Re: Self and Non self in Early Buddhism

From: rett
Message: 10475
Date: 2006-05-26

>Dear Pali friends,
>
>In Anguttara Nikaya vol. 1 (PTS), p. 161: "... pubb'eve kho pan' assa
>attaa khato ca hoti upahato ca." (He own soul/self is already ruined,
>completely ruined)
>
>The meaning of this sentence is not clear. How can the person actually
>ruin his own soul, if the Buddha teaches there is not-self in a person
>but only a result of action?

It's probably ordinary speech instead of philosophically rigorous speech. The Buddha often uses words like 'I' 'me' 'self' and so on in their conventional senses, despite denying their ultimate reality. He also makes this distinction explicit, so it's not just something I'm reading back into the texts.

best regards,

/Rett

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