Buddha Was Wrong About the Self: 08-04-2025

1. Buddha denied the existence of a self by claiming that there were experiences inside the body that existed independently and without the need for a self. He identified five parts of a human being, according to Ajahn Sona, as the body, feelings, perceptions, volitions (decisions), and consciousness (encompassing sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and mental processes).
2. The human physical body is similar to the physical bodies of animals and plants; it senses its environment and has reactions and predetermined responses to it. Without a physical body, there would be no experiences or awareness of the physical world, nor would there be any need for them.
3. The human internal body is unique in the physical world because animals and plants do not have one. In the spiritual world, all beings have both an internal and external body.
4. It is absurdly foolish to identify internal experiences and not someone (a self) having them. The internal world exists only because there is an internal body experiencing it. Otherwise, it is pointless madness that could elicit no reaction, response, or awareness because there would be nothing to affect and no reason for it to exist.
5. It is absurdly foolish to attribute internal experiences to concepts and images (such as the ego and self-esteem), rather than to some living body. Thought cannot constitute a body or a self. Thought cannot live as a body and have living experiences as a body that it reacts and responds to.
6. If there is no body, then there are no experiences or awareness. If there are experiences and awareness, then there is a body. When a body dies, its experiences and awareness end. When a body is born, it immediately starts to have experiences and awareness.