No Inner Core: An Introduction to the Doctrine of Anatta - BuddhaNet

the Buddha and convince Him that the anattà doctrine
was wrong. He was very confident; he claimed that if
he were to debate with a stone pillar, that pillar would
sweat from fear. He claimed that, just as a strong man
takes a goat and flings it around his shoulders, so he
would take hold of Gotama and fling Him around in
debate.
Saccaka and his followers went to the Buddha,
and there exchanged greetings. He asked Buddha to
explain the doctrines He taught. Buddha replied that
He taught anattà. Saccaka countered, “No. There is atta.
The five aggregates are atta.” Buddha replied, “Do you
really think that råpa (corporeality) is atta?” As it happened,
Saccaka was very ugly, and if he said that corporeality
was atta, then Buddha could counter, “Then
why don’t you make yourself more handsome?” Thus
Saccaka was forced to say that råpa is not atta. Here we
can see Buddha striking down several characteristics
that are attributed to atta. If Saccaka had an atta, he
could call upon it to exercise authority and power in
order to change his appearance. After all, atta is identical
to Brahman, the supreme ruler, the infinite, omnipotent
creator and source of all things, as explained in
the Bhagavad Gita. 38
But, according to Buddha, there exist only the five
aggregates, the five khandhas, and these are not atta
because they are subject to the laws of impermanence,
suffering, and no-soul. Råpa (material form) is not atta;
it is not master and ruler of itself, and it is subject to
affliction. The other khandhas – feeling, perception,
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