Assess The Arguments For The No-self Doctrine.

Are Annata And Karma Reconcilable. Essay, Research Paper

The Buddhist theory of no-self (annata) is perhaps one of the most alien, complex and misunderstood concepts for the westerner to grasp. Essentially the “no self” refers to the denial of a soul. In this sense the soul is “the abiding, separate, constantly existing and indestructible entity which is generally believed to be found in man…it is the thinker of all his thoughts, the doer of all his deeds and the director of the organism generally” (Malalasckera 1957). Buddhists assert that you can only be happy once you have discarded the view of a self ; a paradoxical situation that seems absurd. The Buddhists see the idea of “I” as a figment of the imagination with nothing real to correspond to it. If I conjure up another figment of imagination like the idea of “belonging” the “I” concludes that some portion of the world belongs to me. The doctrine of annata assumes two basic propositions ; that nothing in reality corresponds to words like “I” or “mine”, as there is no fact in self and that nothing in our empirical self is worthy of being regarded as the real self. `There are three basic ways of viewing the self. These are best summarised by a leading figure in reformed Buddhism, Nyanatiloka, who says : “there are three teachers in the world. The first teacher teaches the existence of an eternal ego-entity outstanding death : that of the eternalist, as for example the Christian. The second teacher teaches a temporary ego-entity which becomes annihilated at death : that is the annihilationist, or materialist. The third teacher teaches neither an eternal nor a temporary ego-entity : that is the Buddha. Annata is an essential point of Buddhist philosophy, and is interestingly unique to almost all other beliefs and philosophies in the world today (with the possible exception of David Hume, some 2000 years later). The importance of annata to Buddhists and it’s implications for all human actions, ethics and morals is staggering. Rahula, a Sinhalese monk, believes that a view of a permanent self/soul is “the source of all the troubles in the world…in short, to this false view can be traced all the evil in the world” (Rahula 1967). In this essay I hope to accomplish a number of things. Firstly to provide the arguments for the no-self theory and explain how Buddhists construct personality. Secondly, I intend to look at the arguments refuting annata, especially Descartes “I think therefore I am”. Thirdly, I hope to draw some parallels to Buddhism with Western philosophy and finally conclude the essay. `An important part of understanding how Buddha came to dismiss the concept of self is to see how he constructed the personality of the individual. Buddhist’s outline five factors (Khanda’s) which relate to a state of grasping and attachment that identifies with “I” or “myself”. The first is rupa, material shape, which takes its form in the outer world or in the living body. It is composed of earth, wind, fire and water that are the components from which are bones, flesh and tissue are created etc. The other khanda’s are all mental in nature. The second factor, vedanna, is “feeling”; the pleasant, unpleasant or indifferent “taste” of an experience. The third khanda is sanna, or cognition, which allows us to label things “man” “blue” “tomato” etc It informs us of what we are conscious of. Sankhara (constructing activity) refers to mental states that initiate action ; like attention, anger and most importantly “will”. The final khanda, vinnana, is discriminative consciousness, or mentality (see later). Via meditation and virtue, it is possible to transcend the interpretation of “self” which the khanda’s provide and reach Nibbana (a permanent state of bliss). `What then are the arguments which support annata. In Brahmanical thought, the self could attain universal power through attained knowledge. Buddha denied the existence of such a self by claiming we had no such control over it. In the “discourse on the characteristics of not-self” (Anattalakkhana Sutta) the Buddha uses the example of a body, the first khanda rupa, to prove his point : `”body, monks, is not-self. Were it self, the body would not suffer affliction, and one could have of body `let my body be this, let my body be that`”. Due to the naturally changing behaviour of our bodies, for which we have no control, the misguided concepts of “I am body” or “body is mine” is clearly false and causes grief, suffering and anxiety. The Buddha is obviously referring to deformities, disease, old age and inevitably death as well as more trivial things such as attractiveness, hair colour etc. The five khanda’s are not-self because we have no voluntary control or direction over them. `Buddha extends his argument by suggesting what is impermanent, unsatisfactory and subject to change could not possibly be regarded as self. In the following discourse with another monk, he argues ; `”Is what is impermanent satisfactory or unsatisfactory.” `”unsatisfactory, sir.” `Is it fitting to regard what is impermanent, unsatisfactory and subject to change as `this is mine, this I am this is my self`.” `”No sir”. (Anattalakkana Sutta) `The argument which Buddha is essentially putting forward is anything which comes into existence from an unsatisfactory, random and temporary source could not logically or possibly lead on to the creation of something controllable, permanent and satisfied. `Another argument for annata