Alex Wilding

Thousands of litres of ink have been used in that project, and people are still arguing about it. But at least it might be good to get a general handle on it and avoid traps like saying, Oh, everything is empty so it doesn't matter. Once when I was at a series of teachings being given by my lama, Karma Lundrup Rinpoche, I had prepared an envelope with a cash donation in it.

Thousands of litres of ink have been used in that project, and people are still arguing about it. But at least it might be good to get a general handle on it and avoid traps like saying, Oh, everything is empty so it doesn't matter. Once when I was at a series of teachings being given by my lama, Karma Lundrup Rinpoche, I had prepared an envelope with a cash donation in it.

With experience you do learn that having a few such envelopes available at that kind of event is just what the Boy Scout is taught to do to be prepared. When I got home, I was checking through my stuff and found an envelope with just the amount of the cash donation in it. Ah, I had given him an envelope with no actual donation in it. How inauspicious. The next day I asked him about it.

With experience you do learn that having a few such envelopes available at that kind of event is just what the Boy Scout is taught to do to be prepared. When I got home, I was checking through my stuff and found an envelope with just the amount of the cash donation in it. Ah, I had given him an envelope with no actual donation in it. How inauspicious. The next day I asked him about it.

Rumpachy, I said, after yesterday's teaching, did you find an envelope that didn't actually contain any money? He nodded. I think it must have been mine, I said, because I found the money in another envelope when I got home. He laughed and said it didn't matter, and that it was very auspicious because, well, emptiness. Basically, he didn't want me to feel bad about it. But that was a joke.

Rumpachy, I said, after yesterday's teaching, did you find an envelope that didn't actually contain any money? He nodded. I think it must have been mine, I said, because I found the money in another envelope when I got home. He laughed and said it didn't matter, and that it was very auspicious because, well, emptiness. Basically, he didn't want me to feel bad about it. But that was a joke.

Abandoning ethics and compassion because, well, emptiness, is a bit of a disaster when it's done intentionally, as I'm afraid it sometimes is. I think one helpful way to draw near to this is to cast a quick eye over the history of the idea. In the very earliest layers of the Buddhist teachings that we have, the absence of a self is one of the key points.

Abandoning ethics and compassion because, well, emptiness, is a bit of a disaster when it's done intentionally, as I'm afraid it sometimes is. I think one helpful way to draw near to this is to cast a quick eye over the history of the idea. In the very earliest layers of the Buddhist teachings that we have, the absence of a self is one of the key points.

I've often seen it referred to by the Pali name of anatta. It goes along with two other points, impermanence and suffering, but it's the absence of a self that concerns us here. One of many philosophical views that were current in the India of the Buddha's day is the thinking that we each have an individual, eternal self, an Atman.

I've often seen it referred to by the Pali name of anatta. It goes along with two other points, impermanence and suffering, but it's the absence of a self that concerns us here. One of many philosophical views that were current in the India of the Buddha's day is the thinking that we each have an individual, eternal self, an Atman.

Yeah, I do know there are all sorts of Atman theories, but the simple idea of an unchanging self is the one that matters here. I suspect that versions of this Atman idea could be found throughout history, East and West, But when we look at ourselves with a clear and steady eye, this kind of self is very difficult to find. We seem rather to be an assemblage, a bundle of bits and pieces.

Yeah, I do know there are all sorts of Atman theories, but the simple idea of an unchanging self is the one that matters here. I suspect that versions of this Atman idea could be found throughout history, East and West, But when we look at ourselves with a clear and steady eye, this kind of self is very difficult to find. We seem rather to be an assemblage, a bundle of bits and pieces.

The classic Buddhist teaching talks about the five heaps or the five skandhas. There are forms, feelings, perceptions, mental factors and so on. They all interact with one another. But where is the permanent self amongst them? The Buddha explicitly rejected the idea of an Atman that was current at the time.

The classic Buddhist teaching talks about the five heaps or the five skandhas. There are forms, feelings, perceptions, mental factors and so on. They all interact with one another. But where is the permanent self amongst them? The Buddha explicitly rejected the idea of an Atman that was current at the time.

It would be misleading to say that the idea of an Atman was a Hindu idea, because Hinduism as such didn't emerge until later. There was a melting pot of ideas and practices going on in the India of that day. The world has seen such intellectual and spiritual melting pots in other places. So let me just give a quick shout out to the work of William Dalrymple.

It would be misleading to say that the idea of an Atman was a Hindu idea, because Hinduism as such didn't emerge until later. There was a melting pot of ideas and practices going on in the India of that day. The world has seen such intellectual and spiritual melting pots in other places. So let me just give a quick shout out to the work of William Dalrymple.

He has been a prolific author, and I've just been reading From the Holy Mountain, which I would recommend to anyone interested in how rich and varied the intellectual life of, for that matter, the Western world is. has been before it became flattened out by some very narrow later interpretations of Christianity and Islam. But I digress, as we used to say when I was at school.

He has been a prolific author, and I've just been reading From the Holy Mountain, which I would recommend to anyone interested in how rich and varied the intellectual life of, for that matter, the Western world is. has been before it became flattened out by some very narrow later interpretations of Christianity and Islam. But I digress, as we used to say when I was at school.

The point is that the idea of a hard, moralist, eternal Atman was explicitly rejected. This line of thinking developed over time, and a number of Dharmas were identified. Unfortunately, I've got to digress again now to look at this word Dharma.

The point is that the idea of a hard, moralist, eternal Atman was explicitly rejected. This line of thinking developed over time, and a number of Dharmas were identified. Unfortunately, I've got to digress again now to look at this word Dharma.