15
votes
If there is no soul or self, why did the Buddha speak of his past lives?
How is it possible that he had past lives?
Because until he became the Buddha he hadn't eliminated craving.
Craving leads to clinging, clinging leads to becoming, becoming leads to birth.
how did ...
- 25.7k
13
votes
If anatta is a reality, then how do you explain Volition or Will?
Anatta means that there is no permanent self, not that there is no self at all. That would be just silly and contradict observation. Imagine the self as a car. Every day one part of the car is ...
9
votes
Accepted
If i am the result of an aggregate, how does one refer to oneself?
Short Answer: Use "I" like you always did, but be mindful of what it does (and doesn't) refer to.
Longer Answer:
It isn't that "I" doesn't exist; rather, it doesn't exist in the way we normally ...
- 2,229
9
votes
How can the theory of emptiness be true and yet the self still transmigrates and takes rebirth?
Not all forms of Buddhism define emptiness in the way you describe; in Theravada Buddhism, for example, emptiness mainly means "empty of self":
“katamā cāvuso, suññatā cetovimutti”?
“idhāvuso, ...
- 23.9k
9
votes
Is rebirth essential to Buddhist philosophy?
From Ven. Bodhi's excellent short essay "Dhamma Without Rebirth?":
The aim of the Buddhist path is liberation from suffering, and the Buddha makes it abundantly clear that the suffering from which ...
- 9,648
8
votes
Hesitation between Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta
If you want to know the truth about reality, you have to learn how to make impartial observations of nature. When you ask questions like "Who is waking up? Who is witnessing?", you have already made ...
- 25.7k
7
votes
Accepted
The actualization of Anatta
i express anger or sadness, i should look to detach or disassociate
myself from such emotions.
Not! Stop hypothesizing and simply observe the events/experience at their unsullied form.
When you say ...
- 25.7k
7
votes
Is Anatman the most important concept in Buddhism?
If someone can realize Anatman then is this not basically the whole teaching?
It's certainly a great step forward on the path, but it is not the whole teaching.
This is the whole teaching.
That was ...
- 1,099
7
votes
Should I identify myself as formless?
I think the doctrine is saying that you shouldn't "identify yourself" at all. Quoting from this answer
"You may well accept, monks, the assumption of a self-theory[27] from the acceptance of which ...
- 44.8k
6
votes
Have any Buddhist thinkers responded to the critique of the Brahma Sutras?
I think Nagarjuna's Mulamadhyamakakarika is the work you are looking for. Just like Brahma-sutras does not mention specific Buddhist sutras it debates with, Mulamadhyamakakarika does not mention ...
- 56.9k
6
votes
How is it wrong to believe that a self exists, or that it doesn't?
You should not believe or hold a view that:
there is a self
there is no self
But whatever you consider as self is not worthy of being called self as:
you cannot control it to your will
it is ...
6
votes
Accepted
Questions about strong acceptance of rebirth?
The question is basically, why is belief in literal rebirth (reincarnation) a problem. I won't address every OP point here, just make four theses:
Rebirth is self. Self is rebirth. Whenever there is ...
- 56.9k
6
votes
Accepted
How does *Buddhist* meditation differ from others and lead to awakening?
Very good question.
Buddhist meditation is based on the understanding of the mechanism of arising and cessation of suffering. Suffering arises whenever there is a conflict between "is" and "should". ...
- 56.9k
6
votes
Accepted
Why is there no self in the container of the 5 aggregates?
This is the problem with mixing up ultimate reality with conventional reality. In ultimate reality, the cat does not exist. What is real is the tactile experience of the touch. That experience is an ...
- 25.7k
5
votes
If anatta is a reality, then how do you explain Volition or Will?
If decision making is a self, why do you regret certain decisions you have made? You should be able to make all good decisions in life. Why is decision making affected by craving, aversion and ...
- 25.7k
5
votes
Without an enduring quid between lifes, how to explain past life recalling?
A self wouldn't help in this case; a self is an untenable entity - it is permanent yet able to change to know multiple objects, an illogical paradox.
The very idea that a memory can be stored isn't ...
- 23.9k
5
votes
Understanding anatta via "there are no computer programs" analogy
I find it helps to try to relate things back to the core teachings: suffering, the cause of suffering, the extinction of suffering and the way to achieve that. So the relevant teaching here as I ...
- 376
5
votes
Is Anatman the most important concept in Buddhism?
No, anatta is not the key point of Buddhism, and Buddhism is not nondualism.
That would be too easy ;)
Shunyata, the Mahayana extrapolation of anatta principle, is getting closer.
If I had to pick ...
- 56.9k
5
votes
Am I "fooling" myself?
Here is the simple answer to what you feel...
We are in constant pain and suffering.
As to lord Buddha
Eyes,Ears,Tongue,Nose,Body & Mind are Burning from three things (Lust,Anger,Confusion -[...
- 3,943
5
votes
Accepted
How is it wrong to believe that a self exists, or that it doesn't?
Buddha kept silent in response to Vacchagotta’s question because answering it in either way, it would have been misunderstood. This nature of the self is beyond the level of understanding of ...
- 9,587
5
votes
Did the Buddha leave room for the possibility of a self?
Buddha did not teach that things exist (that's one extreme) or that things do not exist (that's another extreme). Buddha teaches that things exist to some extent, in some context, relative to some ...
- 56.9k
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