Understanding Dhamma: Thanissaro Bhikkhu's "The Not-Self Strategy."
When I first began reading the Pali Canon, the teaching that intrigued me most was that the Buddha taught that there is "no self." This being the third of three marks of existence, an understanding of which can lead to nibbana.
In the anattalakkhana sutta (SN 22.59) it's noted,
'Seeing thus, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with fabrications, disenchanted with consciousness. Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, he is fully released. With full release, there is the knowledge, 'Fully released.' He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'
so it would seem that this can be considered an essential doctrine. But how is it useful? Thanissaro Bhikkhu has provided a short though informative explanation of this profound truth, in his essay "The Not-Self Strategy."
May all beings be happy and free from suffering.
In the anattalakkhana sutta (SN 22.59) it's noted,
'Seeing thus, the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones grows disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with fabrications, disenchanted with consciousness. Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, he is fully released. With full release, there is the knowledge, 'Fully released.' He discerns that 'Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'
so it would seem that this can be considered an essential doctrine. But how is it useful? Thanissaro Bhikkhu has provided a short though informative explanation of this profound truth, in his essay "The Not-Self Strategy."
May all beings be happy and free from suffering.