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

Direct Experience of Anattà
The anattà doctrine is extremely difficult to comprehend.
One can speculate or ponder about it – that is
one kind of knowledge, acquired by listening to a lecture
or by reading. One may also ponder over it more
deeply in contemplation. But one can only really penetrate
into it during Vipassanà meditation.
When yogis practice, they keep themselves aware
of everything. When they see something, there are two
things: the mind which sees and the object seen; apart
from these, there is nothing. More specifically, seeing
is a process which depends on four things: the eye, the
visible object, light, and attention to the object. If one
of these conditions is lacking, no seeing occurs. If one
does not have eyes, no atta can make one see. Only
when all conditions are met does seeing consciousness
arise. No agent like atta is a part of this.
Likewise, when yogis note themselves thinking
during meditation, they note “thinking, thinking,
thinking,” and they find only thinking and the mind
which notes it – they do not find a self or ego or atta.
They do not find that “I am thinking,” unless they add
this idea as an afterthought. They really only find that
thinking is occurring. In this process, yogis can see
the impermanence of mind and thought: one thought
comes, then goes; another thought comes and goes,
and this goes on and on. A new thought comes every
moment, arising and disappearing. They directly see
the impermanence of thought. They can also notice
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