The Buddha Taught How The Self Exists And It’s Not What You Think

What you think the self is is exactly what an ego is: an imagined story of who you think you are based on social conditioning and this is what is eliminated through spiritual practice, a false idea of ​​the self. In fact, it has not been eliminated because it never existed; it is imaginary. What happens is that the false imaginary self is ‘see through’ and no longer believed in. But there is a real self that cannot be eliminated and there is a real individual, despite what so many self-proclaimed awakened spiritual teachers try to teach.

The middle way is the middle between two extreme views. To say that the self exists as a separate and permanent thing is extreme. But it is also an extreme view to say that the self does not exist at all. The self is neither permanent nor non-existent. The middle ground lies somewhere between these two extremes. Two errors are made in the Buddhist denial of the self. Denying too much and not denying enough.

Buddha taught that there is no such thing as a specific type of self – that is, a permanent and separate self. BUT the Buddha did not say that the self does not exist at all. This misconception leads to the grave error of thinking that karma does not exist and that actions have no consequences. The most difficult thing in Buddhist philosophy is to reconcile the two teachings of no self and karma.

In our experience there seems to be a fixed, separate and autonomous self that is different from everything else and goes through life as things happen to it. We believe in this self and create stories about it. This is the self that is negated using one of the two main types of Buddhist meditations; either using ‘direct viewing’ or ‘logical analysis’. What is revealed is reality.

As Alan Watts describes

“The doctrine of sunyata, or emptiness, only asserts that there are no self-existent forms, for the more one concentrates on an individual thing, the more it appears to encompass the entire universe.”

The path of a simple meditator is to turn your attention and ‘look’ directly into yourself and see if you can find this separate self. When you look, you only see a clear and open consciousness, but no personality or anything separate with boundaries.

The second method uses logical analysis. The parts of the self are intellectually separated and logical questions are asked such as: is the self the body alone? Or is it the mind itself alone? does the self possess its parts? Or is the self found in its parts? After logical reflection, the self cannot be found as a separate entity or within its separate parts. Ultimately, the self does not exist in its parts or separate from its parts.

So where does that leave us? For a meditator, this question remains wide open. Literally wide open without the need to come up with an intellectual answer, just staying present and attentive to passing experiences and not getting attached to thoughts about yourself or the world. This is the way of meditation, the ancient way of Zen or the position of ‘no position’. A simple and open way to live with confidence in the current centered consciousness. Everything is transient, contextual and immediate. And that’s not even because it’s all just more ideas and philosophy.

For someone who uses reason and logic or a scientific approach, the best way to describe themselves is interdependent. Logically speaking, nothing exists separately from anything else. Everything is relational. The self is a contingent entity that is constantly in flux and always related to other things. There is no self separate from the body, emotions or mind. The self is labeled as dependent on those things that are constantly changing and never fixed.

The great Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh says that if the clouds did not exist, we would not exist either. He beautifully explains how intertwined we are with our environment; in fact, the next breath you take to survive is completely dependent on a healthy atmosphere created by the interactions of countless variables such as trees, the sun and the ocean. Thich Nhat Hanh himself calls this ‘interbeing’ and suggests that if you look deep enough into the back of your hand, you can see the whole world there.

There needs to be a good dose of common sense in our ideas about the self. To say that there is no self, so there is no need to buy food or pay the bills for ourselves, is clearly an extreme case. Nowadays, even enlightened beings have to pay the bills. As the old Zen saying goes: “Before enlightenment chop wood and carry water, after enlightenment chop wood and carry water.” Or a modern version of that Jack Kornfield saying is: “after the enlightenment, the wash.”

To summarize, meditation and spiritual practice can reveal a timeless and limitless dimension of our being, but this is not exclusively who we are. The best analogy is that we emerge from a vast ocean of consciousness as a time-bound individual wave of existence. While we are always connected to the ocean and are an expression of the entire ocean, at the same time we also live as individuals affected by conditions and circumstances.

To enjoy the ride like a wave, but to realize that you are always the ocean.

To live is to live on our own individual wave of existence. Being aware of all the connections that make our existence possible and cultivating a positive and healthy relationship with everything. To fully thrive, we must be aware of the timeless dimension within, what Buddhists might call Buddhist nature, where we come from and to which we are constantly connected, which is the most profound truth of our entire existence. reveals and gives access to deep wisdom, intuition and wisdom. accompaniment. That wisdom includes the ability to know clearly what is healthy for the interdependent self and what is unhealthy, and to follow the path that leads to a good, healthy life.

Chad Foreman is the founder of The Way of Meditation and has been teaching meditation since 2003, determined to bring authentic meditation practices into the lives of millions of people in the modern world. Chad is a former Buddhist monk who lived in a retreat hut for six years and studied and practiced meditation full-time. He now has over twenty years of experience teaching meditation. Chad likes regularly
Meditation retreats on the Sunshine Coast, Australia
Online meditation coachingprovides three online programs – The 21 Day Meditation Challenge to gradually guide people from the basic principles of mindfulness and relaxation to profound states of consciousness.
Breathwork to help manage stress and go deeper into meditation and
The bliss of inner fire This is a Buddhist tantric method to clear energy blockages and connect with the clear light of bliss. You can also get Chad’s free ebook now Insights on the go.