Edited by Richie Cuthbertson, Thursday, 17 Feb 2022, 17:23
It is interesting how we all rub off on each other, every person we connect with changes us in some way. We truly are all the people we meet.
What self is there?
Our bodies are changing, slowly ageing. Sensations are changing all the time; like a white-noise of continuous data we either feel as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Our perception of life's myriad objects changes. Our thoughts, memories, emotions, and the story of self we narrate, about who we are, and our life, is always changing. I am not even the same person I was five minutes ago when I sat down to write this. All these events change our consciousness like light-reflecting ripples on the surface of a pond. Consciousness too is always changing.
This is what I think Buddhism means by emptiness, by no-self. It is saying there is no fixed unchanging entity or soul, just a fluid dynamic process, a flowing stream that's different from one moment to the next.
Shape of self
It is interesting how we all rub off on each other, every person we connect with changes us in some way. We truly are all the people we meet.
What self is there?
Our bodies are changing, slowly ageing.
Sensations are changing all the time; like a white-noise of continuous data we either feel as pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.
Our perception of life's myriad objects changes.
Our thoughts, memories, emotions, and the story of self we narrate, about who we are, and our life, is always changing. I am not even the same person I was five minutes ago when I sat down to write this.
All these events change our consciousness like light-reflecting ripples on the surface of a pond. Consciousness too is always changing.
This is what I think Buddhism means by emptiness, by no-self. It is saying there is no fixed unchanging entity or soul, just a fluid dynamic process, a flowing stream that's different from one moment to the next.