[One Thousand Characters a Day] Diamond Sutra for Humanities Readers <3>

Editor's NoteBuddha's disciple Subhuti asks, "World-Honored One! How should a virtuous man or woman who seeks the highest and right enlightenment live, and how should they govern their mind?" This is an eternal and immortal question about what kind of mind one should live with. The Buddha's answer, revealed through the dialogue continuing until the last chapter, is to "let go of the notion of 'self' and free yourself from attachment." Since all things are impermanent and ever-changing, nothing exists with a fixed essence, so why cling to the idea of 'I' and suffer? This is the third session following , explaining the concept of 'Anatta (No-Self)' contained in . The text contains 1,058 characters.

To view everything in the world as eternally existing is called the view of permanence (Sang-gyeon, 常見). Conversely, to see things as ceasing and disappearing is called the view of annihilation (Dan-gyeon, 斷見). Both are extremes. Thinking that something exists leans toward permanence, while thinking that it does not exist leans toward annihilation. If one tries to break all thoughts and notions and then asserts that no dharma exists, that itself becomes another notion. One remains trapped in the concept of substance and continues to revolve within that framework of thought.

In the case of the doctrine of no-self (Anatta), interpreting it literally as "I do not exist" is an example of the annihilationist view. There is a risk that Buddhism might operate as a dogma equating Buddhism with Anatta. Just as the eternalist view that the self exists forever is mistaken, the annihilationist view that the self does not exist is also incorrect. Debating whether it exists or not is still evidence of being trapped in linguistic discrimination. Rabbits naturally do not have horns. There is no need to debate whether rabbits have horns or not. The meaning of Anatta is not to clarify 'non-existence' as the opposite of 'existence,' but to focus on transcending the discrimination between 'existence' and 'non-existence.'

In the real world, one cannot deny the 'I' that sees with the eyes and hears sounds. The intention of Anatta is not to say that the empirical self in daily life does not exist. In , the Buddha also expresses himself with phrases like "When I was a bodhisattva..." or "What I taught was...".

In this respect, Anatta is not a metaphysical issue of whether the self exists or not. It has a practical purpose to eliminate human suffering. Above all, it is urgent to remove the false notion of self. Because the rigid framework of self is hard to break, a shock therapy of saying "it does not exist" was used, but the correct Buddhist view should be seen as the Middle Way, not leaning toward either extreme. The self does not exist as real as our thoughts, but it is not completely non-existent either. The problem lies in our thoughts and notions that assume an unchanging self within and cling to it. It is about reifying the concept of self, which is just a name, and trapping oneself within the fixed notion of 'I.'

- Kim Sung-ok, , Bulgwang Publishing, 16,000 KRW