What “No Self” Really Means

 

07.29.2022 WHAT “NO SELF” REALLY MEANS The new September 2022 issue of Lion’s Roar explores why Buddhism is the ultimate form of self-help. The Buddha taught the concept of “no self,” which tells us that we have no true permanent “self” to hold onto. This can be hard to wrap your head around — and maybe even a bit anxiety-inducing. As Gaylon Ferguson wrote in “What ‘No Self’ Really Means”: “The Buddha’s primary teaching of selflessness might not seem to agree with our experience. ‘No self?’ we may ask. ‘If that’s true, then who is reading (or writing) these words?’”   With some closer examination, accepting the concept of no self can be a powerful antidote to suffering, making the Buddha’s teachings the best self-help of all. As you’ll discover in the September Lion’s Roar magazine, experiencing the truth of no self can help us to ride the waves of life and its ceaseless flow of change with more ease, joy, connection, and openness. “Letting go of the false sense of self feels liberating,” Ferguson writes, “like being released from a claustrophobic prison of mistaken view. What a relief to discover that we don’t have to pretend to be something we’re not!”    When we stop clinging to our rigid sense of self, the world opens up, connecting us to the whole of life. The three teachings below offer a deeper look into the concept of no self and how it can help us navigate our daily lives. May they help you express your best nonself this weekend.  —Lilly Greenblatt, Digital Editor, Lion’s Roar

Looking Deeply With the Three Dharma Seals: Impermanence, No-self, and Nirvana The late Thich Nhat Hanh teaches that by looking deeply we develop insight into impermanence and no self. These are the keys to the door of reality. Looking deeply into a flower we see that the flower is made of non-flower elements. We can describe the flower as being full of everything. There is nothing that is not present in the flower. We see sunshine, we see the rain, we see clouds, we see the earth, and we also see time and space in the flower. A flower, like everything else, is made entirely of non-flower elements. The whole cosmos has come together in order to help the flower manifest herself. The flower is full of everything except one thing: a separate self or a separate identity. The flower cannot be by herself alone. The flower has to inter-be with the sunshine, the cloud and everything in the cosmos. If we understand being in terms of inter-being, then we are much closer to the truth. Inter-being is not being and it is not non-being. Inter-being means at the same time being empty of a separate identity; empty of a separate self.

What “No Self” Really Means The journey of awakening, says Buddhist teacher Gaylon Ferguson, begins by examining our usual beliefs about who we are. Because maybe we’ve got it wrong. Even though I’ve heard the basic Buddhist teachings of impermanence and no self for many years, I often proceed through my day on automatic pilot, acting as though I’m an autonomous, sovereign self. I feel and act as though I’m a completely independent, permanent person. Right here in the midst of the swirling tempests of everyday events rapidly arising and falling away, I continue to act as though I have an infinite stretch of time before me. My actions and inaction suggest I feel I will live forever, even though, rationally, I understand the truth of impermanence. Yes, of course I can admit that things are always changing, but still I wonder: isn’t there a rock-solid unchanging “me” hidden somewhere underneath it all? This unexamined self feels like an isolated, self-sufficient, permanent individual, essentially separate from others and all that surrounds it. Yet even a few moments of self-reflection suggests otherwise.

Healthy Self or No Self? Modern psychology encourages us to have a healthy sense of self, but Buddhism teaches that the self doesn’t even exist. Barry Magid says there’s no conflict. When you speak of an “inner sense of self,” what do you mean? An intrinsic feeling of value just as you are, without having to accomplish anything or please anyone? The psychological “ego” is a set of capacities that are not lost as a result of Buddhist practice. The negative sense of “ego” used in Buddhism refers to our common self-centered way of organizing our reality. The word “self” has many uses and meanings, but when we say it is empty or nonexistent, it is not that we are trying to make it go away. Rather, we are trying to be clear about what the self already is — constantly changing and always dependent on its relational context.

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