"No Self" Question

11/24/2019

I am a little confused about the concept of "No Self". Are you saying that because there are many selves therefore we have none? And can you also explain the quotation at the end. Thank you ~Lily

5 Comments

Tony Tsai

11/24/2019 10:49:07 am

The concept of "no self" or "No permanent soul" is very difficult. I don't profess to know the "answers" but I will try to further the conversation base on my own understanding.From your questions, I think you are on the right track.

Now, it might be a case of semantics, but it is a contradiction to say "that one there is no self because there are many selves". It's more accurate is to say that there is no permanent self because there are nothing about us that is permanent, our body, our thoughts, or personalities are always changing. And if our bodies and thoughts change, why not our "soul."

Now, if someone was to ask "Does water have a self or a souk?" Most of us will say "no", but the human body is 60% water. So, does hair, does skin cells, does teeth, does your arm, leg, do they have a soul or a self? Is a soul in your heart, or brain? Most people would say our soul resides in our mind? But if that's the case, what happens to people with alzheimer or suffer brain injuries, do they lose their souls?

Taking this point further, many people believe that once you die your soul goes onto eternal afterlife in either heaven or hell. But who goes? 20 year old you? 50 year old you? 80 year old you? Maybe we get to choose the one we prefer, but what about a person that dies in childhood or even a birth is their soul eternally adolescent? or is the soul something beyond human comprehension, and is the same for everyone regardless of our lives, but then that removes the idea that people have a free will or that their actions or lives matter, since they are just playing out a script with the end predetermined.

Now, the quote you refer to is the Buddha saying that when I hit someone, my action of hitting someone is real, even if my self is not. Maybe the second before I hit the man, I was really angry, and the second after I hit him, I feel complete honest remorse and vowed to never be violent again. Now, who is the self that hit the man? Are they the same "self"? Are they different? Does it matter? Buddhism would say they are not the same, and that with every thought moment what we consider ourselves die and are reborn, therefore there is no hitter. Now, if there is no hitter who is punished? There is no punishment. There is only karma and a reaction. So the hit is real. The hit will engender a reaction (punishment). Therefor there is a hit but no hitter.

Hope this helps. Please feel free to respond to my explanation. I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Lily

11/24/2019 02:23:53 pm

I think what I understand now is our selves are not permanent, but our actions are. We may change but our actions remain the same affecting others and our souls.

Tony

11/25/2019 07:08:40 pm

Yes, except remember there are no permanent souls. It really is a difficult concept.

Sujin Shin

11/25/2019 07:19:45 pm

"The past ten or so years' worth of work was quietly turning its back on him. It wasn't his anymore. It belonged to a person he used to know, or thought he'd known - once upon a time." I just read this phrase from a book today and was thinking of 'No Self'. When I think about it and stay conscious, I begin to sort of understand 'No Self', but I forget it so quickly and the idea stays forgotten until I remind myself again. And then I think back of my past actions and my past self. I see myself trying to make an excuse for my past self because I'm used to think of myself as one permanent self and making excuses for my past actions makes me feel less bad about it. But what it really is is that what's done is done and I'm just feeling sorry for the past me but that doesn't change the action that was already done. It's so hard to really grasp 'No Self'.

Tony

11/25/2019 07:37:22 pm

I feel the exact same way. I know it, but I don’t feel it, or rather I do feel it. I feel me, I think my thoughts, I live my life, it’s really hard to think that it is all illusory. It’s very scary, and Buddha admits this, but it is the truth.

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"No Self" Question

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