Anatta Puns

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said that you never bathe in the same river twice, because it's never the same river and it's never the same you. If you were to look at a river, close your eyes, and open them again a few seconds later, every water molecule will have moved, the banks will have rearranged themselves by a little bit, and it will effectively be a brand new river. You, too, are like a river.

There is no fixed version of you. There is no self. The Buddhists call this concept anatta, or no-self. In fact, they say that nothing in the world has a fixed self; everything is in flux. Including you.

In your own words, why do you believe anatta to be true? And how is this a positive concept for you?

Hello, my name is Phra Sombat, i am a Thai monk.

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https://github.com/MartianZenMonk/anatta2

https://preview.redd.it/zec1cf2r2f881.png?width=1123&format=png&auto=webp&s=509a072263508b1ae469fed29e2df22000058dc3

The Daily Tejaniya for Jan. 18: There is No Body, No Person

With right view we are aware
of what is happening in the pres-
ent moment. We are experiencing
 nature happening. There is no body,
 no person. If we take this attitude 
  and we are aware of what is hap-
pening, then we have right  
view and right thought. 

Sayadaw Tejaniya is a Theravada Burmese Buddhist monk.

To subscribe to The Daily Tejaniya, click here.

So 2 years ago I started doing concentration based meditation for 6 months or so ~30-60 min /day. Basically I was noticing the sensations in the body and I felt the very pleasurable sensation which I believe is called piti and may have hit 1st jhana.

Then 6 months later I started having panic attacks. First sporadic and then daily multiple panic attacks where I would just start dissociating, where I felt like I was literally on the verge of physical death. Even though I was never brave enough to let go throughout those episodes and eventually the panic subsided (albeit I still had sporadic bouts).

Literally one year later after my panic attacks started I was talking to my girlfriend about my views on the world. During this talk I realized that all I was doing was looking to impose the way I saw the world on her. I felt as if I was just doing that to remind myself of who I am and what I believed in. And in that instance I suddenly lost my sense of self. I became totally and completely empty, with no sense of agency whatsoever. It felt as if I was playing gta and then I dropped the controller and the character was still running around, talking and doing missions. I see that it is exactly what was on the other side of the panic attacks.

This was last week and during this time I've been reevaluating reality. I realized there's literally no I. It can't be located. I am as much me as I am the chair in which I'm sitting. I see clearly how this character had been suffering as he had this false sense of self.

Now I can alternate between the self and noself perspective (it's been 5 days). But I want to know how to lock it. Any advice?

I’ve noticed some say the Buddha specifically taught a no self doctrine and others say when he was asked he said not to dwell on it. I’m confused

The idea that there isn't a self is causing me anxiety. How do i quell the anxiety when I still really want to follow Buddhism?

On a provisional level, there is a self. On the ultimate level, there is no self.

Your functional, conventional, day-to-day "self" is real. You can't just cross a busy street without looking. You are going to make a bad salad on the road out of your'self'. So that, and only that is the 'self' you can point to. The very mundane and practical 'self'. Because this 'self' exists, you have to brush your teeth, take a bath, nourish your'self', have a healthy body and sense of 'self' confidence, improve your 'self' image, perhaps learn some 'self'-help or 'self'-development techniques so you present yourself as a fully functioning human being in society. Because this superficial, mundane 'self' exists, Buddhism does NOT say that you neglect or reject this 'self'. Instead, Buddhism should help you have a healthy, positive sense of 'self' in the world.

What Buddhism teaches about the No-Self doctrine is that on the ultimate, "metaphysical", fundamental level, under deeper analysis, that solid, unchanging, fixed "self" is just not there, and what you perceive of as self is merely illusory.

Alternative answer:

>Buddhism does not deny a provisional self for utilitarian purposes, only the ultimate existence of any enduring essence. @animuseternal /[source]

Videos: - Please listen to the sangha (monastic community) on this foundational doctrine.

Non-Self in Buddhism (7 min)

Dalai Lama on No Self (7 min)

Simple Explanation of No-Self (30 min)

Ajahn Brahmali lecture on Non-Self (1 hr)

.

Bonus:

Scientist's Take: The Self is an Illusion (7 min)

I'm interested in Buddhism, I wouldn't call myself a Buddhist by any means (not yet). I have a question about Anatta, or 'No-Self'. Is this not a very circular and destructive belief? I mean, would this belief (what I've heard) essentially mean that someone strips themselves of the 'self' and therefore has no fears or desires, making existential thinking and fear of death disappear? But upon further thinking, wouldn't that thinking be incredibly dangerous? We would have no progress as a species, no reproduction would occur? Our race would succumb to disease, and never extend past the eventual loss of oxygen on Earth and the suns meltdown?

Or is this not a standard belief, can anyone who is - you know - not like me, give me a short summary of what Buddhism is - or is this actual? I put my trust in you all to help a ignorant person such as myself out.

>There's one sort of consciousness that's really ours. The consciousness that's really ours is loyal, honest, and true to us. Suppose that you make up your mind that tomorrow you want to go to the monastery to hear a sermon. Now, going to the monastery to hear a sermon is something good that you like to do. You really benefit from it. You're really clear on this point. But by the time tomorrow comes, your mind has changed because — it's simply changed. When this happens, you should realize that your consciousness has gotten mixed up with some other kind of consciousness. That's how you have to look at things. Don't think that it's really your consciousness. The new thought that repeals your old thought isn't really you. It's cheating you. It's not really you. Normally, if something is really you, it's not going to cheat you. It has to be honest and loyal and devoted to you. Once you make up your mind to do something good, you have to stick with it until you succeed and feel happy afterwards. That sort of thinking is your own real consciousness. It's honest. It doesn't deceive you.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/consciousnesses.html

I have been a layperson practitioner and learner of all the Buddhist paths along with advaita vedanta.

My question is related to the nuanced differences on the idea of a soul. Vedanta talks about atman, and while Buddhism describes annatta or shunyata. That being said, both mahayana and vajrayana describe the death process as managing for an experience for what comes next. In the latter, even outlined as a Bardo and a sort of kundalini practice in raising one's vital force to higher positions in the body, which strikes me as Chakra manipulation.

On the vedanta side, aside from the main txts named by adi Shankara, when I read vasistha yoga or ashtavakra Gita or even brahma sutras, I again see plenty of elements that seem like they bleed into what i understand as mahayana (Chan).

So my questions-

-How does annatta/shunyata work different from vedanta in a context where the Bardo exists?

-is there really that big a difference between mahayana and vedanta? They overall seem very aligned in terms of how to live life and 'right view', the differences don't seem very significant in terms of how to live life?

Thank you for reading, hope to learn from the reflections shared 😊

I'm curious to find the actual suttas by the Buddha on these three "notions." What are the main suttas to look at regarding these "concepts?" Thank you, much appreciated.

Please take a look at this document here: http://www.vimokkha.com/lifeacharntawee.htm. In the last sentence it's clearly written "nobody dies". I was a student of Acharn Tawee and his teacher who wrote this. How does it match with nihilism or materialism or the middle path? Care to elaborate? Thanks!

So please look at the picture I attached. Essentially the claim is that the subject is not changing. If it were changing then you would not be the one experiencing an hour later from now.

https://imgur.com/a/Jl4deu0

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I was wondering if anyone has meditation instructions to follow to meditate on anatta. What does it look like?

When being told the truth of Anicca/impermanence, most people will identify themselves with the good things in life. They'll enjoy life better or less. Enjoy it better because they're being mindful about the good things happening, or enjoy it less because they realize those things will fade away.

It's rare to find people who identify themselves with the bad things in life. Like enjoy life better because they realize the pain will fade away, or enjoy life less because they realize bad times might come.

Once we realize there's no self to begin with, we stop clinging to find pleasure or ending pain. Pleasure and pain just happen, without the self as the experiencer of experience. Seeing just happen without the see-er.

This crossed my mind after contemplating about the 3 marks of existence. Please clarify if I made some mistakes. Also why do people identify themselves with the good things?

“There is not an unchanging, permanent self/ soul/ essence of any phenomena”

About physical materials, there is no “basic/ smallest particle” that made up everything in this world. Scientists find really small particles like electrons, quarks, but they just didn’t find the smaller particles yet with the current modern technology of human. Well, they can’t because there is no such thing as the “only smallest basic particle” that made up everything - they’re infinitely small without anything smallest - just like this Samsara doesn’t have a beginning, all are cause and effect, dependent on others.

That is the same to apply to our mind and thoughts (the 4 other aggregates). There is nothing such as the “only, most essence part that is our true selves”. If there is 1 soul, what about 1.25 ? 0.333 ? pi ? over 9000 ? There are no borderlines. We are aggregates/ groups of countless infinitely small particles and mental activities forming into shaping what we are, and what we falsely claim as “myself”.

I can be wrong. If so, please be polite to correct where I understood it wrong. We’re here to help each others understand the righteous truth, not to show off who has bigger knowledge.

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For those of you who have achieved anatta (non-self), what is the experience like on a day to day basis?