tman_and_moksa

SR No.: 020053
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: G N Joshi
Publisher: Gujarat University
Publication Year: 1965
Total Pages: 901
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 12 MB

Page 168

Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
136
Atman and Mokşa
Buddhism never denied the existence of a personality, or a soul, in the empirical sense; it only maintained that it was no ultimate reality (not a dharma )." !
The Self is, thus, denied not as an empirical and practical entity but as the ultimate principle of intelligence. The absolute dependence of the Self itself upon the five aggregates, is sufficient to prove that it has not its own unconditioned existence. The Self does not possess its own nature (svalaksaņa ). It is not Self-subsistent and is not an independent entity. It is therefore tantamount to non-self or anātman. An element becomes a substance in virtue of its possession of special characteristic (ar). But the Self does not possess any such independent characteristic in itself. It does not contain its essence in itself, therefore, it is not an ultimate Reality, A thing has its dharma if it has some definite essence of itself in it. The current definition is--An element is something having an essence of its own ( FTESATUTAITEÅ:). The real meaning of the term anātma (anātta) is brought out by Stcherbatsky. He equates the Ātman or the Self to the various elements which give rise to the Self by mutually combining together. Stcherbatsky writes -"anātma is synonymous with five Skandhas, twelve āyatanas and eighteen dhātus, i.e., with all dharınas; a single dharma is likewise synonymous with niḥsattva."?
i Stcherbatsky Th. : The Central Conception of Buddhism, p. 26.
2 Stcherbatsky Th. : The Soul Theory of the Buddhists, p. 840.
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