The atheism and interdependent determinism of Buddhism do not seem to have caused people to lose trust in it, nor did it cause unacceptable damage to the faith of believers. Not only that, Buddhism also advocates the doctrine of selflessness, which is another peculiar pole of Buddhist thought, my bearer is the human soul in the final analysis, if there is no me as the subject, obviously people will not have souls, this kind of proposition is fatal for any other religion, if people have no soul, and the body is immortal, how can people achieve the ideal of eternal immortality? If a religion fails to promise an eternal existence, it will eventually lose the meaning and value of its existence. In order to solve the dilemma brought about by selflessness, Buddhism has developed extremely esoteric theories and numerous sects, in a sense, Mahayana Consciousness is the most complex and incomprehensible sect developed to solve the problem of selflessness, even so, due to the fatal flaw caused by selflessness, Wisdom Buddhism is often unable to solve this problem, and in many places it seems far-fetched and arbitrary. In fact, all religions in the world are the product of man's irrational fantasies, none of which can stand the test of reason, and all miracles and prophecies cannot be confirmed, but these do not prevent people from being devout to religion, and the reason why people are willing to believe in it is not that religion is intelligible or rational, but that it can bring people eternal and immortal hope, and this is enough. However, Buddhism is a religion of "reasoning," and if the problem of selflessness is not resolved, the foundation of its entire theory will be shaken, which will lead to unpredictable results, and Buddhism must solve this problem.
Buddhism believes that human beings are just a body of the five aggregates that are constantly changing and changing, and that what determines the fate of the body of the five aggregates is the law of the twelve karmas, and no one is trapped by the twelve karmas, and there is no "me" as the bearer in this chain of life and death from beginning to end, everything is a combination of causes and conditions, and of course there will be no problems of personal personality or self-identity, Buddhism insists that if a person is attached to the existence of "me", this is self-grasping, ignorance, that is, ignorance, The reason why there is no limit to the sea of suffering in life is because we don't understand this truth and mistake the body of the five aggregates for the existence of a real, unchanging "me." Buddhism believes that the concept of self is like a flame is an illusion that is born and extinguished in an instant, not only people have no self, but also everything has no self, Buddhism calls it self-nature, also called emptiness, all things have no self-nature, that is, everything does not have an unchanging essence or ontology, in order to illustrate this point of view, there is a "Naxian Bhikshu Sutra" also uses houses and cars as examples to prove that all things have no self-nature and people have no self, such as the house is composed of windows, doors, bricks, tiles, beams and pillars, beds and chairs, But these objects are not houses, nor do they represent houses, so, the house is in **? Therefore, the house is just a name, and there is no ontology of the house, that is, the house has no self-nature. For example, the car is only the wheel, axle, seat, etc., these parts are aggregated, and there is no car itself, so the car does not have the "self-nature" beyond the performance of the parts! People are the same, since the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind are not me, then I am in **? So there is no self. This view is similar to the nominalist school of thought in the history of Western philosophy, which holds that the name of any thing (co-phase or concept) is only a name, does not reflect the ontology of the thing, does not have any substance, that is, does not have any objectivity, this view is often called idealism, paradoxically Berkeley (1685 - 1753), who is known as extreme subjective idealism, is even called a solipsist, and his famous view is that to exist is to be perceivedHe also put forward the extreme view that things are a collection of ideas, and did not admit that there is any material entity at all, and the so-called things are just a combination of some concepts, and this view of not admitting that things have an entity is highly consistent with the Buddhist view of non-selfishness, and the paradox is that Berkeley is not a theoretician, but a philosopher who implements the principles of empiricism to the end. Berkeley denied the physical entity of Descartes, but Berkeley was a staunch defender of the spiritual entity of Descartes, insisting that everyone has an independent mind. However, Buddhism not only denies Descartes's material entity, but also denies Descartes' spiritual entity, not only advocates the emptiness of the four majors, but also adheres to the theory of selflessness. Zen Buddhism is the most Chinese Buddhism, Zen Buddhism believes that everything in the world is the creation of the mind, and the reason why the sail is moving is neither the wind is moving nor the sail is moving, but the heart is moving. What is the "heart" of Zen Buddhism? After thousands of years of spread and development in China, Buddhism has been completely integrated with Chinese culture, in fact, the "heart" of Zen Buddhism can no longer be completely separated from the concept of the soul, which shows that Zen Buddhism is not a complete egoist or that Zen Buddhism is a Sinicized Buddhism.
Not only does Indian Buddhism believe that ego is a kind of attachment or heresy, but the emptiness sect of Theravada Buddhism has even taken the idea of emptiness to the extreme, and this sect is based on the Theory of Enlightenment, which holds that everything in the world is empty, that everything in the universe is just a kind of cause and effect, and that all false causes arise from it, and that dependent arising is empty. Ancient Indian Brahmanism believes that the four major elements that make up the world are "earth, water, fire, and wind", and later Buddhism also adopted this statement, but in the view of the empty sect, the four are also the creation of thoughts, and the concept of "famous words" created by consciousness, which is essentially an unreal illusion, which is more extreme than "nominalism", they not only deny the "common phase", but also deny the "special phase", not only deny the universal, but also deny the individual, the empty sect does not stop there, this school even Buddhism's "suffering, concentration, extinction, and Tao" The Four Noble Truths are all considered to be emptiness, that is, the Four Noble Truths return to emptiness, and they believe that the attainment of positive results is "gray body and wisdom", which is to achieve a complete self-transition that will never return, and to disappear forever in the six realms of reincarnation. Of course, in the eyes of Mahayana Buddhism, this view is too empty, and it belongs to the heretical view of "evil takes emptiness". The Void sect is close to the extreme skepticism of the ancient Greek philosopher Gorgias (c. 483 - 375 BC), who had three major propositions, namely, that nothing exists in the world; Even if something exists, it cannot be recognized; Even if you know each other, you can't put it into words.
One of the important reasons why Buddhism puts forward the theory of selflessness is to oppose Brahmanism, the creation of the world by God, the creation of man and the immortality of the soul are the core ideas of Brahmanism, and the "soul" of Brahmanism not only has the great self of the cosmic soul (Brahma), but also the personal "atman" and "divine self" (purusa), and later Jainism put forward the concepts of "life self" (jiva) and "non-life self" (ajiva), etc., these various "mes" Complex and varied, they all come down to some kind of spiritual entity, which is essentially the soul. Brahmanism believes that the highest ontology of the universe or the essence of the world is "Brahman", Brahmanism is the master of all things and the root of life, a bit similar to the Tao of Chinese Taoism, it is the same as the ego, "I" is essentially "Brahman", is the subject of absolute freedom, the greater self is Brahman, Brahmanism is the same is its basic point of view, karma, karmic reincarnation and liberation from life and death are the common propositions of Brahmanism, Buddhism and Jainism, all of which are ** in the concept of Brahmanism, and the "I" of Brahmanism refers to the subject of personal lifeBrahmanism also emphasizes the need to jump out of reincarnation, once you jump out of reincarnation, you can be liberated from birth and death, but Brahmanism's liberation from life and death is not to enter the Nirvana of Buddhism, but the individual ego can be integrated with the greater self (Brahman), and the soul is integrated with the Tao.
1. Sharing eternity and blessing eternal life is similar to the concept of attainment of Taoism in China. Whether it is Brahmanism or Jainism, the soul is the subject or bearer of reincarnation in the process of reincarnation, and it is not the body but the soul that is saved. With the concept of the soul, the theory of reincarnation, the theory of karma, and the theory of liberation from life and death have a solid theoretical foundation, otherwise, if the soul is not recognized, it is likely to lead to outright materialism. For example, in the anti-Brahmanical Six Teachers, the Shunshiist school resolutely opposes the theory of self, does not admit that there is a "me" that exists independently of the body, and argues that life phenomena such as consciousness disappear (cease) after death, and that there can be no independent soul that can be reincarnated. It is foreseeable that this school of thought is unlikely to be effective or attractive, because a religion that can be deduced from extinction is contrary to the purpose of religion, cannot give people hope, and leaves no room for materialist thought in the field of faith. Surprisingly, Buddhism also denies that man has an unchanging soul, but has always been imbued with great attraction and has become a world religion that spreads more widely than Brahmanism, how did Buddhism do this?
Buddhism believes that human beings are the bodies of the five aggregates, namely color (matter), suffering (suffering, happiness, non-suffering, unhappiness), thinking (establishing images), acting (thinking, being able to make factual and value judgments), and consciousness (consciousness, concepts). At the same time, human beings have six senses, six sensory organs, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, which can produce various senses of color, sound, fragrance, taste, touch, and dharma. Scientists in the field of modern consciousness classify this theory as the perceptual bundle theory, which holds that there is no such thing as a subject that can maintain self-unity, and that self-consciousness is only a series of experiential stimuli that continue to arise and die, and that only because there are similarities, proximities, and rules in a bundle of perceptions, that people think that they have the illusion of self-consciousness, but in fact this self-consciousness does not exist, and the aforementioned Hume is the advocate of this theory, who once wrote: "For me, When I enter the deepest part of what I call the self, I always hesitate between this or that perception, hot or cold, bright or dark, love or hate, pain or joy. There was no moment when I was unconscious, and I could never observe anything but consciousness. That is to say, he can feel all kinds of stimuli, but he can't feel my presence, and he claims that he is only conscious and nothing else. He argues that the self is not a whole, nor an entity, but rather "the feeling of being together." ”
If Buddhism admits the theory of self-existence, that is, that man has an unchanging soul, then its basic theories such as the Four Noble Truths, the Five Aggregates, and the Theory of Dependent Origin cannot be established, and these theories are all based on the non-self of man, and the three seals of Buddhism of impermanence, dharma and selflessness, and nirvana and silence cannot be discussed. Moreover, once Buddhism admits the existence of selfism, the basis of its thinking is very similar to Brahmanism, karma and the cycle of life are unanimously advocated by everyone, which will inevitably lead to the convergence of Buddhism and Brahmanism, so that there is nothing to do with Buddhism, and advocating selflessness is undoubtedly the most powerful opposition to Brahmanism. For these reasons, Buddhism must advocate the doctrine of selflessness, and the only way to see what the consequences will be is to see what the consequences will be. But egolessness will lead to two contradictions that cannot be justified.
First, the six realms of reincarnation are the basic theories of Buddhism, in the endless reincarnation there should always be a reincarnation bearer or subject, it cannot be a kind of empty reincarnation without a subject and no object, and this reincarnation subject should have a certain inheritance, continuity and stability, and cannot be a rapidly changing object. Buddhism advocates that people have no self and no soul, so what is the main body of reincarnation in the six realms of reincarnation? What is reincarnation? This subject must not be the flesh, because the flesh is not only illusory but cremated after death (both Brahmanism and Buddhism practice cremation), which shows that there is an irreconcilable relationship between selflessness and samsara.
Second, if we want to assert the idea of the cycle of life, we must admit that there is a certain inheritance between the three lives of human beings (the past, the present, and the next life), otherwise the cycle of life loses its meaning. Although people do not remember their past lives, let alone foresee their future lives, it cannot be denied that there is no relationship between the three lives, and the soul may lose its memory, but it is still the same soul, and the goal of soul immortality is still entirely possible. Chinese has been worshiping ghosts and ancestors since ancient times, and this view of the immortality of the soul is deep-rooted, Chinese in order to explain that people have no impression of their past lives but the soul remains unchanged, they also specially compiled the legend of Meng Po Tang and Nai He Bridge, saying that after death, the soul must drink a bowl of Meng Po soup when passing through Nai He Bridge, and then lose all the memories of the previous life. The same plot also takes place in Greek mythology, where the ancient Greeks believed that after death, the soul of a person would go to Hades's underworld, and on the way to the underworld, there was a river called the River Lot, and the soul who drank the water here would forget everything in his previous life. These myths and legends do not deny the continuity of the soul, and the soul is still that soul is just a loss of memory. But Buddhism advocates selflessness, does not admit that people have a continuous existence of the soul, of course there will be no memory between the three lives, according to this view of Buddhism, the three lives of people have become completely unrelated, the cycle of life is not the same individual appeared in the three lives, but in the three lives of different individuals, in this way, the reincarnation of Buddhism has become a reincarnation of cause and effect, virtue and blessing are not worthy, just like Zhang San killed someone, but caused Li Si to be a dog or a maggot, what does this have to do with Zhang San? Why should beings in this life worry about a sentient being in the next life who has nothing to do with them? My karma in this life will only affect the fate of another being in the next life who has nothing to do with me, so why should I accumulate good deeds? This is in conflict with Buddhism's view that karma should not be lost and that karma must be repaid, and there is a contradiction between itself. The atheist Fan Zhen of Nanliang (c. 450 515) used a similar statement in his anti-Buddhist debates, saying: "Life is like the petals of a tree, when the flower is blown by the wind, the petals fall with the wind, and some of them sweep through the curtains and fall on the seat; Some were blown out of the fence and landed in the pits. Those who fall on the seat are rich, and those who fall in the pit are poor. "What does human destiny have to do with deeds? Why, then, do good deeds, abstinence, and spiritual practice?
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