Analytical Buddhism The Two-tiered Illusion

We spend our lives protecting an elusive self - but does the self actually exist? Drawing on literature from Western philosophy, neuroscience and Buddhism (interpreted), the author argues that there is no self. The self - as unified owner and thinker of thoughts - is an illusion created by two tiers. A tier of naturally unified consciousness (notably absent in standard bundle-theory accounts) merges with a tier of desire-driven thoughts and emotions to yield the impression of a self. So while the self, if real, would think up the thoughts, the thoughts, in reality, think up the self.

MIRI ALBAHARI is a Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Calgary.

Abbreviations from the Sutta Pitaka of the Pali Canon

ix

Preface

x

Introduction: The Two-Tiered Illusion of Self

1

1 Some Central Distinctions and the Four Noble Truths

6

(1) Subject and object

6

1.1 Subject

7

1.2 Object

10

(2) Distinguishing self from sense of self

16

2.1 What is the difference between 'self' and, 'sense of self'?

16

2.2 What is meant by 'sense' in 'sense of self'?

18

2.3 The Buddhist perspective on the sense of self

21

(3) Defining 'person'

21

(4) The essence of Buddhist teaching: The Four Noble Truths

22

2 Nibbana

31

Introduction

31

(1) Unconditioned nibbana is real

34

(2) Unconditioned nibbana is experienced directly by the mind of the Arahant

35

(3) The mind of the Arahant is (intrinsically) 'luminous', involving percipience and witnessing

36

(4) The intrinsic mind of the Arahant is identical to unconditioned nibbana

36

(5) By indiscernability of identicals, what is true of unconditioned nibbana is true of the Arahant's mind and vice versa

40

5.1 Unconditioned by quality

40

5.2 Unconditioned by space

42

5.3 Unconditioned by time

42

5.4 Unconditioned by relation

45

(6) Nibbanic consciousness and the khandhas

45

6.1 The Arahant with 'proximate nibbanic consciousness'

46

6.2 'Pre-nibbanic consciousness' of the ordinary person

48

3 The Definition and Status of Self in Buddhism

50

Introduction

50

(1) Defining the self in Buddhism

51

1.1 Ownership and identification as reciprocal assumptions of self

51

1.2 Identification and the self

56

1.3 Personal ownership, the self and identification

60

1.4 The sense of self (through reciprocal senses of personal ownership and self-identification) co-arises with tartha

61

1.5 Further features Buddhism ascribes to the reflexively assumed self

63

1.6 What nibbanic consciousness could bring to the sense of self

69

1.7 The definition and status of self in Buddhism

73

(2) The misportrayal of Buddhism as endorsing a 'bundle theory' of persons

75

Conclusion

79

4 The Reflexively Assumed Self

81

(1) An East–West convergence on the description of self

81

1.1 Roles ascribed reflexively to the self

87

1.2 Attributes ascribed reflexively to the self

87

(2) Role: Knower/observer/witness; Attribute: Mental/aware/conscious

88

(3) Roles: Owner, agent, thinker, seeker of happiness; Attribute: Bounded

90

3.1 Identification as general evidence for boundedness

92

3.2 Four common modes of assumed self-identity: This-ness, autonomy, consistent self-concern and personal ownership

94

3.3 Integrating modes of identification into an overall conception of personality

105

3.4 Identification, ownership, boundedness and tanha

107

(4) Attribute: Elusiveness

110

(5) Attribute: Unity (singularity)

111

(6) Attributes: Unbrokenness and invariability

113

6.1 Unbrokenness

113

6.2 Invariability

117

(7) Attribute: Unconstructedness

118

Conclusion

120

5 How Do We Construe 'The Self Lacks Reality'?

121

Introduction

121

(1) What does it mean to deny reality to the self?

121

1.1 What is an illusion?

122

1.2 The self as construct and illusion

126

1.3 An intersection of agreement for those who deny reality to the self

130

(2) Western thinkers who deny reality to the self

132

(3) Buddhist and the Western accounts of 'no-self': Summarising the similarity and differences

138

Conclusion

139

6 Linking Problems of Consciousness with Awareness

140

Introduction

140

(1) Awareness as a concept of consciousness

142

1.1 More on the modus operandi of witnessing

142

1.2 The intrinsic phenomenal character of awareness

143

(2) Linking problems of consciousness with 'awareness'

145

2.1 Elusiveness

146

2.2 The synchronic unity of consciousness

151

2.3 Unbroken and invariable unity

155

2.4 Unconstructedness

158

(3) Awareness as central to phenomenal consciousness

159

(4) Why boundedness is not implied by awareness

160

Conclusion

161

7 The Unconstructed Reality of Awareness

162

Introduction

162

(1) The central argument

162

(2) The spectre of eliminative materialism

165

(3) The object-knowledge thesis

167

8 How the Self Could Be a Construct

170

Introduction

170

(1) Revisiting evidence that awareness purports to be a bounded self

171

(2) Is the bounded self a construct?

172

2.1 Can awareness exist without sense of bounded self?

172

2.2 The next steps to arguing that the self is a construct

177

2.3 The shortfalls of Damasio's theory

188

2.4 Identification revisited in light of self as illusion

189

2.5 Integrating concept of identification with Damasio's analysis to yield the two-tiered illusion of self

191

9 The Two-Tiered Illusion of Self

193

(1) A schema for the two-tiered illusion of self

193

(2) Witnessing presence

196

(3) Unity

197

(4) Elusiveness

199

(5) Unbroken ness

200

(6) Invariability

202

(7) Summary

205

Conclusion

205

Glimpses Beyond

206

Notes

211

Bibliography

220

Index

228

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