The Types of Teaching on Selflessness (anattan) in Early Buddhism I

Discussions on the meaning of selflessness or anattan have already been conducted in various ways by many scholars. In particular, the interesting theory of ‘selfless rebirth (無我輪廻)’ has gained popularity in the Korean Buddhist academia, and until recently, problems inherent in the logic of ‘selfless rebirth’ have been continuously pointed out. From the critical point of view on the theory of ‘selfless rebirth’, I realized the need to return to the original Buddhist selflessness teaching, and for that reason, I began to work to confirm the specific aspects of selflessness in Nikāyas. This study follows the previous studies that focused on the grammatical cases of the term anattan, and attempts to distinguish the doctrines of selflessness by types while reviewing the phrases or sentences in which the word anattan appears. And this work also includes phrases or sentences in which the word anattan itself does not appear, but can be attributed to selflessness teachings. I believe that the selflessness that existed at the time of Early Buddhism could be subdivided into eleven types under three categories. This paper focuses on the six types of the first two categories. The first three types of selflessness belonging to the first category indicate the fact that the actual meaning of selflessness is close to the meaning ‘it's not mine (非我)’. Among these, there are circumstances where the existence of self is rather accentuated while describing the denial of 'my own,' but cases where the denial of 'my own' is formalized and articulated in the formal meaning of selflessness. The three types belonging to the second category, on the other hand, condemn speculative discourses and even regard these views or claims about selflessness as objects of overcoming. These types highlight the importance of avoiding the concept of self in whatever form, citing conceptual or linguistic limits. I think these six types are the mainstream of selflessness theory in Early Buddhism.