On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 5:51 PM, Lennart Lopin <lenni_lop@...> wrote:
> Hi Bryan,
>
> Yes, that is exactly correct. Unfortunately, in German too, the Self is
> neuter...and so it sounds again exactly like in the English translation (if
> one uses 'Selbst') so it would read "*Das *ist nicht mein, *Das *ist nicht
> mein Selbst". The distinction is much more obvious in Pali/German or any
> other inflected language if I'd say
>
> "*Das *ist nicht mein (neuter nom.) - na etam mama. Here I am clearly
> pointing back to the list of items...
>
> Ich bin *dieser *nicht (masc nom) - na eso aham asmi [but in German, if
> you do it that way, it sounds more like: I am not such a one, I am not thus
> -> "so whatever I might be, I am definitely not thus". Which does not mean
> you believe in a soul outside of what you observe, you just make a rational
> observation of what you definitely cannot be from the view point of
> self-delusion]
>
> Nicht *dieser *(ist) mein Seelenkern (masc nom) - na eso me atta - Here
> too it sounds as if I want to say something like "not of such a nature is my
> soul or rather "not of such a nature can my soul be".
>
> Sounds overall a little bit more like the emphatic semantics of etad are
> used here "not such (a one) I am" - "not such is my self". Maybe the Pali
> demonstrative pronoun expresses such a shade of meaning here.
>
> metta,
>
> Lennart
>
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