The Buddhist Position on the “Soul” and the “Self”: Why They Not Exist
Ondrelique Ouellette
04 December 2012
The Buddhist Position on the “Soul” and the “Self”: Why They Not Exist
Throughout history, man has been filled with existential questions. Perhaps the most common and puzzling of are those that revolve around the soul. What is the soul? Where is it housed? Where does it come from? Where does it go after one dies? Each society, each religion, has established an explanation. However, most prevalent religions and philosophies—be it Greek, Egyptian or Chinese philosophy, Christianity, Hinduism or Islam—share the idea that the soul is an entity. These philosophies view the soul as the “thinker of thoughts, feeler of sensations, and receiver of rewards and punishments for all its actions good and bad” (Walpola 51). It is considered to be lasting, the very essence of our identity, independent in its existence, viewed by some as permanent as it travels to the afterlife. Buddhism, however, is one of the few philosophies and the first religion to deny the existence of the soul through the concept of Anatta: “soul-lessness” or “ego-lessness.” According to the Buddhist doctrine, humans, as living beings, are comprised of the five components of mental and physical phenomena that Buddha outlined as the Five Skandhas—or Five Aggregates. The core of our existence, thoughts and morals is not the soul—as conventional religions and philosophies suggest—but the Five Aggregates. In fact, Buddha adamantly maintained that the “soul” or “self” does not exist.
The Christian and Western concept of the soul is derived from ancient Greek philosophy. For a time, the Greeks remained uncertain as to what exactly the soul was, but many did regard the soul as the part of the human that survived death and proceeded to continue its existence in the Underworld. It was Socrates who solidified this idea of the soul as a permanent entity when he posed the question to another philosopher: “Haven 't you realized that our soul is immortal and
04 December 2012
The Buddhist Position on the “Soul” and the “Self”: Why They Not Exist
Throughout history, man has been filled with existential questions. Perhaps the most common and puzzling of are those that revolve around the soul. What is the soul? Where is it housed? Where does it come from? Where does it go after one dies? Each society, each religion, has established an explanation. However, most prevalent religions and philosophies—be it Greek, Egyptian or Chinese philosophy, Christianity, Hinduism or Islam—share the idea that the soul is an entity. These philosophies view the soul as the “thinker of thoughts, feeler of sensations, and receiver of rewards and punishments for all its actions good and bad” (Walpola 51). It is considered to be lasting, the very essence of our identity, independent in its existence, viewed by some as permanent as it travels to the afterlife. Buddhism, however, is one of the few philosophies and the first religion to deny the existence of the soul through the concept of Anatta: “soul-lessness” or “ego-lessness.” According to the Buddhist doctrine, humans, as living beings, are comprised of the five components of mental and physical phenomena that Buddha outlined as the Five Skandhas—or Five Aggregates. The core of our existence, thoughts and morals is not the soul—as conventional religions and philosophies suggest—but the Five Aggregates. In fact, Buddha adamantly maintained that the “soul” or “self” does not exist.
The Christian and Western concept of the soul is derived from ancient Greek philosophy. For a time, the Greeks remained uncertain as to what exactly the soul was, but many did regard the soul as the part of the human that survived death and proceeded to continue its existence in the Underworld. It was Socrates who solidified this idea of the soul as a permanent entity when he posed the question to another philosopher: “Haven 't you realized that our soul is immortal and
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