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| Transmission #1 Mixed Media, approximately 8 by 10 by 2.5 inches |
Is one of the doctrines in Buddhism. And one of the hardest concepts of Buddhism for me to understand and accept.
As I understand the concept of it. Is that there is no self and there is no non-self.
There is no self. Because there is no permanent self. Because the self is ever changing. The Gerome from seven years before is very different to the Gerome that is now. The Gerome a second ago is very similar but again different from the Gerome now.
A good analogy I read from a book compares our self to a drop of water. The drop of water from the rain is the same but also not the same with the water on the wet floor.
It's kinda hard to accept in concepts. But in reality this does occur.
Well that's one of the point of the teachings too to put actual experience over preconceived notions/concepts.
Concerning no non-self. There is a story that once a monk filled with pride about his wisdom approached Bodhidharma.
The monk said something like, "The Buddha is empty. The Dharma is empty. The Sangha is empty. The self is empty. There is no such thing as self."
Then Bodhidharma smack him in the head. The monk then got angry, "Why did you hit me?"
"If there is no self then who it is that got hurt and angry." Bodhidharma said
So is there self or is there no self. I think there is neither nor either.
There are just concepts that are use for conventional means like addressing a friend, giving gratitude to someone, communicating to one another.
They are a means to help. But sometimes they can get in the way and knowing that they are just that we can then kill them when they get in the way.
As they say, "Kill the Buddha."
