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Atman
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Atman (Hinduism)
The Atman or Atma (IAST: Ātmā, sanskrit: आत्म ) is a philosophical term
used within Hinduism and Vedanta to identify the soul. It is one's true
self (hence generally translated into English as 'Self') beyond
identification with the phenomenal reality of worldly existence.
Schools of thought
Some schools such as Advaita see the soul within each living entity as
being fully identical with Brahman - the all-pervading soul of the
universe, whereas other schools such as Dvaita differentiate between the
individual atma in living beings, and the Supreme atma (Paramatma) as
being at least partially separate beings. Thus atman can be used to
describe an individual soul or the impersonal 'supreme' depending on the
speaker's philosophical point of view.
In Advaita the Atman is the universal life-principle, the animator of
all organisms, and the world-soul. This view is of a sort of panentheism
(not pantheism) and thus is sometimes not equated with the single
creator God of monotheism. Dvaita Vedanta calls the all-pervading aspect
of Brahman Paramatman quantitatively different from individual Atman.
Identification of individual living beings/souls, or jiva-atmas, with
the 'One Atman' is the monistic Advaita Vedanta position, which is
critiqued by dualistic/theistic Dvaita Vedanta. Dvaita Vedanta claims
reality for both a God functioning as the ultimate metaphorical "soul"
of the universe, and for actual individual "souls" as such. The 'dvaita'
(or dualist) schools, therefore, in contrast to Advaita, advocate an
exclusive monotheistic position wherein Brahman is made synonymous with
Vishnu. A compromise is taught by schools like Vishishtadvaita Vedanta.
Achintya Bheda Abheda school harmonizes both views by teaching their
quantitative difference and qualitative sameness.
In some instances both Advaita and Dvaita schools may accommodate the
others's belief as a lower form of worship or practice towards the same
ultimate goal.
Miscellaneous
Adherents to Jainism also use the phrase the atman to refer to 'the
self'. Often atma is mistaken as being interchangeable with the word
jiva with the difference being somewhat subtle. Whereas atman refers to
the self, jiva refers to the living being, the exact comprehension of
which varies thoughout the philosophical schools.
Atman (Buddhism)
Ātman (Sanskrit: आत्म) or Atta (Pāli) literally means "self", but is
sometimes translated as "soul" or "ego". In Buddhism, the misplaced or
inappropriate belief in ātman is the prime consequence of ignorance, –
itself the cause of all misery - the foundation of saṃsāra itself.
Some Mahayana Buddhist sutras and a number of Buddhist tantras, however,
strongly insist upon the ultimate Reality of the Atman when it is
equated with the essential and eternal being of the Buddha (Tathagatagarbha
doctrine).
The need for Buddhists to understand ātman
Śāntideva (a late Indian Buddhist philosopher and practitioner) informs
us that in order to be able to deny something, we first of all need to
know what it is that we are denying.
"Without contacting the entity that is imputed
You will not apprehend the absence of that entity""
-- Bodhicaryāvatāra
The definition of ātman in Buddhism
Candrakīrti contextualises ātman as follows:
"Ātman is an essence of things that does not depend on others; it is an
intrinsic nature. The non-existence of that is selflessness".
-- Bodhisattvayogacaryācatutśatakatikā256.1.7
In the Abhidharmapitaka (Pāli: Abhidhammapitaka), which deals with
metaphysics, the prime doctrine which allows pure Buddhist philosophy to
successfully explain all phenomena is that all things happen with cause.
"Ātman" is a conceptual attachment to oneself that promotes a false
belief that one is intrinsic and without incident. This attachment
further diverges one's route from the path to enlightenment and hence
nirvāṇa as all forms of attachment do.
The ontological status of ātman in Buddhism
As the belief in ātman is identified as a cause of saṃsāra, it is not
merely cognate with the various concepts of ātman as found in Hindu
philosophy, and indeed the specific identification of what ātman is, is
an essential philosophical concept for the Buddhist meditator.
If no concept of ātman were to exist at all, then we would all be
naturally free from saṃsāra. What this entails is that ātman is
identified as existing as a concept - more specifically, as a cognitive
obscuration; moreover, it is this specific cognitive obscuration which
is identified as being the root cause of all suffering.
So, when Buddhists claim that there is no ātman, they are not really
saying that it does not exist, but that it exists solely as a cognitive
obscuration - as an innate response to the world around us; and this
deeply enmeshed obscuration lies at the root of all misery.
Ātman and the Tathagatagarbha
In a number of sūtras of Mahāyāna Buddhism (those known as the
Tathagatagarbha sutras), as well as in certain Mahayana Buddhist Tantras,
however, the term ātman is used in a dual sense, in some instances
denoting the impermanent, mundane ego (attachment to which needs to be
overcome), and on other occasions explicitly referring to the ultimately
real, pure, blissful Self of the Buddha in the state of nirvāṇa, a
Selfhood stated to be unchanging, unshakeably firm, and eternal within
all beings (see Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra).
It is erroneous to construe the Tathagatagarbha as some tangible,
worldly, changeable, personalised, desire-driven "ego" on a grand scale,
similar to the "fictitious self" comprised of the five mundane skandhas
(impermanent mental and physical constituents of the unawakened being).
The Tathagatagarbha is indicated by the relevant sutras to be the
ultimate, pure, ungraspable, irreducible, invulnerable, true and
deathless Quintessence of the Buddha's liberating Reality, the very core
of his highest being (Dharmakaya or dhammakaya).
[edit] The abandonment of Atman in later Buddhist metaphysics
With the doctrine of anatta (Pāli; Sanskrit: anātman) Buddhism maintains
that the concept of ātman is unnecessary and counterproductive as an
explanatory device for analyzing action, causality, karma, and
reincarnation in a Buddhist context. Buddhists account for these and
other "self"-related phenomena by other means, such as
pratātya-samutpāda, the skandhas, and, for some schools, a pudgala. Thus
it is not necessary for Buddhists to posit an ātman, and they further
regard it as undesirable to do so, as they believe it provides the
psychological basis for attachment and aversion. Buddhism sees the
apparent self (our identification as souls) as a grasping after a self--i.e.,
inasmuch as we have a self, we have it only through a deluded attempt to
shore it up.
It should be noted that the critique of the individual self does not
differentiate Buddhists from Advaita Vedantists, as they, too,
deconstruct the individual self. It is in pushing the deconstruction of
the ātman through to the level of metaphysical being in itself, i.e. to
Brahman or Paramatman, that it becomes that Buddhism differs from
Advaita.
Positive teachings on the Atman in Mahayana Buddhism
Not all Buddhist scriptures, however, deny the reality of atman. Within
the Mahayana branch of Buddhism, there exists an important class of
sutras (influential upon Ch'an and Zen Buddhism), generally known as
Tathagatagarbha sutras ("Buddha-Matrix" or "Buddha-Embryo" sutras), a
number of which affirm that, in contradistinction to the impermanent
"mundane self" of the five "skandhas"(the physical and mental components
of the mutable ego), there does exist an eternal True Self, which is in
fact none other than the Buddha himself in his ultimate "Nirvanic"
nature. This True Self of the Buddha is indeed said to be attainable by
anyone in the state of Mahaparinirvana. Furthermore, the essence of that
Buddha — the Buddha-dhatu ("Buddha-nature", "Buddha principle"), or
Dharmakaya, as it is termed — is present in all sentient beings and is
described as "radiantly luminous". This Buddha-dhatu is said in the
Nirvana Sutra to be the uncreated, immutable and immortal essence (“svabhava”)
of all beings, which can never be harmed or destroyed. The most
extensive sutra promulgating this as an "ultimate teaching" (uttara-tantra)
on the Buddhic essence of all creatures (animals included) is the
Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra. There we read in words attributed to the
Buddha: "... it is not the case that they [i.e. all phenomena] are
devoid of the Self. What is this Self? Any phenomenon ["dharma"] that is
true ["satya"], real [“tattva”], eternal [“nitya”], sovereign/autonomous
[“aishvarya”] and whose foundation is unchanging [“ashraya-aviparinama”]
is termed 'the Self' [atman]." (translated from Dharmakshema's version
of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra). This True Self — so the Buddha
of such scriptures indicates — must never be confused with the ordinary,
ever-changing, worldly ego, which, with all its emotional and moral
taints and turmoil, conceals the True Self from view. Far from being
possessed of the negative attributes of the mundane ego, the Buddhic or
Nirvanic Self is proclaimed by the Buddha of the Nirvana Sutra to be
characterised by "Great Loving-Kindness, Great Compassion, Great
Sympathetic Joy, and Great Equanimity". There are numerous references to
the reality of this transcendental yet immanent Self of the Buddha in
the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, which scripture the Buddha declares
to embody the “uttarottara” (absolutely supreme) meaning of all Mahayana
Buddhism. One of the features most frequently linked to this
"Self-that-is-Buddha" is its great purity, which sets it apart from the
illusory and tarnished mundane ego. The Buddha states in the
Mahaparinirvana Sutra:
"To crush out the worldly notion of the Self and purity, the Tathagata
speaks of the Self and Purity of true sense."
Other Buddhist sutras and Tantras also speak affirmatively of the Self.
For instance, the Mahabheriharaka Sutra insists: "... at the time one
becomes a Tathagata, a Buddha, he is in nirvana, and is referred to as
'permanent', 'steadfast', 'calm', 'eternal', and 'Self' [atman]."
Similarly, the Srimala Sutra declares unequivocally: "When sentient
beings have faith in the Tathagata [Buddha] and those sentient beings
conceive [him] with permanence, pleasure, self, and purity, they do not
go astray. Those sentient beings have the right view. Why so? Because
the Dharmakaya [ultimate nature] of the Tathagata has the perfection of
permanence, the perfection of pleasure, the perfection of self, the
perfection of purity. Whatever sentient beings see the Dharmakaya of the
Tathagata that way, see correctly." (The Lion’s Roar of Queen Srimala ,
Motilal, Delhi 1974, tr. by A. and H. Wayman, p. 102). The early
Buddhist Tantra, the Guhyasamaja Tantra, declares: "The universal Self
of entities sports by means of the illusory samadhi. It performs the
deeds of a Buddha while stationed at the traditional post" (i.e. while
never moving). The same Tantra also links the Self with radiant light (a
common image): "The pure Self, adorned with all adornments, shines with
a light of blazing diamond ..." (Yoga of the Guhyasamajatantra by Alex
Wayman, Motilal Delhi, 1977, pp. 18 and 28). And the All-Creating King
Tantra (the Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra, also designated a sutra) has the
primordial Buddha, Samantabhadra, state, "... the root of all things is
nothing else but one Self … I am the place in which all existing things
abide." (The Sovereign All-Creating Mind, tr. by E.K. Neumaier-Dargyay,
pp. 158-159).
Furthermore, the Buddhist scripture entitled The Expression of
Manjushri's Ultimate Names (Mañjuśrī-nāma-saṅgīti), as quoted by the
Tibetan Buddhist master, Dolpopa, applies the following terms to the
Ultimate Buddhic Reality:
"the pervasive Lord"
"the Supreme Guardian of the world"
"Buddha-Self"
"the beginningless Self"
"the Self of Thusness"
"the Self of primordial purity"
"the Source of all"
"the Single Self"
"the Diamond Self"
"the Solid Self"
"the Holy, Immovable Self"
"the Supreme Self"
"the Supreme Self of all creatures".
(cf. Mountain Doctrine: Tibet's Fundamental Treatise on Other-Emptiness
and the Buddha-Matrix, Snow Lion, NY, 2006, tr. by Jeffrey Hopkins,
pp.279-294)).
References
The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra in 12 volumes, Vol. 9 (Nirvana
Publications, London, 2000), translated by Kosho Yamamoto, ed. by Dr.
Tony Page.
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