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 ...
12
votes
Accepted
How come enlightened people don't have any laziness?
Speaking from the first hand experience, laziness comes from attachment, fear, or ignorance. No attachment, no fear, and no ignorance - translates to no laziness.
And how does attachment cause ...
- 56.9k
10
votes
As per buddism, how is it possible to leave behind my obsession with drugs?
I would like to answer this not from the perspective of a knowledgeable Buddhist, but from the perspective of someone who has been clean and sober for over 9 years. Disclaimer: I am a recent Buddhist ...
- 1,019
9
votes
If there is no self how can Nirvana be described as bliss?
According to Buddhism, even when I am typing these words and seeing the screen, there is no one there. The 'person' isn't an existing thing, it is just a label we put on things to describe how things ...
- 7,436
8
votes
If there is no soul, how can there be rebirth?
First, you need to understand that Buddhist texts operate on two levels of description: the conventional truth and the ultimate truth. The contradiction disappears when you realise that anatta (the ...
- 2,680
8
votes
Accepted
Answering Other's Questions About Oneself
tl;dr: I think it is normal, you just need time to get used to it. It will pass. I think it will be useful for you to investigate, why do you feel the desire to be "normal"? What part of you feels ...
- 7,423
8
votes
How to live life after acknowledging anatta?
Let’s get this straight. This is the problem when your mind is active and you’re reading all this stuff and thinking about it. The mind can only be confused. Because “moving above your intellect” is ...
- 2,224
8
votes
If there is no self, why do anything?
It essentially doesn't change anything. If you look hard, that "I" was always an illusion. No matter where you try to draw a boundary - it is artificial:
Does the body belong to the self or not? How ...
- 191
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
If there is no soul, how can there be rebirth?
This is a question of kings! Many many years ago, a king asked the same question of a monk. Here is the dialogue from Sutta Central
The king said: ‘Where there is no transmigration, Nāgasena, can ...
- 121
7
votes
If there's no "self" then why should I care about the future lives and nirvana?
Whether you believe in a 'self' or not, suffering is very real. You experience it on a daily basis. It is this suffering that makes beings look for an end to it. There's only one permanent end to ...
- 25.7k
6
votes
Accepted
As per buddism, how is it possible to leave behind my obsession with drugs?
You start by saying, "I don't want to consult any doctor about my obsession".
I suggest that what you want (and what you don't want) are part of the problem: and should not be considered as ...
- 44.8k
6
votes
If there is no self how can Nirvana be described as bliss?
One must be very careful with the idea that there is no self. This is not quite what the early Buddhist texts say. What they say is that when one examines one's experience (the five khandhas: form, ...
- 4,277
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
How to handle contrition
In suttas Buddha says this to people feeling remorseful about their past: there is no use worrying about the past you can't change. Focus on acting with skill going forward.
One of the most ...
- 56.9k
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
How can Buddhism help with bad habits?
My first Buddhist teacher was extremely helpful with this. Basically, he explained that all these problems come from attachments. "Ego" is just a name for a tangle of attachments. Someone says ...
- 56.9k
6
votes
Did the Buddha according to the suttas mean anything else by the word "self" beyond simply the aspect of control/power?
This is a very famous line of argumentation in Buddhism, especially in Theravada, about no-self. The basic idea is that according to common sense, we can control ourselves by the power of will - move ...
- 56.9k
6
votes
Accepted
Is the Buddhist path one of 'selfless offering' or 'inner kindness'?
The two contradict only to a "confused" (=normal) mind - in which "self" and "others" are two separate things. To the enlightened mind, what's good for one is good for the other, because they ...
- 56.9k
6
votes
Why does 'thoughts' and 'memories' not part of aggregates?
It's all included, it's just a slightly different structure.
Latent memories just sitting there are included in "samskara" (what's incorrectly translated as "choices" in your copy)....
- 56.9k
6
votes
Non-Self vs. depersonalization disorder
In depersonalization and derealization disorders one recognizes a self that one is not, and that one believes one should be. This creates stress and anxiety, along with distortions of one's perception ...
- 4,762
5
votes
If there is no soul, how can there be rebirth?
There is no rebirth / reincarnation (in the sense that the soul takes on a new body after the death of the previous body. )
Our existence is changing process in which there are events like birth and ...
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
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