The Concept of Anatta

Different traditions conceive of atta (self) in various ways. Some take it as an eternal self; others view it as a self rooted in conceit (māna); still others as a mere linguistic convention—“I” as a designation. Merely saying “I” does not necessarily imply self-view or conceit. Even the Buddha and Arahants used the word “I” conventionally, such as “I, the Blessed One.” Usage alone does not imply atta. What constitutes atta is the attachment to the belief that “I” or “mine” refers to a truly existing self. The key distinction between Buddhism and other religions lies in this very concept: Buddhism teaches anatta (non-self), while other doctrines center their views around atta (a permanent self). Buddhism completely rejects the notion of an eternal, unchanging soul or divine essence. Therefore, nothing in life is permanent. All things ultimately end in dissolution. Rather than speculating about things unverifiable in direct experience, one must seek the truth here and now. Speculation cannot lead to truth. The Buddha did not accept the existence of a permanent self or eternal deity. Such things are not found within the human constitution. The entire universe is devoid of self. Everything that arises must cease. Hence, there is no need to postulate a permanent atta. That is why the Buddha first taught the Five Ascetics (pañcavaggiya) the path to the cessation of craving, the cessation of suffering, and liberation from becoming and ceasing. “O bhikkhus, through disenchantment with form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness, craving ceases. With the cessation of craving, there is liberation. One knows that liberation has been achieved. There is no more rebirth. The noble task has been done. What should be done has been accomplished; there will be no future becoming.” (Saṃyutta Nikāya) When studying Buddhism, one must analyze what we conventionally call a person or being in terms of the five aggregates (pañcakkhandha). Upon analysis, nothing permanent can be found—neither a human, nor a god, but only a collection of impermanent phenomena. Even within these aggregates, no permanent atta can be discovered. Thus, the idea of atta is a distortion (vipallāsa), a delusion that obstructs the realization of truth. According to the Buddha, the five aggregates consist ultimately of nāma (mentality) and rūpa (materiality). However, with deep insight, even nāma and rūpa disappear as categories, and one sees only continuous arising and ceasing. When viewed in this way, clinging to mentality and materiality fades. The mental torment—sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair—caused by attachment to nāma-rūpa also vanishes. When observing a river from a bank, the water may appear stable and unchanging. But upon closer attention, one sees the constant flow of fresh water replacing what has already moved downstream. Likewise, what we call a “person”—this nāma-rūpa complex—is continuously changing like a river. Recognizing this eliminates grief for what is lost or what could not be attained. Buddhism also rejects the notion of reincarnation as understood in other systems, i.e., that an enduring self migrates from one body to another after death. Buddhism accepts only the arising of nāma-rūpa conditioned by causes. These, too, arise and pass away. Not even for a second do they remain static. This impermanence is the true dukkha. When this truth is realized, the desire to be free from dukkha naturally arises. From this arises the diligent effort to be liberated. Physical or mental hardship due to illness, poverty, aging, or death are merely mundane forms of suffering. They are not yet the noble truth of dukkha. Only through deep insight—stable concentration and penetrative wisdom—into the ever-changing, flickering, arising and vanishing nature of nāma-rūpa can one see true dukkha and confirm for oneself the First Noble Truth. Thus, one does not seek the truth of dukkha in atta, but in nāma-rūpa. And nāma-rūpa must be seen through the eye of wisdom—not the ordinary eye. What is seen through insight is dukkha-sacca (the Noble Truth of Suffering); the wisdom that sees it is magga-sacca (the Noble Truth of the Path). When insight is present, defilements (taṇhā, upādāna, etc.) cannot arise. These defilements are samudaya-sacca (the origin of suffering). Insight and defilements cannot coexist. Insight arises only in purity, and defilements cannot arise simultaneously with it. Because samudaya-sacca (the cause) gives rise to dukkha-sacca (the result), when the cause is cut off, the result also ceases. One moment of insight extinguishes one moment of cause. With the cause gone, the result cannot manifest. The ceasing of both cause and result—future nāma-rūpa—is nirodha-sacca, the Truth of Cessation. In every moment of true insight, all four Noble Truths arise together. Every time one sees impermanence clearly, one moment of defilements is destroyed, and one rebirth is averted. This process of seeing the arising and passing of nāma-rūpa while eliminating defilements is called vipassanā, even if it is still mundane. Even mundane vipassanā kills defilements temporarily (tadaṅga-vikkhambhana). If practiced with perseverance, this method will eventually lead to the complete and permanent eradication of defilements (samuccheda-pahāna). That is the moment of true liberation. When defilements are uprooted, the nāma-rūpa complex that would have been conditioned by them will no longer arise. The firewood (aggregates) is gone; the flame (defilements) has been extinguished. That extinction is nirodha-sacca. Nibbāna is this very nirodha-sacca. In Nibbāna, there is no more nāma-rūpa, no more arising and ceasing, no more dukkha. What remains is stillness, peace, and bliss. Without conditioned phenomena, there is only tranquility. The experience of Nibbāna is the experience of cessation. With the burning defilements gone, there is cooling inside. The vision is peace; the feeling is calmness. There is no further rebirth into any realm—human, celestial, or brahmic. All conditioned forms have ceased. If one truly sees dukkha-sacca in the aggregates, then the long-misunderstood notion of atta is silenced. The imagined self that is thought to survive death and transfer to another body is not found by wisdom. What is found is only impermanence and flux. Even that flux is not endless; it too can cease. When one repeatedly contemplates impermanence, wisdom comes to know that all this arising and ceasing is suffering. If one continues to contemplate despite disenchantment, eventually the very stream of becoming ceases. That cessation is called the ending of arising and ceasing. That is the ending of the aggregates, of nāma-rūpa, of suffering—Nibbāna. By Dr. Ashin Parami