The Changing Self Can Not Be Denied

Buddhist believes that all people are reborn over and over again until they reach spiritual enlightenment and then Nirvana. In Buddhism good deeds are rewarded by receiving a better rebirth. Karma dictates a person’s rebirth including their financial state, appearance, class, health, species, and intelligence. Buddhist ultimate goal is to strive for Nirvana. Nirvana is the state that exists beyond the cycle of reincarnation, freedom from Karmic suffering, and provides a state of heavenly paradise.

Buddhists believe that they have no identity. That there is no constant substantial self. They believe that after death, the spirit is recycled. During this formation, the personality is disintegrated and only certain memories, personal traits, and skills would be recycled to create a new person and when death approaches, then the process starts all over again (Rivas, T., 2005).

The Buddha described reincarnation as lighting successive candles using the flame of the preceding candle. Although each flame is casually connected to the one that came before it, it is not the same flame. When one personality dies, a new one comes into being. Buddhism teaches that what is reborn is not the person but that one moment gives rise to another and that this momentum continues even after death. Instead of a fixed entity, what is reborn is a “stream of consciousness,” whose quality has been conditioned by karma. It is similar to Hinduism in that karma determines the circumstances of subsequent lives, so there is continuity between personalities but not persistence of identity. Circumstances of rebirth are not seen as rewards or punishments from a controlling God but are the natural results of various good deeds and misdeeds. The cycle of rebirths involves suffering and continues until all cravings are lost and nirvana is achieved.

Buddhist theories of the self and personal identity must be studied in relation to their background in early Indian thought. (Kapstein, 2010)

Buddhism is seen as a way of life rather than a form of religion that needs to be closely followed and constantly practiced. The idea of “enlightenment” carries through one’s entire lifetime in an attempt to reach nirvana, which is an end to all suffering. A person’s lifetime is spent being faithful and relying on karma to eventually achieve nirvana and enlightenment, in which people embark on the path of awakening. The awakening is a very crucial aspect of the Buddhist religion, as it was Buddha’s own personal awakening and understanding of how the world works, in which he passed it on to be believed and understood by others. It’s closely related to other religions in the way that rebirth and reincarnation are the beliefs surrounding the idea of the afterlife, however Buddhism in particular is an anatta tradition, or ‘not-self,’ which often sets it apart from other religions.This complex ideal entails that one’s external self, consciousness, feelings

In life, nothing is more terrifying than change. We often latch on to permanency without understanding the effects of our action, in search of truth that simply is not there. In this way, the Buddhist idea of anicca, the second mark of existence, is liberating. Anicca is closely related to the idea of anatta, as it expands on the idea of a non-permanent, self and beyond this non-permanent self exists a non-permanent world. Reality, through the lense of anicca, is not a collection of still-life paintings, but rather a life performance. Clinging on to the past, or even the present, can deny us life itself, as we deny the change that is intrinsic to existence. We can look not into specific memories or scenes for truth, but rather the journey

A myth is the symbolic story of a people’s beginning and end, how the people originated and what is in store for them after this life (Esposito, Fasching, Lewis 9). These myths are crucial parts of any religion as they offer a backbone and answer many of life’s ‘big questions,’ allowing religion to become a go to for its followers. Although it is found in other religions as well, one critical narrative of the Buddhist religion is reincarnation, or rebirth. Lin and Yen emphasize that “the majority of Buddhist accept rebirth as an

In Buddha’s main teachings there is three marks of dharma. Nothing in our world stays the same; we are always changing, growing, and aging. Every second, something is changing inside of our bodies and in our mind. Technology is always improving and becoming better. The weather changes every time there is a new season. Nothing is permanent, and that is the teaching of anitya, or impermanence. The teaching of anatman, or no self, deals with the impermanence of humans. The last teaching is duhkha, or suffering. This is the main problem that Buddha saw in the world. This suffering is caused from things we want, but cannot have, or keep in our possession. Another part of the Buddha’s teachings is the

In today’s modern society, we are held accountable for the way we get our point across to others. We are taught to follow guidelines and rules in any given environment communicating with other people. Communicating professionally or properly to some may be problematic because everyone has their own unique way of doing so. Throwing on an “identity mask” and pretending to be proficient is a crutch some people lean on to get by. In our modern society and communities today, if the guidelines on how to properly communicate with others are disregarded, it is considered unruly. In Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s essay, “The Evolving Self,” we are taught about creating the ideal self. He describes that throughout time the self is built through a series of hardships, yearnings, dedication to creating a better future, and communication. Physical objects along with unique qualities and characteristics have been turned into symbols that are associated with power or status. They are heavily desired in society, and the brain “follows that what we pay attention to over time” (217). Interactions with others who have the endowments we do not pose an internal threat to us in our minds. Qualities that we don’t see in ourselves are automatically noted in our brain, and we tell ourselves we will face demons in order to gain what we don’t have. Barbara Mellix in, “From Outside, In” had to face her demons in order to realize her true worth and self she wanted to build. Through most of her life, she

While Buddhists and Hindus both believe in the idea of reincarnation, buddhists believe the cycle of reincarnation can end. The Buddhist thought process is people are reincarnated until they reach a state of nirvana and then they are liberated from the constant cycle of rebirths (Molloy, 2010). Nirvana being when they are liberated from the suffering in the world and have reached inner peace. Contrary to the beliefs of Hindus and Buddhists, Confucianism does not appear to acknowledge life after death because the religion of Confucianism focuses more on ethics than anything

Buddhism stands as a philosophy and a religion founding itself on the theory of a possible eternal soul. Until awakening is achieved, this eternal soul is locked in the vicious cycle of rebirth (Samsara). According to the Four Noble Truths preached by the Buddha, life is a perpetual suffering caused by desire and attachment, and freedom from suffering is only possible by practicing the Eightfold Path. The World is suffering in a succession of temptations and negative experiences from birth to death. Therefore Buddhism advises on searching to go beyond suffering, and only aspire to rest, nothingness, and liberation, into a final state called Nirvana. Happiness or Nirvana can eventually be achieved in a hereafter, another life, if man abandons any desire or perspective of action within his present life, in order to go past suffering.

In the western world, a dominant belief is that after life, a person’s soul is sent to a place of eternal bliss, heaven, or a place of eternal damnation, hell. To Buddhists, this concept is not the norm. Buddhists believe that a person is reincarnated into another life form, either human or animal. What life form a person is reincarnated as is determined by the person’s karma. The concept of karma not only affects reincarnation, but also what path a person’s life takes. While much of the concept of karma is believable and comprehensible by a person of any denomination, some aspects are dependant upon a belief in reincarnation and that a person will eventually be punished for his sins or rewarded

To add to the distress given through life itself, we must also realize and accept that the self or the core essence that we think we know of today, is in fact not true. Our self or as some say, our soul is not a constant nor is it permanent. Again, Buddha claims that life is in fact substanceless where what most would call a soul is not something that is permanent that we cannot have complete control over. Since the self is not eternal, we must let go of such an idea and not base any way of life based on the ‘self’ and focus more on a means of releasing that stagnant thoughts that we must find our own sense of self. When we realize anatta, then we are always paving the pathway for annica, or nothing is permanent or static.

Eastern enlightenment religions have been gaining popularity throughout the western world for the past few decades, with many people attracted to a "different" way of experiencing religion. As with many other enlightenment religions, Buddhism requires disciples to understand concepts that are not readily explainable: one such concept is that of no-self. In this essay I shall discuss the no-self from a number of modern perspectives; however, as no-self is difficult to describe I shall focus on both the self and no-self. Beginning with psychological aspects, and neurophysiological research on transcendental meditation, I shall discuss the impact of modern brain science on our understanding of the self and transcendence. Next I will outline

Throughout this entire semester, several theories in regards to the idea of personhood were reviewed and analyzed in detail. After reviewing all the pertinent material, I concluded that Richard Taylor and his belief of the Anatta Doctrine were easiest to understand, while also being a philosophical belief that makes most logical sense to me. This concept was supported by the general theory of Buddhism. It was rather difficult to understand past readings by Descartes, for example, because they were so confusing in their explanation of the separation between mind and body. The idea of mind within the body makes the most sense to me, which is why I felt that this reading was so interesting. The Anatta Doctrine differed from the other readings that Richard Taylor composed as a philosopher in the contemporary era with an emphasis in analytic philosophy. Taylor’s critical analytical presentation made it much easier for me to understand this view, because it was Taylor’s belief that there were reasons behind an action or perception. It was something that came from a separate place, like a mind or soul. Richard Taylor was a philosopher that had vastly different philosophical beliefs, because he contradicted the belief of a separate mind and body. Beyond Richard Taylor, Buddhism is a very simplistic explanation of “no self” in which the end goal is to reach Nirvana. As such, Nirvana is the place where desire, suffering and a sense of self is non-existent as a result. While there are