like human.

[netelsg]

What is the difference between a living human and a dead corpse. Both have eyes, ears, mouth, hands and legs. Why a dead corpse has eyes cannot see, has ears cannot hear, has mouth cannot talk, has hands cannot move, has legs but cannot walk?

[netelsg]

If there is no self, then the doctrine of Rebirth and Kama cannot stand. If there is no self, there is no cycle of rebirth in six realm and Kama which stipulate that you reap what you sow. If there is no self, then there is no Buddha or Arahat to talk about.

[archdeaconj]

I understand what you mean, I see your logic. It is a paradox, the resolution of which cannot get into language but which can be resolved by an intuitive leap. There is only one Self, one Consciousness, born over and over again eternally. The One dreams he is Lao-Tsu then dreams is a butterfly but it is the same One dreaming. That is Anatta. There is no individual soul, only the One, only Anatta. The one flame passes from candle to another (the Buddha's analogy). I don't like it., do you?

[bodhimian]

remember The Buddha never says "no self exists" he simply says anything that is observed is not-self, impermanent, subject to change. Don't cling to it. So we meditate to see not-self, and then we learn from teachers who have seen deep into that impermanence, so that our actions do not continue to clutter our mind with old ways of seeing things (ie permanence and attachment-affliction)

[godometal]

were just the awareness of ourselves in the moment

[tilakmadawela]

nirvana is when you stop craving and see impermenance in all mind states

[joebonk]

anatta is probably the truest thing in the world

[iSatisfied]

Clarification for those interested...No 1 permanent soul. Instead a new soul is being created every moment.

[pmquay]

when exactly, does it STOP changing?

(Soooo many people can't get over the fact that there is no soul, it's amazing to me)

[yadsik]

It stops when you reach Nirvana.

[oxykotor]

What stops when you reach nirvana?

Not life, so not changing.

The only thing that stops when you reach nirvana is suffering resulting from attachment.