Looking For The Self, And Coming Up Empty-Handed
It is a cornerstone of all Buddhist thought that there is no stable, intrinsic personal ’self’. Instead, we exist as persons, who are made up of 5 ever-changing components: These five are form, feeling, perception, volition, and consciousness. 2nd Century Buddhist luminary Nagarjuna in in his Letter to a Friend, provided the structure for an analytical mediation that earnestly searches for a self and comes up empty-handed. The end result is to sit in a space without clinging to the mistaken view of a self.
Transcript
Looking for the Self and Coming Up Empty-Handed Instructions from Nagarjuna Spoken by Joseph M.
Frawley It is a cornerstone of all Buddhist thought that there is no staple,
Intrinsic,
Self.
Instead,
We exist as persons who are made up of five ever-changing components.
These five are form,
Feeling,
Perception,
Volition,
And consciousness.
It is also vital in all Buddhist thought that one does not take claims at face value.
Rather,
Each claim must be investigated on its merits.
Second-century Buddhist luminary Nagarjuna,
In his Letter to a Friend,
Provided the structure for an analytical meditation that earnestly searches for an intrinsic self in four places.
A self that is identical to one of the five components.
A self that possesses these five components.
A self that dwells in the five components.
Or,
If any of the five components dwell in a self.
At the end of each,
He comes up empty-handed.
In this recording,
We follow these instructions,
Looking for a self in each of the five components,
Form,
Feeling,
Perception,
Volition,
And consciousness,
In each of the four ways,
A component being identical to a self,
Possessed by a self,
Dwelling in a self,
Or a self that dwells in any of the components.
With five components,
And four options each,
There will be 20 mini-meditations that end up exhausting the notion of a self.
The end result is to sit in a space without clinging to the mistaken view of a permanent self.
Part 1.
Looking in Forms for a Self Let us begin by taking the form of the human body.
The skin,
Going deeper to the muscles,
Deeper again to the nervous system,
To the organs,
And all the way down to the marrow of your bones.
Is there a self that is identical to any of the forms of the body?
Consider that every moment,
The forms of the body are changing,
They're growing and decaying.
There is no moment of stability in our forms.
There can be no form that is identical with a self because of the constant change.
Forms are not identical to the self.
Perhaps there is a self that possesses these forms.
That the skin,
Muscles,
Nerves,
Organs,
And bones belong to a self.
But where would this self be in each moment?
It would need to be identifiable over time,
An independent owner of all of the forms.
We can take the time to search for such an owner,
But it cannot be found.
From this we can tell that self is not the possessor of the forms of the body.
Perhaps there is a self that dwells within the combination of the forms.
That it moves through the change of the body.
Perhaps there is a self that dwells within the combination of the forms.
That it moves through the changing parts of the body,
But remains constant itself.
If this were so,
We would need to find it somewhere in our changing forms.
Let us try and search for a self that dwells in the skin,
The muscles,
The nerves,
The organs,
Or the bones.
The longer you look,
You will not be able to locate it.
We can only find the forms of our body as they are.
There is nothing else dwelling in them.
So,
The self does not dwell in any of our forms.
Perhaps all of these bodily forms,
Skin,
Muscles,
Nerves,
And organs,
Muscles,
Nerves,
And organs,
Our bones,
Dwell within a wider self that sits above all of them.
But when we consider that these forms are constantly changing,
How could they dwell within a recognisable and constant self?
For such,
A possibility this self would have to be separate from all the forms.
You would need to explain how this self interacts with the forms.
And with the absence of such an interaction,
We can conclude that these forms of the body do not dwell within a self.
The end of part one of this meditation shows that we cannot find a permanent or unchanging self in our forms.
Part two.
Examining feelings for a permanent self.
Consider the range of feelings you have experienced in the last day.
Happiness,
Sadness,
Anger,
Calmness,
And countless more.
Each of these feelings we know are transient.
They arise and pass away without any permanence.
No single feeling has existed over time continually and so can't be equal to a permanent self.
Something continually changing,
Like our feelings,
Can never be identical to a self.
So we can conclude that feelings are not identical to a self.
What if there is a self that owns the feelings?
That happiness,
Sadness,
Anger,
And calmness belong to a self.
However,
Where would this self be?
Where does it exist at any given moment?
It would need to be identifiable as independently owning our feelings.
It would need to both feel and be separate from the feeling.
When searching for such an owner,
It cannot be found.
Thus,
There is no self that is the possessor of feelings.
Perhaps a self abides within our feelings.
A constant entity moving through our changing emotional states.
If this were true,
We would be able to find it surviving within our transient feelings.
However,
When we search for this self within happiness,
Sadness,
Anger,
Or calmness,
A self that resides in all of the feelings remains elusive.
We only find these feelings as they are.
Nothing else dwells within them.
Therefore,
The self does not dwell in the feelings.
But what if all feelings exist within a larger self that encompasses them all?
But as these feelings change constantly,
Where is the recognisable self that sits above them?
For such a self would need to be separate for these feelings,
Implying some kind of interaction between them that we cannot explain.
Consequently,
Feelings do not dwell in a self.
Consequently,
Feelings do not dwell in a self.
At the end of part two,
The self cannot be found in our feelings.
Part three,
Looking in perception for a self.
We experience a constant stream of perceptions,
Sights,
Sounds,
Smells,
Tastes,
And textures.
But can we pinpoint any of these perceptions as the unchanging or intrinsic self?
Each of our perceptions arise from countless factors and pass away almost in an instant.
It must be clear that perceptions cannot be identical to a permanent self.
Maybe there is a self that owns the perceptions.
That perceptions belong to a unified self across time.
But where is this self located?
If it exists,
It should be constantly identifiable over time as the owner of these perceptions.
However,
When we go searching for a self like this,
It's nowhere to be found.
Thus,
There is no self that is the possessor of our perceptions.
Perhaps we believe that a self dwells within our perceptions.
A constant presence that moves through our seeing,
Touching,
Tasting,
Smelling,
And hearing.
But when we examine these perceptions closely,
We can't find any evidence of a self dwelling within them.
We only find the perceptions themselves,
Fleeting and impermanent.
We might imagine that all perceptions exist within a larger self that encompasses all of them.
But since perceptions are constantly changing,
How could they reside within a recognisable self?
For this to be possible,
The self would need to be separate from the perceptions.
The self would need to be separate from the perceptions.
A recognisable self.
For this to be possible,
The self would need to be separate from these perceptions,
Which would mean some kind of magical interaction between them.
This is clearly not the case.
Perceptions do not dwell in a higher order self.
Concluding this third part,
A permanent,
Unchanging self cannot be found in our perceptions.
Part four is looking in volition for our self.
Begin by calling to our mind all of the vast amounts of different volitions and intentions that we have during our day.
The choices we make.
The wants that we have.
Fulfilling or suppressing them.
The biological urges.
And the higher order control of our actions and reactions.
Is it possible to identify any one of these actions as identical to a self?
Volitions are fleeting.
They are generated from uncountable causes and disappear without presence after they are acted upon or let go of.
No single volition can be considered a self.
Therefore,
Volitions are not identical to the self.
It might feel like these volitions are possessed by a self.
That the choices,
Wants and urges are owned by a self.
But where is this self?
It would need to be constantly identifiable over time as the independent owner of all these volitions.
However,
No owner above these volitions can be found.
There is no self that is the owner of volitions.
We might assume that a self exists within these volitions as a constant presence that moves through our changing actions.
If this were so,
We should be able to discover it within the constantly changing choices,
Wants and urges in our lives.
Yet,
If we search for this self that survives these mental states,
It remains undiscovered.
We can only encounter volitions as they are,
Arising and ceasing with nothing else abiding in them.
Therefore,
The self does not reside in volitions.
Perhaps all our volitions are contained within a greater self that holds them all.
For this to be feasible,
Such a self would need to be distinct from these volitions,
Which would mean that they could not really interact.
It is clear to see that volitions do not reside in an overarching self.
Do not reside in an overarching self.
At the end of part four,
We can conclude that a permanent or unchanging self cannot be found in our volitions.
The final part,
Looking in consciousness for a self.
Reflect on the various states of consciousness we experience.
The mental experiences of our day,
The sensations of dreaming,
And even deep sleep.
Can any of these states be identified as an unchanging self?
Consciousness is ever-changing,
Shifting from one state to another,
Without any stopping.
No single state of consciousness can be identical to the self.
Therefore,
Consciousness is not the self.
Maybe a self possesses consciousness,
That the mental experiences are owned by a self.
But where is this self at any given instant?
It would need to be constantly identifiable over time as an independent owner of all states of consciousness.
Searching for such an owner of consciousness leaves us empty-handed.
Thus,
There is no self that is the owner of consciousness.
Consider that a self might exist within consciousness.
A constant presence,
Moving through changing states of awareness.
If this were so,
We should be able to discover this dweller within our states of consciousness.
Yet,
When we search for this self that remains constant in waking,
Dreaming,
Or deep sleep,
We cannot find it.
We only encounter these states of consciousness as they are.
Nothing more resides within them.
Therefore,
The self does not reside in consciousness.
One might imagine that all states of consciousness,
Waking,
Dreaming,
And deep sleep,
Are all contained within a greater self that encompasses every conscious experience.
But,
Since these states of consciousness are constantly shifting,
How could they exist within a recognisable self?
For this to be possible,
Such a self would need to be distinct from these states of consciousness,
And we would need to,
Paradoxically,
Be conscious of it.
From this,
We conclude that consciousness does not reside in a larger self.
Concluding,
Part five,
Is that a permanent or unchanging self cannot be found in consciousness.
So,
We have looked for a self in each of the five components,
Using the four possible points,
Twenty mini-meditations,
And have found nothing that could be a permanent or unchanging self.
Let us sit and bask in the flow of experience,
Unbound from the fiction of a self,
Letting everything be,
With no conceptual imposition needed.
Continue here as long as you are able.
