Theos-Talk Archives (March 2009 Message tt00409)

<<When we read the sutras, we see that the Buddha was also a very strong person. (...)  His reaction to the corruption among Vedic priests, for example, was thorough-going.  The notion of Atman, Self, which was at the center of the Vedic beliefs, was the cause of much of the social injustice of the day--the caste system, the terrible treatment of the untouchables, and the monopolization of spiritual teachings by those who enjoyed the best material conditions and yet were hardly spiritual at all.  In reaction, The Buddha emphasized the teachings of non-Atman (non-self).  He said, "Things are empty of a separate, independent self, If you look for the self of a flower, you will see that it is empty."  But when Buddhists began worshiping the idea of emptiness, he said, "It is worse if you get caught in the non-self of a flower than if you believe in the self of the flower."
    The Buddha did not present an absolute doctrine.  His teaching of non-self was offered in the context of his time.  It was an instrument for meditation.  But many Buddhists since then have gotten caught by the idea of non-self.  They confuse the means and the end, the raft and the shore, the finger pointing to the moon and the moon.  There is something more important than non-self.  It is the freedom from the notions of both self and non-self.  For a Buddhist to be attached to any doctrine, even a Buddhist one, is to betray the Buddha.  It is not words or concepts that are important.  What is important is our insight into the nature of reality and our way of responding to reality.>>

from LIVING BUDDHA, LIVING CHRIST, Thich Nhat Hanh, Berkley Publishing Group, 2005,2007, pp54-55

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