Is no soul doctrine (there is no eternal soul) supported in Buddhist suttas?

Upvote:2

"The purification of one's own mind (citta); this is the Doctrine of the Buddha" [DN 2.49]

Yes.

"How is it that one is called a 'Buddha'?...gnosis that the mind (citta) is purified (visuddham)...such is how one is deemed a 'Buddha'." [MN 2.144]

Yes.

[DN 2.157] "Gotama who is steadfast in mind (citta), inherently quelled from all desires the mighty sage has passed beyond. With mind (citta) limitless he no longer bears sensations; illumined and unbound (nibbana), his mind (citta) is definitely (ahu) liberated."

Yes although there is a flaw in this translation about "sensations".

[SN 3.45] "The mind (citta) being so liberated and arisen from defilements, one is fixed in the Soul as liberation, one is quelled in fixation upon the Soul. Quelled in the Soul one is unshakable. So being unshakable, the very Soul is thoroughly unbound (parinirvana)."

No.

"The Soul is Charioteer"[Jataka-2-1341]

No.

"I leave you now, having made my Soul the refuge (saranamatta) DN 2.120

No. The word here is 'self' used in conventional language.

"The Self (atman) as refuge, with nary another as refuge" DN 2.100

No. The word here is 'self' used in conventional language.

[KN J-1441] “The Soul is the refuge that I have gone unto”

No.

“the body cannot pass that gate to fare beyond,..only the Soul (The Self)” -Udana

No.

“Whatever form, feelings, perceptions, experiences, or consciousness there is (the five aggregates), these he sees to be without permanence, as suffering, as ill, as a plague, a boil, a sting, a pain, an affliction, as foreign, as otherness, as empty (suññato), as Selfless (anattato). So he turns his mind/will/spirit (citta, Non-aggregate) away from these; therein he gathers his citta (nous/spirit/mind) within the realm of Immortality (amataya dhatuya). This is tranquility; this is that which is the most excellent!” [MN 1.436]

SN 12.61 states citta, mano & vinnana have the same impermanent nature.

[MN 1.511] “For a long time I have been cheated, tricked and hoodwinked by my citta. For when grasping, I have been grasping onto form, for when grasping, I have been grasping onto feelings, , for when grasping, I have been grasping onto perceptions, for when grasping, I have been grasping onto experiences, for when grasping, I have been grasping onto consciousness.”

SN 12.61 states citta, mano & vinnana have the same impermanent nature.

SN 1.96 “The nihilist…goes to terrible hell…from darkness to darkness”

The nihilist believes in "self" or "soul". Refer to DN 1 & Iti 49.

*[SN 2.17] ‘Nonbeing (asat, natthiti [views of either sabbamnatthi ‘the all is ultimately not’ (atomism), and sabbam puthuttan ‘the all is merely composite (atoms)’ [SN 2.77] both are heresies of annihilationism])'”

The above quote is incomplete.

The nihilist believes in "self" or "soul". Refer to DN 1 & Iti 49.

MN 115 states everything whatsever is an element (dhatu) in Buddhism.

Upvote:4

You don't understand the Buddha, do you... The moment you speak of a "soul", you're done, lost your way to nirvana.

Buddhism is all about "deconstructing" the -words-, thus demolishing all virtual dichotomies, ending the conceptual imputation. Why? Because it is a neutral monism!

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