Ātman (Buddhism)

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This article is about the concept in Buddhism. For the concept in Hinduism, see Ātman (Hinduism). For other uses, see Atman (disambiguation).
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Ātman (

Anatta).[1] Most Buddhist traditions and texts reject the premise of a permanent, unchanging atman (self, soul).[2][3]

Etymology

Cognates (

Indo-European root *ēt-men (breath). The word means "essence, breath, soul."[4]

Ātman and atta refer to a person's "true self", a person's permanent self, absolute within, the "thinker of thoughts, feeler of sensations" separate from and beyond the changing phenomenal world.[5][6] The term Ātman is synonymous with Tuma, Atuma and Attan in early Buddhist literature, state Rhys David and William Stede, all in the sense of "self, soul".[7] The Atman and Atta are related, in Buddhist canons, to terms such as Niratta (Nir+attan, soulless) and Attaniya (belonging to the soul, having a soul, of the nature of soul).[8]

Early Buddhism

"Atman" in early Buddhism appears as "all dhammas are not-Self (an-atta)", where atta (atman) refers to a metaphysical Self, states Peter Harvey, that is a "permanent, substantial, autonomous self or I".[9] This concept refers to the pre-Buddhist Upanishads of Hinduism, where a distinction is made between the personal self, jivatman (impermanent body, personality) and the Real Self, Atman.[10][11][12] The early Buddhist literature explores the validity of the Upanishadic concepts of self and Self, then asserts that every living being has an impermanent self but there is no real Higher Self.[13] The Nikaya texts of Buddhism deny that there is anything called Ātman that is the substantial absolute or essence of a living being, an idea that distinguishes Buddhism from the Brahmanical (proto-Hindu) traditions.[14]

The Buddha argued that no permanent, unchanging "Self" can be found.

five skandhas, without a permanent entity (Self, soul).[18][19]

Pudgalavada

Of the early Indian Buddhist schools, only the

skandhas.[19]

Buddha-nature

Main article: Buddha-nature

Buddha-nature is a central notion of east-Asian (Chinese)

Tathāgatagarbha and Buddha-dhātu.[note 2] Tathāgatagarbha means "the womb of the thus-gone" (c.f. enlightened one), while Buddha-dhātu literally means "Buddha-realm" or "Buddha-substrate".[note 3] Several key texts refer to the tathāgatagarbha or Buddha-dhātu as "atman", Self or essence, though those texts also contain warnings against a literal interpretation. Several scholars have noted similarities between tathāgatagarbha texts and the substantial monism found in the atman/Brahman tradition.[22]

The Tathagatagarbha doctrine, at its earliest, probably appeared about the later part of the 3rd century CE, and is verifiable in Chinese translations of 1st millennium CE.[23]

Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra

In contrast to the madhyamika-tradition, the

Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra uses "positive language" to denote "absolute reality". According to Paul Williams, the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra teaches an underlying essence, "Self", or "atman".[24] This "true Self" is the Buddha-nature (Tathagatagarbha), which is present in all sentient beings, and realized by the awakened ones. Most scholars consider the Tathagatagarbha doctrine in Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra asserting an 'essential nature' in every living being is equivalent to 'Self',[note 4] and it contradicts the Anatta doctrines in a vast majority of Buddhist texts, leading scholars to posit that the Tathagatagarbha Sutras were written to promote Buddhism to non-Buddhists.[26][27]

According to Sallie B. King, the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra does not represent a major innovation.[28] Its most important innovation is the linking of the term buddhadhatu with tathagatagarbha.[28] According to King, the sutra is rather unsystematic,[28] which made it "a fruitful one for later students and commentators, who were obliged to create their own order and bring it to the text".[28] The sutra speaks about Buddha-nature in so many different ways, that Chinese scholars created a list of types of Buddha-nature that could be found in the text.[28] One of those statements is:

Even though he has said that all phenomena [dharmas] are devoid of the Self, it is not that they are completely/ truly devoid of the Self. What is this Self ? Any phenomenon [dharma] that is true [satya], real [tattva], eternal [nitya], sovereign/ autonomous/ self-governing [aisvarya], and whose ground/ foundation is unchanging [asraya-aviparinama], is termed ’the Self ’ [atman].[29]

In the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra the Buddha also speaks of the "affirmative attributes" of nirvana, "the Eternal, Bliss, the Self and the Pure."[30] The Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra explains:

The Self ’ signifies the Buddha; ’the Eternal’ signifies the Dharmakaya; ’Bliss’ signifies Nirvana, and ’the Pure’ signifies Dharma.[31]

Edward Conze connotatively links the term tathagata itself (the designation which the Buddha applied to himself) with the notion of a real, true self:

Just as tathata designates true reality in general, so the word which developed into Tathagata designated the true self, the true reality within man.[32]

It is possible, states Johannes Bronkhorst, that "original Buddhism did not deny the existence of the soul [Ātman, Attan]", even though a firm Buddhist tradition has maintained that the Buddha avoided talking about the soul or even denied it existence.[33] While there may be ambivalence on the existence or non-existence of self in early Buddhist literature, adds Bronkhorst, it is clear from these texts that seeking self-knowledge is not the Buddhist path for liberation, and turning away from self-knowledge is.[34] This is a reverse position to the Vedic traditions which recognized the knowledge of the self as "the principal means to achieving liberation".[34]

"Self" as a teaching method

According to Paul Wiliams, the Mahaparinirvana Sutra uses the term "Self" in order to win over non-Buddhist ascetics. He quotes from the sutra:[35]

The Buddha-nature is in fact not the self. For the sake of [guiding] sentient beings, I describe it as the self.[36]

In the later

Lankāvatāra Sūtra it is said that the tathāgatagarbha might be mistaken for a self, which it is not.[37]

Ratnagotravibhāga

The

Ratnagotravibhāga (also known as Uttaratantra), another text composed in the first half of 1st millennium CE and translated into Chinese in 511 CE, points out that the teaching of the Tathagatagarbha doctrine is intended to win sentient beings over to abandoning "self-love" (atma-sneha) – considered to be a moral defect in Buddhism.[38][39] The 6th-century Chinese Tathagatagarbha translation states that "Buddha has shiwo (True Self) which is beyond being and nonbeing".[40] However, the Ratnagotravibhāga asserts that the "Self" implied in Tathagatagarbha doctrine is actually "not-Self".[41][42]

Current disputes

The dispute about "self" and "not-self" doctrines has continued throughout the history of Buddhism.[43] According to Johannes Bronkhorst, it is possible that "original Buddhism did not deny the existence of the soul", even though a firm Buddhist tradition has maintained that the Buddha avoided talking about the soul or even denied its existence.[44] French religion writer André Migot also states that original Buddhism may not have taught a complete absence of self, pointing to evidence presented by Buddhist and Pali scholars Jean Przyluski and Caroline Rhys Davids that early Buddhism generally believed in a self, making Buddhist schools that admit an existence of a "self" not heretical, but conservative, adhering to ancient beliefs.[45] While there may be ambivalence on the existence or non-existence of self in early Buddhist literature, Bronkhorst suggests that these texts clearly indicate that the Buddhist path of liberation consists not in seeking self-knowledge, but in turning away from what might erroneously be regarded as the self.[46] This is a reverse position to the Vedic traditions which recognized the knowledge of the self as "the principal means to achieving liberation."[46]

In Thai Theravada Buddhism, for example, states

tathāgatagarbha sutras.[52]

Several notable teachers of the

Thanissaro Bhikkhu of the Thai Forest Tradition describes the Buddha's statements on non-self as a path to awakening rather than a universal truth.[55] Thanissaro Bhikkhu states that the Buddha intentionally set aside the question of whether or not there is a self as a useless question, and that clinging to the idea that there is no self at all would actually prevent enlightenment.[56] Bhikkhu Bodhi authored a rejoinder to Thanissaro, writing that "The reason the teaching of anatta can serve as a strategy of liberation is precisely because it serves to rectify a misconception about the nature of being, hence an ontological error."[57]

Buddhist scholars

stays silent when asked whether there is a 'self' or not,[60] as a major cause of the dispute.[61]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Buddha-dhatu, mind, Tathagatagarbha, Dharma-dhatu, suchness (tathata).[21]
  2. ^ Sanskrit; Jp. Busshō, "Buddha-nature".
  3. ^ Trainor 2004, p. 207: "a sacred nature that is the basis for [beings'] becoming buddhas."
  4. ^ Wayman and Wayman have disagreed with this view, and they state that the Tathagatagarbha is neither self nor sentient being, nor soul, nor personality.[25]

Citations

  1. ISBN 978-81-208-1144-7
    .
  2. ISBN 978-8120801585
    , p. 63, Quote: "The Buddhist schools reject any Ātman concept. As we have already observed, this is the basic and ineradicable distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism".
  3. ISBN 978-0815336112
    , p. 33
  4. ^ Atman Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper (2012)
  5. ^ Harvey 1995, p. 51.
  6. ISBN 978-0-521-39726-1
    .
  7. ISBN 978-81-208-1144-7
    .
  8. ISBN 978-81-208-1144-7
    .
  9. ^ Harvey 1995b, p. 17.
  10. ^ Harvey 1995b, pp. 17–19.
  11. ISBN 978-1-4959-4653-0
    .
  12. ISBN 978-0-13-352329-4
    .
  13. ^ Harvey 1995b, pp. 17–28.
  14. ISBN 978-1-136-78336-4
    .
  15. ^ Kalupahana 1994, p. 68.
  16. ^ a b Harvey 1995, p. 52.
  17. ^ Wayman 1997, p. 531.
  18. ^ Kalupahana 1994, pp. 69–72.
  19. ^ a b Fischer-Schreiber, Ehrhard & Diener 2008, p. 27.
  20. ^ Lusthaus 1998, p. 83.
  21. ^ Lusthaus 1998, p. 84.
  22. ^ Jamie Hubbard, Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood, University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu, 2001, pp. 99–100
  23. ^ Williams 1989, p. 104.
  24. ^ Williams 1989, pp. 98–99.
  25. ^ Williams 1989, p. 107.
  26. ^ Williams 1989, pp. 104–105, 108.
  27. ISBN 978-1-898723-66-0
    ., Quote: "Some texts of the tathagatagarbha literature, such as the Mahaparinirvana Sutra actually refer to an atman, though other texts are careful to avoid the term. This would be in direct opposition to the general teachings of Buddhism on anatta. Indeed, the distinctions between the general Indian concept of atman and the popular Buddhist concept of Buddha-nature are often blurred to the point that writers consider them to be synonymous."
  28. ^ a b c d e King 1991, p. 14.
  29. ^ Yamamoto & Page 2007, p. 32.
  30. ^ Dr. Kosho Yamamoto, Mahayanism: A Critical Exposition of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Karinbunko, Ube City, Japan, 1975, pp. 141, 142
  31. ^ Yamamoto & Page 2007, p. 29.
  32. ^ Edward Conze, The Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines, Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi, 1994, p. xix
  33. ISBN 978-81-208-1114-0
    .
  34. ^
    ISBN 978-0-86171-811-5
    .
  35. ^ Williams 1989, p. 100.
  36. ^ Youru Wang, Linguistic Strategies in Daoist Zhuangzi and Chan Buddhism: The Other Way of Speaking. Routledge, 2003, p. 58.
  37. ^ Peter Harvey, Consciousness Mysticism in the Discourses of the Buddha. In Karel Werner, ed., The Yogi and the Mystic. Curzon Press 1989, p. 98.
  38. ^ Williams 1989, pp. 109–112.
  39. ISBN 978-1-4725-2437-9
    .
  40. ^ Williams 1989, p. 102.
  41. ^ Williams 1989, p. 112.
  42. ISBN 978-0-7914-0357-0
    .
  43. ISBN 978-974-350-263-7
    .
  44. ISBN 978-81-208-1114-0
    .
  45. doi:10.3406/befeo.1954.5607
    .
  46. ^
    ISBN 978-0-86171-811-5
    .
  47. ^ Williams 2008, pp. 125–7.
  48. ^ Mackenzie 2007, pp. 100–5, 110.
  49. ^ Mackenzie 2007, p. 51.
  50. ^ a b Williams 2008, p. 127-128.
  51. ^ Seeger 2009, pp. 13 footnote 40.
  52. ^ Williams 2008, p. 126.
  53. ^ pp. 101–103 Maha Boowa, Arahattamagga, Arahattaphala: the Path to Arahantship – A Compilation of Venerable Acariya Maha Boowa’s Dhamma Talks about His Path of Practice, translated by Bhikkhu Silaratano, 2005, http://www.forestdhammabooks.com/book/3/Arahattamagga.pdf Archived 2009-03-27 at the Wayback Machine (consulted 16 March 2009)
  54. ^ UWE STOES (2015-04-22), Thanassaro Bhikkhu, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2017-09-30
  55. ^ "Selves & Not-self: The Buddhist Teaching on Anatta", by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (Legacy Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/selvesnotself.html Archived 2013-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
  56. ^ Bhikkhu, Thanissaro. ""There is no self."". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Archived from the original on 2018-08-19. Retrieved 2018-08-19.
  57. ISBN 978-1-68172-068-5
  58. ^
    ISBN 978-1845536145
    .
  59. ^ a b Wynne, Alexander (2009). "Early Evidence for the 'no self' doctrine?" (PDF). Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies: 59–63, 76–77. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-06-02. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  60. ^ "Ananda Sutta: To Ananda". www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  61. ^ "Introduction to the Avyakata Samyutta: (Undeclared-connected)". www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 2017-05-08. Retrieved 2017-05-14.

Works cited

Further reading

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