Deus non alligatur. God is not bound. Nibbanam paramam sukham. Unbinding is the Highest Happiness. The Heart is Divinity. God is the primal radiance of Divinity. Nature is the primal manifestation of Divinity. The Buddha is the primal realization of Divinity. La ilaha il Allah. Allah is Complete Wholeness.

04 December 2008

Own the Not Self

According to Buddhism, all phenomena are characterized by three marks.

All phenomena are anitya, or impermanent.

All phenomena are dukkha, or incapable of providing total satisfaction.

All phenomena are anatman, or not-self.

The last mark has been the most controversial, often interpreted as meaning that Buddhism denies personhood, the soul, individuality, or a whole mess of other conceptions.

"Not-self" is none of these.

To lack a self means this: to lack total ownership of any phenomenon. There is nothing that we, as humans, completely own. This is true, because (1) all things change, and thus escape total ownership; and (2) no thing provides complete satisfaction, even if we would want it to, thus demonstrating the lack of complete ownership.

Is there anything that you, who own nothing, can call your own?

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