Do you understand the idea that the self doesn't exist in Buddhism?

Question

Yes the body and the mind exist but that is all that there is. This might sound confusing but people tend to think that there is this permanent "me" inside of thier minds. Such a "me" has never existed and all that there is is just mind and body. I feel that is a major problem in the world today is that people believe they have this true "me" inside. Once a "me" is understood to be false then all selfishness goes away. Thats why I feel that certian relgions that believe in a soul are only fueling more selfishness.

If you still don't get it then you can chat it over via yahoo messenger at:

elputminers

Answer 1

You self doesn't exist separately, it should be considered a part of the universe. Your existence should not require a self-ego, as you are inseparable from everything else. It is more important to be selfless than have a big ego.

Answer 2

Well I guess we disagree. There is Buddha nature in all things sentient and non sentient. The me we know in this life has the ability to become in touch with that Buddha nature within them that is eternal or remain in a state of illusion. Hence the goal of enlightenment leading to Buddhahood.

The self, whether it remembers itself as Jamie or a dear running through the woods, travels through the cycles of birth and death eventually, we hope, arriving at a state of perfect enlightenment. However this is not guaranteed nor is it fixed. Buddhas and Buddhasatvas can fall back into these cycles if they loose their way. In Nicheran Buddhism one of the goals is for those striving for enlightenment to attain the body of a Buddha. Tha t does not sound like the nothingness you describe. Oneness and individuality exist simultainiously.

There are many variations of Buddhism just as there are of Christianity. Science actually supports your view more than Buddhism.

Peace!

Answer 3

You could say that the body and mind exist, that is they are not non-existent but you can't posit that this is all there is. The two, body and mind, are the result of a collection of aggregates and causes; they are a collection, in other words, that is imputed or named. This nominal designation, or labelling as "this" or "that" is the ignorance of grasping at the self. There are two types of selflessness; that of persons and that of phenomena. Without a firm understanding of this through reason and analysis (and also without some fluency in definition and definienda), most of us wander through life with a mistaken view of the "I" as existing as intrinsically real, beyond this imputation, or nominally designated collection. You could read the commentaries and root texts for years and still not uproot the concept of self - but if you practice the three highest, higher trainings and practice the profound prajnaparamita with an engaged aspiration for enlightenment, your progress through the Mahayana pathway minds can be much more swift. Keep in mind also that these are Lam Rim topics that have been discussed at length by all the masters and Indian pandits such as Nagarjuna, Chandrakirti and Shantideva. The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment is an excellent and abbreviated text by the great master Lord Atisha and is foundational to the understanding of the stages of the path however it is an extremely abbreviated text and the essence could easily be lost without rigorous study. The Lam Rim Chen Mo, or the Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, by the eminent scholar and master Je Rinpoche, Lama Tsong Khapa, is in fact a more expansive commentary on The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment; then Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand by Pabongka Rinpoche is an extensive commentary on the Lam Rim Chen Mo! One would be deluding themselves if they broke right into the Heart of the Prajnaparamita and exploration of the doctrine of selflessness without approaching the preliminary practices of prostration, refuge and (aspirational) bodhicitta beforehand and risk falling to the extreme of nihilism (or eternalism, by extension). So, approaching these various topics is worthwhile, and can reduce the three poisons and in fact, relieve suffering. I, myself, am just a beginner and can barely find my butt with both hands. I spend far too much time looking around and trying to show off and am not humble. I am boastful and proud and am surely my most precious Spiritual Friend's worst student and the most ignorant of all because I flit from topic to topic without stopping once to actually practice what I am speaking of. I mistake an intellectual understanding of some of these things for attainment and realization and swell up with self-satisfaction like the Enumerators who say that the cause is within the effect like an ant on a blade of grass with the potential for one hundred rebirths as an elephant is the same as one hundred elephants standing on the same blade of grass! U hu lag! (Woe is me!)

Answer 4

I hear ya... I also have a puzzling time putting it into words even although I comprehend the theory. i rather am an atheist, yet I do have faith in many of the Buddhist teachings as organic Buddhism has no God and isn't any longer a faith, its a life-style your life. No self has lots to do with that finished attachment concept. no longer something in this international belongs to absolutely everyone. You very own no longer something, Steve Jobs or invoice Gates very own no longer something. no longer something might nicely be owned, no longer even your physique. we are all necessary products to the international puzzle. each and every people needed, from an apple to the Pope... we are all merely residing issues on the comparable plane of life. With that being suggested, in case you are able to no longer very own something, or be related to something, so even your strategies and your physique are no longer yours, so the belief of "i desire" or "i admire" is moot, on the grounds that "I" would not exist. this would not mean that persons can no longer very own issues, or evaluate themselves in the "I" variety, it merely skill that in case you desire to stay a happy healthful enlightened life, its maximum suitable to confess those truths to your self as attachment is the explanation for all suffering. undecided if any of this is clever to absolutely everyone else :)

Answer 5

What? According to the concepts, the idea of an INHERENTLY EXISTING SELF doesn't logically exist, which means if you look for some solid thing that defines a "me" or an "I" you can't find it. Emptiness, however is FORM and form is EMPTINESS. (caps emphasis only not shouting) So naturally you have a conglomeration of "stuff" you label as "me" or "I", but attachments and misunderstanding of the nature of your existence is what leads to suffering...

This is a rough concept for casual readers, be cautious in how you bandy the terms around.

_()_

Answer 6

Well, the idea of self exists in real life.

Answer 7

I'm sorry for not answering, darling Greedo; I've never really checked Buddhism out. But I just had to sy 'Hi!!!!!'

Answer 8

Descartes would beg to differ.

Answer 9

sounds weird....touch the arm and we know its there!!