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

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Sharing of Merits… May this booklet be of help to many for deepening their understanding of the Buddha Dhamma. May this knowledge of the Buddha Dhamma open the path to liberation and lead to the attainment of Nibbana. The sponsors of this booklet share the merit of this dàna with all beings. May they too, by understanding the Buddha Dhamma, be able to put it into practice, and may it finally lead them to the attainment of Nibbana, the path to the Happiness of Peace. May all beings be well and happy. Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu! 6
Introduction The following discourse is based on a collection of lectures on the Anattà doctrine given by Sayadaw U Sãlànanda. Anattà is a Pàëi word consisting of a negative prefix, ‘an’ meaning not, plus atta, soul, and is most literally translated as no-soul. The word atta, however, has a wide range of meanings, and some of those meanings cross over into the fields of psychology, philosophy, and everyday terminology, as, for example, when atta can mean self, being, ego, and personality. Therefore, in this preface, we will examine and elucidate the wide range of meanings which atta can signify in order to determine exactly what the Buddha denied when He proclaimed that He teaches anattà, that is, when He denied the existence of atta. We will examine both Buddhist and non-Buddhist definitions of the term soul, and we will also examine modern definitions of terms such as ego and self. Most writers in the field of religion, when writing about soul or anattà specifically, use the terms self, ego, being and soul interchangeably, while psychologists define those terms as totally different entities. If we define atta as including the terms self, ego, personality, and being, we may make the mistake of claiming that Buddha denied the phenomena of individual differences, individual personalities, individual kamma and other features of individuality in people. But if we say that Buddha denied only the theological entity of a 7
Page 1 and 2: No Inner Core An Introduction to th
Page 3 and 4: cover design by Sunanda H.E. Lim (I
Page 5 and 6: Preface The anattà doctrine is one
Page 7: The understanding of anattà, the t
Page 11 and 12: the process of ethical volitions an
Page 13 and 14: Donald Watson, in A Dictionary of M
Page 15 and 16: For example, we may describe a pers
Page 17 and 18: Understanding Anattà The anattà d
Page 19 and 20: ple, two modern scholars, Ananda K.
Page 21 and 22: away, Buddha explained to Ananda wh
Page 23 and 24: Atta is the inner core of anything.
Page 25 and 26: is nothing or no one which is omnip
Page 27 and 28: mental formations, and consciousnes
Page 29 and 30: following definition, but only cons
Page 31 and 32: Misunderstanding Anattà We will no
Page 33 and 34: of King Pasenadi of Kosala. Twenty-
Page 35 and 36: In the famous Brahmajàla Sutta whi
Page 37 and 38: Impermanence, Suffering and No-Soul
Page 39 and 40: states of consciousness, but they c
Page 41 and 42: atta. Likewise, the Arahant who rea
Page 43 and 44: the impermanence of material things
Page 45 and 46: not self or soul. In the second sec
Page 47 and 48: says: “Bhikkhus, how do you conce
Page 49 and 50: If we could take a moving picture o
Page 51 and 52: sis, everything seems to be compact
Page 53 and 54: Questions and Answers Q: When you f
Page 55 and 56: of its similar qualities to the eff
Page 57 and 58: A: That is because the present life
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“Mental formations (saïkhàras)
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“Now what is impermanent, what is
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Bibliography All references to Pà
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Endnotes 1 A Manual of Abhidhamma (
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36 An Anthology of Indian Literatur
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Other Inward Journey Publications A
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