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I read that atman is pure bliss
I read that anatta is pure bliss
-Is it possible that these deep concepts are pointing to the same thing at the end of the day?
-Is atman the same as anatta in anyway? If yes/no then why?
-Is anatman the same as atta in anyway? If yes/no then why?
I have never read 'anatta' is 'pure bliss'. 'Bliss' is a feeling where as 'anatta' is a characteristic of things that is realised by wisdom.
As for 'Atman', this appears to be a concept that changed & evolved throughout the history of Brahmanism & Hinduism. At the time of the Buddha, it appears 'Atman' did not mean bliss or a transcendent state.
The earliest use of word "Ātman" in Indian texts is found in the Rig Veda (RV X.97.11). Yāska, the ancient Indian grammarian, commenting on this Rigvedic verse, accepts the following meanings of Ātman: the pervading principle, the organism in which other elements are united and the ultimate sentient principle.
This is probably why the word 'anatta' does not mean 'not-bliss'.
The two are opposites. One is Pali (anatta) and the other is Sanskrit (atman).
Anatta translates to the Sanskrit as anatman, often translated into English as 'no-self', or 'no-soul', and represents the teachings against there being an ontological or surviving soul (atman) as taught by many religions. The 'an' portion indicates 'no', which indicates why the two are opposite in meaning.
What is atman? If you refer to atman as a soul which transmigrates after death then you are wrong. There is no soul which transmigrates after death. Rebirth is just an echo of what was the last consciousness at the time of death. Rebirth is like a stanza learned by student from a teacher.
If you refer to atman which is the listener of the ears, seer of the eyes, smeller of the nose, comprehender of the mind then again I am afraid Buddha says there is no such atman.
Buddha goes on to say there is no Atman... Atman is like a illusion. In other words there is no self worth identifying as my or your soul. Like all illusions, the illusion of atman must collapse. Once that happens gates of Nirvana opens for you. As you see the concept of Atman and Anatta are opposite of each other.
Hindus live in the world of Brahman... Understanding of Brahman is the ultimate goal. Buddhists do not live in any such world. Therefore I am afraid Buddhist philosophy leads to a different state of mind. Should we describe that state as blissful ? That I can not answer for sure but it seems blissful is the right answer. Is that blissfulness permanent ? Yes in both the cases it is said to be so. Is that blissfulness me ? Hindus says Yes that blessedness is your self. Buddhists say there is no self.
Atman is 'self', Annata is 'no self'. It's apparent that they are complete opposites. But could they be the same? Ask a classical Zen master and you might get a good bonk on the head with his staff. Which is another way of saying, that's a pretty good question! You can try to answer, but why spoil it? Maybe the best questions should be left unanswered. Just keep asking the question... The Hindu "I am that" and the Buddhist "I am not that" The same?
Is it possible that these deep concepts are pointing to the same thing at the end of the day?
Yes I think so.
Part of Buddhist doctrine is, more-less, that self-views are a cause of suffering.
I get the (not very well-informed) impression that the Hindu tradition includes teaching something like, neti neti -- "the self is not this".
A corollary of that search might be that the "self" or Self is something other -- is Atman or Brahman.
Perhaps a Hindu would expect a Buddhist to somehow identify with Nibbana (or the Tathagata), see that as some refuge for a sense of self (or of being, or of action, etc.).
So if selfishness and identifying with the body and the shandhas is an extreme (worldly) position, maybe Atman and so on is logically opposed to that -- and a different extreme!
Whereas Buddhism being a middle way, neither extreme, might say, "not the other extreme either -- i.e. also nibbana isn't self, is anatta".
Wikipedia's Paramatman suggests that the (or some) Hindu doctrine might be similar somehow ...
Selflessness is the attribute of Paramatman, where all personality/individuality vanishes.
... but that article's comparison with Buddhist doctrine says only ...
Buddhism rejects a metaphysics of "ground" such as the paramatman.
I think that there is some Buddhist "metaphysics", and sometimes some doctrine about "ground" (but those are a couple of words I don't know enough of at the moment to explain).
