Hinayana Buddhism
The inexistence of the Self
"Gotama,
where is the priest reborn who has attained to this deliverance for
his mind?"
"Vaccha,
to say that he is reborn would not fit the case."
"Then,
Gotama, he is not reborn."
"Vaccha,
to say that he is not reborn would not fit the case."
"Then,
Gotama, he is both reborn and is not reborn."
"Vaccha,
to say that he is both reborn and not reborn would not fit the case."
"Then,
Gotama, he is neither reborn nor not reborn."
"Vaccha,
to say that he is neither reborn nor not reborn would not fit the
case."
Gotama,
I am at a loss (=unable to understand) what to think in this matter,
and I have become greatly confused, and the faith in Gotama inspired
by a former conversation has now disappeared."
"Enough,
O Vaccha! Be not at a loss what to think in this matter, and be not
greatly confused.
Profound,
O Vaccha, is this doctrine, recondite, and difficult of
comprehension, good, excellent, and not to be reached by mere
reasoning, subtile, and intelligible only to the wise; and it is a
hard doctrine for you to learn, who belong to another sect, to
another faith, to another persuasion, to another discipline, and sit
at the feet of another teacher. Therefore, Vaccha, I will now
question you, and do you make answer as may seem to you good. What
think you, Vaccha? Suppose a fire were to burn in front of you, would
you be aware that the fire was burning in front of you?"
"Gotama,
if a fire were to burn in front of me, I should be aware that a fire
was burning in front of me."
"But
suppose, Vaccha, someone were to ask you, 'On what does this fire
that is burning in front of you depend?' what would you answer,
Vaccha?"
"Gotama,
if someone were to ask me, 'On what does this fire that is burning in
front of you depend?' I would answer, Gotama, 'It is on fuel of grass
and wood that this fire that is burning in front of me depends.'"
"But,
Vaccha, if the fire in front of you were to become extinct, would you
be aware that the fire in front of you had become extinct?"
"Gotama,
if the fire in front of me were to become extinct, I should be aware
that the fire in front of me had become extinct."
"But,
Vaccha, if someone were to ask you, 'In which direction has that fire
gone,--east, or west, or north, or south?' what would you say, O
Vaccha?"
"The
question would not fit the case, Gotama. For the fire which depended
on fuel of grass and wood, when that fuel has all gone, and it can
get no other, being thus without nutriment, is said to be extinct."
"In
exactly the same way, Vaccha, all form by which one could predicate
the existence of the saint, all that form has been abandoned,
uprooted, pulled out of the ground like a palmyra-tree, and become
non-existent and not liable to spring up again in the future. The
saint, O Vaccha, who has been released from what is styled (=so
called) form, is deep, immeasurable, unfathomable, like the mighty
ocean. To say that he is reborn would not fit the case. To say that
he is not reborn would not fit the case. To say that he is both
reborn and not reborn would not fit the case. To say that he is
neither reborn nor not reborn would not fit the case.'
(Majjhima Nikaya LXXII, in:
H.C.Warren, Buddhism in
Translations, Cambridge
Mass. 1915, pp. 123-128)
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