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

ter Nibbàna, his personality that walks on the
Eightfold Path.” 57
The words of Nyanatiloka bring up a very important
point often asked about Nibbàna: In the absence
of a soul, who or what is it that enters Nibbàna? This is
a difficult subject. From what has been said so far in
this lecture, we can certainly say that there is no atta
or self which realizes Nibbàna. What realizes Nibbàna
is insight-wisdom, Vipassanà-panna. It is not the property
of a personal or universal self, but is rather a
power developed through meditative penetration of
phenomena.
Yet another even more difficult question is: What
happens to a Tathàgata (here in the sense of one who
has realized Nibbàna) after death? Once again, Buddha
gave his answer without recourse to any kind of spiritual
entity such as atta. Buddha essentially replied that
no words could possibly describe what happens to a
Tathàgata after death: “A Tathàgata released from what
is called body etc., is profound, immeasurable, hard to
fathom, like the great ocean. It does not fit the case to
say that he is reborn or not reborn, or reborn and not
reborn, or neither reborn nor not reborn.” Then He goes
on to say, after being questioned further: “Profound is
this doctrine, hard to see, hard to comprehend, calm,
excellent, beyond the sphere of reasoning, subtle, intelligible
only to the wise.” 58 Thus Nibbàna, the Absolute
Noble Truth, the extinction of all continuity and
becoming, the “Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated,
Unformed”. 59 Reality is affirmed without reference to
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