Anatta

In what way does Buddhism differ from other mainstraim religions?

Extract from The Buddha's Path chapter 3

The truth of non-self, in Pali anatta, is an essential element of the Buddhas teachings. This truth has been taught by the Buddha alone, it cannot be found outside the Buddhist teachings. Those who come into contact with Buddhism for the first time may be bewildered, even repelled by the truth of non-self. They wonder what the world would be without a self, without other people. Do we not live with and for other people? It is difficult to grasp the truth of non-self and its implications in daily life. What is called in conventional language a person or self is merely a temporary combination of physical phenomena and mental phenomena, which are depending on each other. They have been classified as five groups, in Pali khandhas: one group of all physical phenomena and four groups of mental phenomenafeelings, perceptions, mental activities and consciousness. The five khandhas are in a flux, in a constant process of formation and dissolution. There is nothing lasting, nothing eternal, nothing unchanging in life.

The khandhas which arise, fall away and do not return. Present khandhas are different from past khandhas but they are conditioned by past khandhas, and present khandhas condition in their turn future khandhas. We read in the Dialogues of the Buddha (I, number IX, Potthapada Sutta) that the Buddha explained to Citta about the three modes of personality: the past, the present and the future personality. They are different, but the past conditions the present and the present conditions the future. We read that the Buddha explained this by way of a simile:

Just, Citta, as from a cow comes milk, and from the milk curds, and from the curds butter, and from the butter ghee, and from the ghee junket; but when it is milk it is not called curds, or butter, or ghee, or junket; and when it is curds it is not called by any of the other names. Just so, Citta, when any one of the three modes of personality is going on, it is not called by the name of the other. For these, Citta, are merely names, expressions, turns of speech, designations in common use in the world. And of these a Tathagata (one who has won the truth) makes use indeed, but is not led astray by them.

We call by such or such a name what are actually the five khandhas. People have different characters, different personalities. In reality there is nothing static in what is called a person. The present personality is different from the past personality, but it has originated from the past personality. We read in the commentary to the Debates (to the Kathavatthu, Chapter I, the Person, 33, 34):

Given bodily and mental khandhas, it is customary to say such and such a name, a family. Thus, by this popular turn of speech, convention, expression, is meant: there is the personThe Buddhas have two kinds of discourse, the popular and the philosophical. Those relating to a being, a person, a deva (divine being), a brahma,are popular discourses, while those relating to impermanence, dukkha, non-self, the khandhas, the elements, the senses are discourses on ultimate meaning. A discourse on ultimate meaning is, as a rule, too severe to begin with; therefore the Buddhas teach at first by popular discourse, and then by way of discourse on ultimate meaning. The Enlightened One, best of speakers, spoke two kinds of truth, namely, the conventional truth and the ultimate truth, a third is not known. Therein, a popular discourse is true in conventional sense. A discourse on ultimate realities is also true, and as such, characteristic of things as they are.

Before studying the Buddhist teachings we only knew conventional truth: the truth of the world populated by people and animals, the world of persons, of self. Through the Buddhist teachings we learn about the ultimate truth: the mental phenomena and physical phenomena which are impermanent.

The truth of non-self is ultimate truth. It is deep and hard to penetrate. It has been taught by way of similes in the Buddhist scriptures and in the commentaries. The great commentator Buddhaghosa, in his book the Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), illustrates the truth of non-self with similes from Buddhist scriptures. The Path of Purification is a comprehensive exposition of the Buddhas teaching based on old commentaries and the tradition of the monks in Sri Lanka, written in the fifth century A.D. Buddhaghosa explains that when one thinks of a whole of mind and body, one clings to the concept of person, whereas when this whole is seen as different elements which are impermanent, one will lose the perception of self: We read in the Path of Purification (XVIII, 25, 26):

As with the assembly of parts The word chariot is countenanced, So, when the khandhas are present, A being is said in common usage. Again, this has been said: Just as when a space is enclosed with timber and creepers and grass and clay, there comes to be the term house, so too, when a space is enclosed with bones and sinews and flesh and skin, there comes to be the term material form.

Further on (XVIII, 28) we read:

So in many hundred suttas it is only mentality-materiality that is illustrated, not a being, not a person. Therefore, just as when the component parts such as axles, wheels, frame, poles, etc. are arranged in a certain way, there comes to be the mere term of common usage chariot, yet in the ultimate sense when each part is examined, there is no chariotand just as when the component parts of a house such as wattles, etc. are placed so that they enclose a space in a certain way, there comes to be the mere term of common usage house, yet in the ultimate sense there is no house,so too, when there are the five khandhas of clinging, there comes to be the mere term of common usage a being, a person, yet in the ultimate sense, when each component is examined, there is no being as a basis for the assumption I am or I; in the ultimate sense there is only mentality-materiality. The vision of one who sees in this way is called right vision.

If life can be considered as existing in just one moment, it will be less difficult to understand the truth of non-self. In the Maha-Niddesa (number 6, Decay) the Buddha explains that life is extremely short. In the ultimate sense it lasts only as long as one moment of consciousness. Each moment of consciousness which arises falls away completely, to be succeeded by the next moment which is different.

We read in the Path of Purification (XX, 72) a quotation from the Maha-Niddesa text about the khandhas which are impermanent:

No store of broken states, no future stock; Those born balance like seeds on needle points. Break-up of states is fore-doomed at their birth; Those present decay, unmingled with those past. They come from nowhere, break up, nowhere go; Flash in and out, as lightning in the sky.

One is used to thinking of a self who coordinates all the different experiences through the senses and the mind, a self who can see, hear and think all at the same time, but in reality there can be only one moment of consciousness at a time which experiences one object. At one moment life is seeing, at another moment life is hearing and at another moment again life is thinking. Each moment of our life arises because of its own conditions, exists for an extremely short time and then falls away. Seeing arises dependant on eye-sense, on colour and on other factors. It exists just for a moment and then it is gone. Seeing arises and falls away very rapidly, but then there are other moments of seeing again and this causes us to erroneously believe that seeing lasts. The seeing of this moment, however, is different from seeing which is just past. Colour which appears at this moment is different from colour which is just past. How could there be a self who exerts control over seeing or any other reality? Realities such as kindness and anger arise because of their own conditions, there is no self who could exert control over them. We would like to speak kindly, but when there are conditions for anger, it arises. We may tell ourselves to keep silent, but, before we realize it, angry words have been spoken already. There was anger in the past and this has been accumulated. That is why it can arise at any time. Anger does not belong to a person, but it is a reality. We are used to identifying ourselves with realities such as anger, generosity, seeing or thinking, but it can be learnt that they are mental phenomena, arising because of their own conditions. We are used to identifying ourselves with our body, but the body consists of changing physical phenomena, arising because of their own conditions. Bodily phenomena are beyond control; ageing, sickness and death cannot be prevented. Realities come and go very rapidly, they can be compared with a flash of lightning. One cannot exercise any power over a flash of lightning, it is gone as soon as it has been noticed. Evenso, one cannot exert control over the mental and physical phenomena of ones life.