The No-self
Simile: A Camera without any 'Photographer'
That there is a camera, an object, and images are generated
does not in itself
imply that anyone is looking into the camera, or is operating behind the camera!
That there is an eye, an object, and
that a visual experience is generated,
does not in itself imply that any 'self', or 'observer' ever
existed!
There is an object, and the process of seeing, but no 'seer-subject'
is involved thereby.
There is no one who senses, even though the dynamic process of sensing
naturally occurs!
Seeing is just a selfless event of contact between eye,
an object, and visual consciousness.
No 'person' or 'onlooker' is involved there! No subject or 'I' is
inherently created thereby,
just because there is an object, or just because there occurs
the process of seeing ...
The fact that there is an image projected,
does not per se imply, in or by itself, that
any-one actually is
'looking in' or 'is behind' the camera ...
'By that' perception no 'perceiver'
is thereby present, or created ...
So the 'personal entity' we assume, suppose, deduce, expect,
and believe to enjoy the experience is merely a mental construct,
an idea, a concept,
and not a reality ... The passive impersonal process of sensing, perception, and
experiencing
cannot thereby be 'instrumental' for neither creating, nor inferring any 'being
in existence'!
The fact of this fundamental 'selflessness' is an essential
core of the Buddha-Dhamma.
This core teaching is outmost, yet
subtle, counter-intuitive, and thus difficult and somewhat
'nasty' to comprehend. Keep trying, since this central
Anatta doctrine is an
ultimate opener,
releaser, and freer of any mind. Being hopelessly in love
with an imagination of 'I' is both fatal,
tragic, and sardonically comic ... Hehehe : - ]
The Buddha explained this subtle yet liberating impersonality
like this:
So have I heard:
When the Blessed One, on repeated requests from the Venerable
Bahiya
instructed him, standing in the street,
in what were Venerable Bahiya's last minutes of life,
the result was that he, Venerable Bahiya, a bark-clothed sage attained final
Nibbāna right
after that instruction!
This direct, clear-cut, and express explanation was cut exactly so:
In the seen is merely the process of seeing,
and what is seen.
In the heard is merely hearing, and what is heard.
In the sensed is merely sensing,
and what is sensed.
In the thought is merely thinking, and what is thought.
So knowing, you will not be connected 'with that'.
So disconnected you will not be absorbed 'into that'.
So neither
'with that', nor 'into that' you are! not 'by that' sensation.
When there is no 'you' inferred, or conjectured by that
perception,
then 'you' are neither 'here', 'there', 'both', 'beyond', nor 'in between'...
Udāna – Inspiration: I – 10
The Self as merely
a 'Model', an informational structure, a practical
Representation
The Transparent Avatar
in your brain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZsDDseI5QI
