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- Apr 26, 2011
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The ''Self'' or the ''Soul'' doesn't exist by itself...............the only difference between your own ''soul'' and that of other ''souls'' comes from your thoughts, memories and experiences................remove all these thoughts, memories and experiences................and there's no difference between ''souls'' at all...............
so the ''soul'' is a delusion of the mortal mind...............it has no independent existence.............it exist only when the conscious mind is filled with thoughts, memories and experiences..............
Buddhist Explanation
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We can reflect on our experiences. For example, we can think about thought. From this arises a division between subject, percept, and object. The percept is the mental impression, the subject is the thinker, and the object is that which causes the mental impression.
We perceive the separation of subject, percept, and object as real, because mind attributes an owner to experience and thought. This owner is the "self", the subject, the centre of consciousness, the supposed psychological entity. Surprisingly, the body, feeling, perception, and mental formations are not the self. Consciousness is not the self either, otherwise the self would cease to exist during unconscious states, for example during deep sleep.
We might ask how the "self" can be independent of a surrounding world. Is it possible for the self to exist devoid of sense impressions, thought, and mental images? What of the self if it lacked thoughts and contents to identify itself with or to set itself apart from others?
It seems there is no basis for the ''self'' as an independent entity. The self is a phenomenon arising from the conceptual division between subject, object, and percept. Thus the "self" is created by the mind through identification and discernment.
The "self" is itself a mental formation - a product of mind. It is therefore empty of inherent existence.
so the ''soul'' is a delusion of the mortal mind...............it has no independent existence.............it exist only when the conscious mind is filled with thoughts, memories and experiences..............
Buddhist Explanation
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
We can reflect on our experiences. For example, we can think about thought. From this arises a division between subject, percept, and object. The percept is the mental impression, the subject is the thinker, and the object is that which causes the mental impression.
We perceive the separation of subject, percept, and object as real, because mind attributes an owner to experience and thought. This owner is the "self", the subject, the centre of consciousness, the supposed psychological entity. Surprisingly, the body, feeling, perception, and mental formations are not the self. Consciousness is not the self either, otherwise the self would cease to exist during unconscious states, for example during deep sleep.
We might ask how the "self" can be independent of a surrounding world. Is it possible for the self to exist devoid of sense impressions, thought, and mental images? What of the self if it lacked thoughts and contents to identify itself with or to set itself apart from others?
It seems there is no basis for the ''self'' as an independent entity. The self is a phenomenon arising from the conceptual division between subject, object, and percept. Thus the "self" is created by the mind through identification and discernment.
The "self" is itself a mental formation - a product of mind. It is therefore empty of inherent existence.