|
==Introduction==
The Buddhist teaching of "'''anatta'''" / "'''anatman'''" (non Self, non Soul) has, from early times, been controversial amongst Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike and remains so to this day (see, e.g., Perez-Remon, ''Self and Non-Self in Early Buddhism'', Mouton, 1980). The Buddha in the Pali suttas repeatedly indicates that the five impermanent constituents of the living being (the [[skandhas]] or Five Aggregates) are "not-Self": they are constantly interacting with one another and, therefore, constantly changing one another. These five aggregates also interact with the universe around them and, so, constantly change the universe as well. How, then, many Buddhists question, can there be one permanent essence ([[atman]]) within us when the entire universe is impermanent? (see [[dependent co-arising]])
The Buddhist term Anatman (Sanskrit) or Anatta (Pali ?????) is an adjective that specifies the absence of a supposedly permanent and unchanging self or soul in any one of the psycho-physical (namo-rupa) constituents of empirical existence; eg. "none of these skhandhas are my Soul, are anatta (non-Self)". What is normally thought of as the "Self" is in fact an agglomeration of constantly changing physical and mental constituents ("skandhas") which give rise to unhappiness if clung to as though this temporary assemblage formed some kind of immutable and enduring Soul ("atman"). The non-doctrinal commentarial "anatta" doctrine attempts to encourage the Buddhist practitioner to detach him/herself from this misplaced clinging to what is mistakenly regarded as his or her Self, and from such detachment (aided by moral living and meditation) the way to Nirvana is able successfully to be traversed. All occurrences of anatta in Sutra contextually appear as: "A is anatta (not-Self), B is anatta, etc." [See Anatta chart to right]
A variant understanding of the doctrine (as enunciated by the Buddha in the Mahayana "Tathagatagarbha" scriptures) insists that the five "skandhas" (impermanent constituent elements of the mundane body and mind of each being) are indeed "not the Self" ("anatta"/"anatman"), since they are doomed to mutation and dissolution, but that in contrast to this ephemeral "mundane self", the eternal Buddha-Principle ("Buddha-dhatu") deep within each being is the supramundane True Self - although this realisation is only fully gained on reaching Awakening ("bodhi").
Anatta in earliest Budddhist doctrine is an adjective to describe any and all phenomena as being devoid of the Soul, as an (without) the Soul (Atman). Nowhere in doctrine does the term anatta denote or connote the denial of the permanent (nicca) soul which is the "only refuge" [Dn 2.154], and "light within".
The oldest existing descripion of the meaning of the word Anatman/Anatta is found in the Samyutta Nikaya book 3, verse 196: Radha-"Anatta, i hear said Venerable, what does this word mean?", Gotama Buddha-"Form is anatta (not-Soul/Self), feelings are anatta, so too perceptions, experiences, and consciousness (vinnana); this is the meaning of the word anatta." This is both common and consistent Via Negativa or Apophasis (talking away) methodology common to both Buddhism and Vedanta, wherein: "The Atman is not this, nor that (neti neti)"-Upanishads. There is no contextual differentiation made in the usage of the adjective anatman by either Gotama the Buddha nor Samkara (founder of Advaita Vedanta), wherein anatta is used to deny and denigrate any and all phenomena as Selfless, as devoid of the “only refuge”-DN 2.100, the Soul (Sanskrit: Atman; Pali: Attan).
The majority view amongst Buddhists, contrary to doctrine, is that the non-Self doctrine means that no ultimate, eternal Self of any kind exists at all within any being—no super-Soul, no enduring Essence, no deathless core—while for a minority of Buddhists (particularly within Mahayana Buddhism, such as followers of the [[Jonangpa]] School and of [[Tathagatagarbha]] Buddhism), the correct understanding is that there is, in fact, a True Self that is not confined within the transitory and suffering-generating skandhas, but is the transcendent, all-pervasive Self of the Buddha himself and which is one with Nirvana and is present within all beings. Nirvana (in contrast to impermanent, compounded phenomena, which are labelled as "non-Self") is never specifically designated by the Pali Buddha as being "Self" or "not-Self" (whereas the [[Mahayana]] Buddha does on occasion explicate Nirvana as the immortal, nirvanic "Self" of Buddha). This tension of interpretation regarding "anatta" has been present throughout the history of Buddhism and is reflected in the current entry too.
Anatta is one of the Three Seals of all phenomena (khandhas/skandhas) in Buddhist doctrines and is an important element of wisdom through the apophatic technique used for the mind (citta) to experience Nirvana, the other two 'seals' being Dukkha and Anicca. Anatta is always synonymous with foulness and all phenomena in whole or in part: “Whatever form, feelings, perceptions, experiences, or consciousness there is (the five aggregates), these he sees to be without permanence, as suffering, as ill, as a plague, a boil, a sting, a pain, an affliction, as foreign, as otherness, as empty (suññato), as Selfless (anattato)." [MN 1.436]
==Dependent Origination==
Main article: pratitya-samutpada
Buddhist teaching tells us that all empirical life is impermanent and in a constant state of flux, and that any entity that exists does so only in dependence on the conditions of its arising, which are non-eternal. Therefore, any Self-concept (attanuditthi) sense one might have of an abiding Self or a soul is regarded as a misapprehension; since the conceptualization of the Self or soul is just that, and not an ontological apprehension of same.
Much of modern Buddhism holds that the notion of an abiding self is one of the main causes of human conflict, and that by realizing the nonexistence of our perceived self, 'we' may go beyond 'our' mundane desires. (Reference to 'oneself' or 'I' or 'me' for Buddhists is used merely conventionally.) However no doctrinal citations can be made which uphold the view of much of present-day Buddhism as to the denial of the Self or soul.
That the denial of the empirical person or self (This person so-and-so, Bob, Sue, etc.) in Buddhism is not in question, that self "goes to the grave"- Udana; the controversy of current is that regarding the Self or soul and reference to same in Buddhist doctrine as being the basis for 'Immortality' (amata), and the 'Light (dipam) within'. [Dhammapada 147] "Behold! That painted puppet this body, riddled with oozing sores, an erected façade. Diseased heap that fools fancy and swoon over.” Logically so, the denial of the former is not the denial of the later.
== Theravada Buddhism and Anatta ==
In many later (secular) sutras, there is provided no confirmation the existence of a self or Atman a concept that was claimed central to many philosophers of his time, however in the oldest texts that exist in Buddhism, the Nikayas, the Buddha did at length affirm to his disciples (aryasavaka) that the "Soul was the only refuge, was the light within" [DN 2.100], and said the "Soul was that which was most beloved" (atta' paramo piya). Rather than directing his listeners to discover Atman, he taught that all clinging to concepts and ideas of a self are faulty and based on ignorance. The Buddha's teaching was apophatic and was not aimed at any concept of self created by birth, imagination, speculation, metaphysical study or through self-ideation. The five aggregates of form, feelings, perceptions, mental fabrications and consciousness were described as especially misleading, since they form the basis for an individual's clinging or aversion. He taught that once a monk renounces his clinging for all the five aggregates, through meditative insight, he realizes the bliss of non-clinging, and abides in wisdom. The Buddha clearly stated that all five aggregates are impermanent, just as the burning flame is inconstant in one sense, and that knowledge or wisdom is all that remains, just as the only thing constant about a flame is its fuel, or purpose.
Controversially, there has been and continues to be a minority of Mahayana Buddhists who understand the Buddhist doctrine of "non-Self" ("anatta"/"anatman") as relating solely to the ephemeral elements (the five "skandhas") of the being and not to the hidden and undying "Buddha-Principle" ("Buddha-nature") taught by the Mahayana Buddha to exist within the deeps of each person's mind (see section on "Anatman and the Tathagatagarbha Sutras" below).
Contrary to the [[Brahmanical]] theories of his time, [[the Buddha]] chose not to assume the existence of an eternal self or [[soul]] ([[atman]]), although as found in sources from the Pāli Canon he would refer to the existence of a conventional self-subject to conditional phenomena and responsible for [[kamma]] i.e. actions, in the causal-moral sense.
==Atman==
The Buddha was silent to the questions of the paribbājako (wandering [[ascetic]]) [[Vacchagotta]] of “Is there a self?” or “Is there not a self?” [SN.5:44,10]. When [[Ānanda]] later asked about his silence, the Buddha said that to affirm or deny the existence of an eternal self would have sided with secular theories and have disturbed Vacchagotta even more. It must be pointed out that Vacchagotta had repeatedly come to the Buddha with questions such as these, and although he seriously was trying to understand, he was troubled over this matter, to the point where the Buddha was perhaps silent in this case out of compassion. However, the Buddha did explicitly teach [[anattā]] - the non-existence of an intrinsic, lasting person or ‘soul’ - throughout his teaching career. His teachings were directed to the principles of causality; not in a negative, nihilistic way of non-reality, but rather by showing ''why it is'' and how to see it integrated positively in the causal relationships of the mental-physical factors of the experience of life. Causal relationships were detailed in the Buddha’s analysis of Paṭiccasamuppāda "Dependant Genesis" and Idappaccayatā lit. “This is founded on that”. Although a concise summary is given in the Tilakkaṇa - the “Three Characteristics”.
Main article: Atman
Atman is a Sanskrit word, normally translated as 'soul' or 'self' (also ego). In Buddhism, the empirical mental concept of Atman is the prime consequence of ignorance, – itself the cause of all misery - that ignorance is the foundation of Samsara itself.
In a number of sutras of Mahayana Buddhism, as well as in certain Buddhist Tantras, the term "Atman" is used in a dual sense, in some instances denoting the impermanent, mundane ego (attachment to which needs to be overcome), and on other occasions explicitly referring to the ultimately real, pure, blissful Self of the Buddha in the state of Nirvana, a Selfhood stated to be unchanging, unshakeably firm, and eternal within all beings (see Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra).
==Interpretive problems==
“All processes are impermanent; … All processes are afflicted; … All phenomena are not ‘Self’; when this is seen with knowledge ~ one is freed from the illusion of affliction. This is the pathway to purity. [Dhp. 20. 227 – 279]
Students of Buddhism often encounter an intellectual quandary with the teaching in that the concept of anatta and the doctrine of rebirth seem to be mutually exclusive. If there is no-self, no abiding essence of the person, it is unclear what it is that is reborn. The Buddha discussed this in a conversation with a Brahmin named Kutadanta.
There have been a number of attempts by various schools of Buddhism to make explicit how it is that rebirth occurs. The more orthodox schools claim that certain of the dispositions or psychological constituents have repercussions that extend beyond an individual life to the next. More innovative solutions include the introduction of a Pudgala, a "person", which functions comparably to the atman in the rebirth process and in karmic agency, but is regarded by its advocates as not falling prey to the metaphysical substantialism of the atman.
This analysis is applied to knowing the interplay of senses within the mental-physical factors ''just as they are''. It is a careful analysis of these realities in terms of their changefulness, instability or un-satisfactoriness and that these lack inherent personal identification. And this leads to wisdom (pañña), cessation of craving (nirodha), and to Liberation (nibbāna).
Others seek a proxy not for the atman but for Brahman, the Indian monistic ideal that functions as an atman for the whole of creation, and is in itself thus rejected by anatta. Such a solution is the Consciousness-only teaching of the Yogacara school attempt to explain the seeming paradox: at death the body & mind disintegrates, but if the disintegrating mind contains any remaining traces of karma, it will cause the continuity of the consciousness to bounce back an arising mind to an awaiting being (i.e. a fetus developing the ability to harbor consciousness).
In the [[Majjhima Nikaya]], Vacchagotta the wanderer, asks the Buddha, “Does [[Venerable Gotama]] hold to any theories at all” The Buddha replied, “Theories, Vaccha, have been scattered by the [[Tathāgata]]. Vaccha, the Tathāgata has seen this: Such is materiality, such is the arising of materiality, and such is the extinction of materiality. Such are sensations of feeling, … Such is sense-awareness, … Such is volitional-cognition, … Such is consciousness, such is the arising of consciousness, and such is the extinction of consciousness. Therefore I say: the Tathāgata, through the destruction, waning, cessation, abandoning, forsaking, non-arising and release from all illusions, all mental contrivance, all I-making, selfishness and the latent tendency to conceit - is Liberated.”[MN.72]
Some Buddhists take the position that the basic problem of explaining how "I" can die and be reborn is, philosophically speaking, no more problematic than how "I" can be the "same" person I was a few moments ago. There is no more or less ultimacy, for Buddhists, between the identity I have with my self of two minutes ago and the identity I have with the self of two lives ago.
This ''person'' is actually nothing more than an evolution of natural elements and latent tendencies of consciousness, held together by a thread of memory running through an ever-changing experience of reality. There can be no individuality outside the arrangement of components.
A further difficulty with the anatta doctrine is that it contradicts the notion of a path of practise. Anatta followed to its logical extremities rejects the reality of a Buddhist practitioner able to detach him/herself from clinging.
Therefore the goal of the [[Buddhist]] contemplative is to develop freedom from entanglement with ''things as they seem''; through the delusions of desire and consequential self-identity with events, resultant fear, aversion and projected hopes - to awaken to ''things as they are''; coming home to a natural understanding of reality with ones given abilities at work in an ever changing evolution of experience.
== Anatman (anatta) in the oldest Buddhist texts, the Nikayas == ▼There is nothing that transcends, no person or ''soul'' to be liberated, just as there is nothing to transcend from; because ''what had been'' was only the churning of an illusion foolishly grasped at with tendencies of consciousness, learned habits and a memory. There is nowhere to transcend to, only being here now, with a mind that is clear and free of illusion. The unfolding process is known, the burden of the false has been abandoned, gone is the ownerless desire that tended it, becoming is no more.
----
In certain [[Mahayana]] [[scriptures]], however (the [[Tathagatagarbha]] sutras), as well as in certain [[tantras]], dissension from the [[orthodox]] view of "non-Self" manifests itself. The idea of non-Self is applied solely to the impermanent [[constituents]] of the [[sentient being]] (the [[skandhas]]) and not to the deathless, blissful and incorruptible core of the being, which is said by the Buddha in these [[sutras]] to be of the nature of the Buddha himself and indeed to be the [[True Self]] beyond the imperfections and conditionality of the non-Self.
In the Mahayana [[Mahaparinirvana Sutra]], the Buddha indicates that to construe the non-Self doctrine as meaning that there is no Self at all is foolish. He states: "When I have taught non-Self, fools uphold the teaching that there is no Self. The wise know that such [i.e. "non-Self"] is conventional speech (vyavahāra-vat), and they are free from doubts".
The impermanence that characterises the [[non-Self]] does not here pertain to the Buddha or [[Nirvana]], the deathless essence that is taught by the [[Mahayana Buddha]] to be present within all beings.
== Dependent Origination ~ Paṭiccasamuppāda or Dependent Co-Arising ==
This rise and fall phenomena is further detailed in the analysis of causality ‘Dependant Genesis’ ([[paṭiccasamuppāda]]), the essence of the Buddha’s teaching that maps out the experiential interaction of subjective reality. This analysis supports the underling principles behind the [[Four Noble Truths]] and the [[Middle Path]].
All [[psycho-physiological]] [[phenomena]] are a chain of events and interactions; one arising, completing its cycle and ceasing, and then another – in a continuous flow of change. When there is ignorance, one concocts the assumption that the interplay of mental factors that are comprised of feelings of body (matter), feeling ([[sensation]]), sensation ([[perception]]), [[mental formations]] and [[consciousness]] (the [[Five Aggregates]]) to be ‘self’ – an intrinsic, lasting person; thus observing the arising phenomena within the experience of this interaction as possessed by or belonging to ‘self’.
This process, based on the [[Law of Dependant Genesis]], would be as follows: from ignorance, sensations arise; from sensations, desire arises; from desire, identification arises ([[upādāna]]); from [[identification]], becoming arises; from becoming, birth arises (the [[cognition]] of a new mind-body has formed); from birth, old-age arises (the new mind-body declines, thus the experience of pain, dissatisfaction and mental distress); from old-age, death arises (the extinction of the new mind-body and return to [[samsara]]). This interaction takes place within the [[five bases of conditionality]] that are identified with [[pañcupādānakkhandha]], when the common person is unaware of the truth of conditionality – he identifies (upādāna ~ lit. 'takes up') with what has arisen as ‘self.’
== Four Noble Truths ==
“Therefore because of these [[viewpoints]] this ‘I am’ has not vanished. Therefore, [[monks]], because this ‘I am’ has not vanished, he is beset with these five characteristics; the eye characteristic, the ear characteristic, the nose characteristic, the tongue characteristic and the body characteristic. There exists, [[monks]], the [[mind]]; there exists its phenomena and there exists the factor of ignorance. Born of ignorant contact, monks, the untaught-[[commoner]] is influenced by sensations; thus it occurs to him ‘I am’, thus it occurs to him ‘I am this’, thus it occurs to him ‘I exist’, thus it occurs to him ‘I shall not [[exist]]’, thus it occurs to him ‘I shall be composed of materiality’, thus it occurs to him ‘I shall not be composed of materiality’, thus it occurs to him ‘I shall be composed of sense-awareness’, thus it occurs to him ‘I shall not be composed of sense-awareness’, thus it occurs to him ‘I shall consist of neither sense-awareness nor not of sense-awareness’.” [SN.22.47]
This premise of personal identity with phenomena results in uneasiness and stress as the individual struggles to maintain this [[perspective]] and adjust to the ever-changing flow of experience. This manifests as tendencies of craving, craving for that which is [[desirable]] to last; for that which is undesirable to not last and any of a seemingly numberless variety of preferential possibilities. Once craving matures into [[attachment]] ([[upādāna]]), the becoming and birth of a momentary mind-body relationship with the event occurs. “I am and this is mine”. It is this ‘[[personal]]’ event-experience that further [[matures]], is experienced as affliction in variations from [[dissatisfaction]], to pain and [[mental distress]] – to decline back into [[void states]].
Through cultivating the mind to see the true nature of phenomenal events, one can understand the consequences that develop from identifying with what has arisen - and the benefits of mindful restraint.
This leads to knowledge that nothing lasts from one moment to the next, including a ‘person’ to observe it - with knowledge of [[impermanence]] there is the [[cessation]] of this struggle born out of ignorance; leading to [[peace]]. Just as ignorant contact and craving leads to [[self-identification]] with the arisen events – resulting in dissatisfaction; wisdom and detachment leads to liberation.
Thus, based on the [[Law of Dependant Genesis]], this would be as follows: With knowledge of causality (mindfulness of things as they truly are): upon contact, sensations arise. Sensations known with mindfulness are seen as impermanent, unstable and not-self ~
“And of what is impermanent, unpleasant, and of the nature to change, is it proper to regard these as ‘This is mine, I am this, this is my ‘Self’’?”
“No, lord.” [SN.22.59]
Thus, when seen with wisdom, nothing is worthy of personal identification. Then, when there is contact with sensations, desire does not arise; when desire does not arise, identification does not arise; when identification does not arise, becoming does not arise; when becoming does not arise, birth does not arise; when birth does not arise the [[Middle Way]] is established. Therefore the well trained and skillful observer of causality no longer identifies with the arisen phenomena.
“He does not make [[fabrications]] or form ideas about becoming or [[non-becoming]]. By not making fabrications or forming ideas about becoming or non-becoming, he does not attach to anything in this world. When he is not [[attached]], he is undisturbed. When he is undisturbed, he has become completely stilled within. Thus he knows, 'Gone is the possibility of [[rebirth]], fulfilled is the [[renounced life]], the [[goal]] has been reached, of this [[existence]] there is no further goal.' If he feels a pleasurable feeling, he knows 'This is [[impermanent]]', he knows 'There is nothing to attach to' he knows 'There is nothing to find pleasure in'. If he feels a painful feeling, he knows 'This is impermanent', he knows 'There is nothing to attach to' he knows 'There is nothing to find pleasure in'. If he feels a neither painful nor pleasurable feeling, he knows 'This is impermanent', he knows 'There is nothing to attach to' he knows 'There is nothing to find pleasure in'.” [MN.140]
▲== Anatman (anatta) in the oldest Buddhist texts, the Nikayas ==
The Buddhist term Anatman (Sanskrit), or Anatta (Pali) is an adjective in sutra used to refer to the nature of phenomena as being devoid of the Soul, the ontological and subjective Self (atman) which is the “light (dipam), and only refuge” [DN 2.100]. Of the 662 occurrences of the term Anatta in the Nikayas, its usage is restricted to referring to 22 nouns (forms, feelings, perception, experiences, consciousness, the eye, eye-consciousness, desires, mentation, mental formations, ear, nose, tongue, body, lusts, things unreal, etc.), all phenomenal, as being Selfless (anatta). Contrary to some popular books written outside the scope of Buddhist doctrine, there is no “Doctrine of anatta/anatman” mentioned anywhere in the sutras, rather anatta is used only to refer to impermanent things as other than the Soul, to be anatta.
== Anatta in the Tathagatagarbha Sutras ==
The understanding of ''anatman''/''anatta'' expressed in the [[Mahayana scriptures]] known as the "[[Tathagatagarbha]] sutras" (as well as in a number of Buddhist tantras) is distinctive: the doctrine presented by the Buddha in these texts claims to clarify that it is only the impermanent elements of the sentient being - the "[[five skandhas]]" (changeful constituent elements of mind and body) - which are "not the Self" ("anatman"), whereas the truly real, immanent essence ("svabhava") of the being is no less than the "tathagatagarbha" ("buddha-matrix") or the "buddha-principle" ("buddha-dhatu", which means "buddha-element" and is popularly rendered in English as the "buddha-nature"), and is inviolate and deathless. In the [[Mahayana]] [[Mahaparinirvana Sutra]], the Buddha discloses that the basic non-Self teaching is given to those of his followers who are still in their spiritual infancy, as it were, and unable to digest the full, final and culminational Dharma of the [[Mahaparinirvana Sutra]], whereas the teachings of the [[tathagatagarbha]] are aimed at those followers who have "grown up" and are capable of absorbing the undiminished Truth. The tathagatagarbha, the immortal [[buddhic]] element or essence within each being, is termed the "true Self" or the "great Self" by the Buddha in the ''Mahaparinirvana Sutra''. It is said to be essentially free from [[rebirth]] and always remaining [[intrinsically]] [[immaculate]] and uniquely radiant - only awaiting discovery by all beings within the deeps of their own minds. In the [[Tathagatagarbha Sutra]], the Buddha tells of how, with his buddha-eye, he can actually see this hidden buddhic "jewel" within each and every being: "hidden within the klesas [mental contaminants] of greed, desire, anger, and stupidity, there is seated augustly and unmovingly the Tathagata's [Buddha's] wisdom, the [[Tathagata]]'s vision, and the Tathagata's body [...] all beings, though they find themselves with all sorts of klesas, have a tathagatagarbha [buddhic essence, embryonic buddha] that is eternally unsullied, and replete with virtues no different from my own" (Lopez, 1995, p.96).
|
