Anatta: The Teaching of No-Soul

　　无我论：

　　The Buddha countered all soul-theory and soul-speculation with His Anatta doctrine. Anatta is translated under various labels: No-soul, No-self, egolessness, and soullessness.

　　To understand the Anatta doctrine, one must understand that the eternal soul theory _ ”I have a soul” _ and the material theory _ ”I have no soul” _are both obstacles to self-realization or salvation. They arise from the misconception ”I AM”. Hence, to understand the Anatta doctrine, one must not cling to any opinion or views on soul-theory; rather, one must try to see things objectively as they are and without any mental projections. One must learn to see the so-called ”I” or Sour or Self for what it really is : merely a combination of changing forces. This requires some analytical explanation.

　　The Buddha taught that what we conceive as something eternal within us, is merely a combination of physical and mental aggregates or forces (pancakkhandha), made up of body or matter (rupakkhandha), sensation (vedanakkhandha), perception (sannakkhandha), mental formations (samkharakkhandha) and consciousness (vinnanakkhandha). These forces are working together in a flux of momentary change; they are never the same for two consecutive moments. They are the component forces of the psycho-physical life. When the Buddha analyzed the psycho-physical life, He found only these five aggregates or forces. He did not find any eternal soul. However, many people still have the misconception that the soul is the consciousness. The Buddha declared in unequivocal terms that consciousness depends on matter, sensation, perception and mental formations and that is cannot exist independently of them.

　　佛陀以「无我论」反驳了一切灵魂和灵魂思想。无我(Anatta)，可解释为没有自我或没有灵魂的存在，要了解无我，必须先了解「常见」──即认为世间有个恒常的“我”或“我所有”，和「断见」──认为没有任何的因、没有任何的缘，人死亡后色法、名法都灭尽，死后什么都不存在了。「常见」和「断见」都是由「我执」生起的「邪见」。要了解「无我」就不要执着于任何灵魂学说或思想。相反的，我们必须客观的、实事求是的去了解事物的本性，不要凭感觉而捕风捉影。一个人必须先要了解「我」、「我执」、「灵魂」到底是什么？这一切只不过是因缘条件的假合和变化罢了。这一点需要进一步的分析，佛陀教导我们：那些我们认为永恒的，其实是名色和五蕴的因缘假合，身体是色(物质)、名(心识)和五蕴(色、受、想、行、识)所组成的，这些力量一直在发生作用和不停的变化，它们没有一个片刻是相同的。它们组成了身、心和感官。当佛陀分析身、心和感官时，他只发现了五蕴中「识」的力量，并没有发现灵魂的存在。但是，很多人对「识」产生错觉，以为「识」就是「灵魂」。佛陀分析的很清楚，识是依赖受、想、行而存在，「识」无法单独存在。

　　The Buddha said, ”The body, O monks, is not the Self. Sensation is not the Self. Perception is not the Self. The mental constructions are not the Self. And neither is consciousness the Self. Perceiving this, O monks, the disciple sets no value on the body, or on sensation, or on perception, or on mental constructions, or on consciousness. Setting no value of them, he becomes free of passions and he is liberated. The knowledge of liberation arises there within him. And then he knows that he has done what has to be done, that he has lived the holy life, that he is no longer becoming this or that, that his rebirth is destroyed.” (Anatta-Lakkhana Sutta).

　　「诸比库！色中无我、受中无我、想中无我、行中无我、识中无我。诸比库！了解了这一些，就不会把价值观建立在色、受、想、行、识上面。就这样，他能弃除烦恼而获得解脱，解脱的智慧也因此而产生。跟着，他清楚的了解自己的所作所为，修行的基础也奠定了，以后不再有轮回了。」《无我相经》(Anattalakkhaõa Suttaü)

　　The Anatta doctrine of the Buddha is over 2500 years old. Today the thought current of the modern scientific world is flowing towards the Buddha”s Teaching of Anatta or No-Soul. In the eyes of the modern scientists, man is merely a bundle of ever-changing sensations. Modern physicists say that the apparently solid universe is not, in reality, composed of solid substance at all, but actually a flux of energy. The modern physicist sees the whole universe as a process of transformation of various forces of which man is a mere part. The Buddha was the first to realize this.

　　佛陀的「无我论」在二千五百多年前提出，和今天的科学思潮是一致的。在现代科学家眼里，人类只是一堆一直在变化的感受。现代物理学家认为，宇宙坚实的外表，实际是不存在的，宇宙只不过是一种「能」的流变。现代物理学家了解，宇宙的整个转变过程是由许多物质聚集而成的，而人类只不过是其中的一小部分。而这一切佛陀在二千五百多年前就已经了解了。

　　A prominent author…

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