I am a Buddhist and if anyone wants to question my beliefs then they are welcome to do so...

The idea that there is no self is a core part of Buddhist teachings, is it not? It isn't at all surprising that someone who is meditating for the express purpose of finding there is no self actually finds there is no self.

You are basically "discovering" a religious truth that you have already been taught is true. That isn't very much of a proof.

maxdancona wrote:

The idea that there is no self is a core part of Buddhist teachings, is it not? It isn't at all surprising that someone who is meditating for the express purpose of finding there is no self actually finds there is no self.

You are basically "discovering" a religious truth that you have already been taught is true. That isn't very much of a proof.

There is reasoning to help undermine the belief in a self that exists as a thing apart from the functioning of the body/mind.

It is useful to understand what people mean when then have an idea about themselves i.e. the self they guess/believe they are.

Max do you have an idea of what a self is. Many would say it was singular i.e. not more than one e.g. I was born and I am living and I will die. One me, one I, one ego, one self. Would you say there is a single self or multiply selves during a lifetime?

There is reasoning to help undermine the belief in a self that exists as a thing apart from the functioning of the body/mind.

It is useful to understand what people mean when then have an idea about themselves i.e. the self they guess/believe they are.

Max do you have an idea of what a self is? Many would say it was singular i.e. not more than one e.g. I was born and I am living and I will die. One me, one I, one ego, one self. Would you say there is a single self or multiply selves during a lifetime?

By the way, this way of thinking goes against Christianity as well as Buddhism.

igm wrote:

There is reasoning to help undermine the belief in a self that exists as a thing apart from the functioning of the body/mind.

It is useful to understand what people mean when then have an idea about themselves i.e. the self they guess/believe they are.

Max do you have an idea of what a self is? Many would say it was singular i.e. not more than one e.g. I was born and I am living and I will die. One me, one I, one ego, one self. Would you say there is a single self or multiply selves during a lifetime?

That's why I didn't ask you Frank... you won't let a discussion run its course you cut it short. A self would either have to be singular or multiple (as explained to Max in the post above) or both or neither... is that a guess and if so what is the alternative? You talk about logic well that is logical... the self has to be one of those four alternatives unless you can give me another?

Not the "self you are so certain does not exist"...it's the so-called self that "I" cannot find in the form of a substantial phenomenon behind "my" experience. That "self" is only another (in)substantial experience. Notice how our experience at this time rests on the presupposition of two selves interacting. When I was just doing my daily forty minutes of meditation there were only fleeting thoughts and perceptions but no Cartesian sense of a thinker and perceiver.
Do you think there is a self in my garage?

Max, I would not be "meditating" (maybe something else like successful "comtemplating" or "praying") if my sense of self persisted.
And I didn't want to give the impression that only Buddhists meditate. Hindu yogis and Sikhs, Islamic Sufis, Catholic mystics and many other "mystical" religions meditate.
I guess it is foolish to say that there is no self; perhaps it's more accurate to say that the self is insubstantial. It is the nature of the self that is what is studied in meditation and that turns out to be a kind of not-self *or no-mind/mushin in the zen experience). You have to meditate to know what these words mean.

You have to meditate to know what these words mean.

And it makes sense that when Christians meditate for the purpose of feeling the love of God, they feel the love of God

I can give you another.

Frank Apisa wrote:

I can give you another.

Well you haven't and I suspect you won't... the logical examination of whether there is as self apart from the interactions of body/mind is scary for many and it seems you are one of them... no problem but remember selfishness is the root of most of the harm done in this world and selflessness is the root of much of the good done in this world.

Don't say there is no reasoning in Buddhism because I was going to show you reasons regarding the examination of the fiction that is called self and you have shied away from it... again no problem and understandable. According to Buddhism a belief in something that is a fiction is like being in a dream and we suffer in many ways until all fictions are seen for what they are... fiction.