Is the Buddhist notion of “not self” a philosophy of life supported by modern psychological practice and scientific research? Does self exist? The Buddhist interpretation of no self may sound nihilistic, but according to Buddhist thinking it is not.
The Buddha’s argument that there is no self has merit. There are only passing, sometimes random, feelings and thoughts. Any notion of self is rooted in past thoughts. Clinging to self is living in the past, like trying to drive a car forward by only looking in the rear view mirror. If there is no self, past, present and future are the products of conscious thinking.
According to Buddhist thought there is a construct of five aggregates that make up human existence, each area constantly changing, but together they appear to have continuity that is mistaken for a self. The five aggregates or “skandhas” are Consciousness (subjective awareness), Form (body), Feeling, Perception and Mental Formations.
In The Foundations of Buddhism, Rupert Gethin writes about considering self as “causal connectedness.” There are twelve progressing links in the chain of “dependent arising,” each “conditions” the next link,” bringing about the whole of suffering. Each link “conditions” the rising of the next link. “…the concern is to show that physical and mental events occur in various relationships to each other.” – Gethin pg. 140-1
According to Buddha, there are only two things in life; there is only suffering (duhkha), or the cessation of suffering. He asks is suffering the self? This would seem to be the same as asking is “life” the self? In an exchange with the monks, who were his disciples, the Buddha challenges them, saying that you will not find self in the five aggregates of physical or mental events that define human existence. Looking at each of the five aggregates (skandhas), he submits that, everything happening in these five areas is temporary or impermanent. Things that are impermanent are considered as suffering (duhkha). Therefore they cannot be self.
Examining the five aggregates the Buddha, in his first discourse, asks the monks if the happenings in these areas are permanent or impermanent? He asks is pain the self? They reply, “no it is not.” Pain is impermanent. The Buddha asks, is it correct to consider something that will change as “this is mine, I am this, this my self?” The monks agree it is not. The Buddha concludes then, that we must say, “This is not mine, I am not this, this is not myself.” There is no self because it cannot be found anywhere within the five aggregates that define human life.
The underlying message here to the monks in a modern context is that they should stop “clinging or “grasping” these experiences in the five aggregates, as they do not need to own these experiences. This is not their identity. The Buddha was a teacher, and in a possibly therapeutic way, counseling the monks, who were obsessing or clinging to all their experiences as their identity, in fear that they would not attain enlightenment.
A modern therapist might ask a patient questions that actually parallel the five aggregates. For example:
“Is the feeling of pain you suffered as a child at the hands of other children, who you are?”
“No that pain isn’t who I am. Not me.”
“Is the resentment you feel toward your friend who you are?”
“I might feel resentful, but that’s not me.”
“What then is the point of clinging or holding on to these things?”
Using different language, not holding on to things that are impermanent because they are basis for suffering is a concept that seems to be a major part of modern psychological therapy. Buddhist teaching of no self allows the individual to summarily divorce traumatic experience, to stop “clinging” to pain and “grasping” suffering, leading to a cessation of suffering.
To Buddhists the five aggregates are all of existence. Experiences that happen in the aggregates are not you therefore there is no self. It should be noted however, since the Buddha apparently only said that the self was not found in the five aggregates, that he might not have been saying that it did not exist at all. There is a movement around the Buddha’s thinking that acknowledges no self, but at the same time, recognizes universal consciousness. Meditation brings us into contact with our true collective self.
© 2015 James R Martin
Sources:
Robert Wright — Buddhism and Modern Psychology – All Video lectures, Weeks 1-3.
Rupert Gethin –The Foundations of Buddhism –Chapter 6
Bikkhu Bodhi — lectures on the eightfold path and meditation (lectures 7 and 8: http://www.buddhanet.net/audio-lectures.htm)