Q: I was born male, but after many years of confusion, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m actually a transgender woman and I’m now seeking sex-reassignment surgery. As a Buddhist, I feel conflicted by the teachings on no-self and this unshakable feeling that there is a deep, hidden truth about me that I need to express. Am I wrong to embrace this sense of true self? Sallie [...]
The Practice of Looking Deeply Using Three Dharma Seals: Impermanence, No-self and Nirvana
Thich Nhat Hanh teaches that by looking deeply we develop insight into impermanence and no self. These are the keys to the door of reality. All authentic practices of the Buddha carry within them three essential teachings called the Dharma Seals. These three teachings of the Buddha are: impermanence, no self and nirvana. Just as all-important legal documents have the mark [...]
Our Path Is Limitless and Vast
While women may feel constrained by Buddhist institutions, the dharma itself poses no such limitations, says Joan Sutherland. By connecting with the vast view of no-self, women can discover their own meaningful expressions of the dharma. Consider how many sentences you could write containing the words “dharma” and “women.” When I put them together, the next word that wants to [...]
Neuroscience and Buddhism converging on the inconstant self
Science and religion have been mostly viewed as separate since the Enlightenment, but an increasing number of scientific researchers are referencing and drawing on Buddhism in their studies, especially in the field of neuroscience. An article on Quartz this week notes on that scientific researchers are coming to accept theories on the ever-changing self as taught by the Buddha [...]
Nothing Special: The Joy of Being Ordinary
No one wants to be just another person in a world of seven billion people. Geri Larkin shares what happened when she embraced being ordinary. I shop for groceries early, typically before 8:30 in the morning. At that time of the day, it’s easy to do a week’s shopping in less than half an hour since I pretty much have the entire store to myself. At the checkout, the same cashier [...]
Ask the Teachers: Does “no-self” contradict rebirth?
Question: The doctrine of no-self seems to contradict the idea of rebirth. Did the Buddha address this contradiction? How do teachers reconcile this when teaching students like me who’ve grown up with a modern Western mindset? Narayan Helen Liebenson: This is a question that has befuddled countless practitioners and scholars. If there is no self, then what is reborn? In [...]
Beyond No-Self
According to many Buddhist schools, grasping at the notion of a real and substantial self is the root of ignorance. But while insight into the truth of personal selflessness, or no-self, is an important step, says the Dalai Lama in his book, The Middle Way, it doesn’t go far enough. The teaching on the twelve links of dependent origination is common to all Buddhist traditions; [...]
The Mind of the Dragon and the Power of Non-Self
The mind of the dragon is powerful, vast, and skillful. That’s because it sees the emptiness of all things, both self and other. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche on how to bring the wisdom of the dragon’s mind into our lives. When my friend Jon and I were running in the Scottish Highlands one day, we came into a valley and saw a big dog. We started strategizing how we were going to [...]
The Wisdom of the Body and the Search for the Self
From the impermanent to the heroic to the sacred—The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche on how the view of body changes and evolves in the three vehicles of Buddhism. From the Buddhist perspective, our spiritual journey begins here—with this very body and mind. Who we are now consists of these two, body and mind, and who we might become will also be expressed through body and mind. Yet [...]
The Practice and Philosophy of the Buddhist Path
According to Reginald Ray, Buddhist philosophy and practice can't be separated. Once you understand, through study, what the Buddha is saying about his own awakening, you are already within the fiery process of the path. My recent essays have been exploring the phenomenon of the "self" and how it arises moment by moment out of the underlying, boundless awareness within, which [...]