Understanding anatta via "there are no computer programs" analogy

Neko already explained it pretty well.

The realization of Anatta on an intellectual level, simply cannot happen.

The doctrine of Anatta is too profound. One must realize it through the practice of insight meditation and the gaining of experiental knowledge.

Imagine an onion. An onion has many layers. Intellectual knowledge can only penetrate the top layers. Experiental knowledge can penetrate all the layers, right into the core of the onion. Its the last type of knowledge that one needs to realize the marks of existence and eventually Nibbana.

In Buddhism the concept is there is nothing worthy of identifying as self since you do not exercise absolute control over whatever you identify. Put it another way if there is something which is everlasting and unchanging and within your control you can rightfully call it self but there is no such thing as as everything (5 aggregates) that creates a being is changing.

Ultimate truth is what you realise through meditation which transcends the spear of Perception and Views. Basically what pertains to:

• phenomenon of consciousness (citta)
• associated mentality (cetasika)
• materiality or physical phenomena (rūpa)
• nirvana

A normal person will Perceive oneself as such, but in reality you cannot be exactly what you perceive and also you do not become exactly what you perceive of want to be. (Say a person is 80 but wants the body of a 20 year old.) Hence when you transcend Perception (Sanna) you will realise there is no everlasting controllable part which is worthy to be called or identified as self.

Buddhist concept of non self stems from the contemporary belief system which gave definition and doctrines of the Soul. Since there is not part which is unchanging or immortal or which is completely in your control the Buddha rejected the contemporary definition of Atta hence becoming the doctrine of Anatta. This is what has been translated as non self or no soul to English.

Also see:

• What is the best translation of Anatta into English?
• https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/8669/295
• https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/a/2454/295
• http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/abhidharma/
• http://www.abhidhamma.com/

It's because the understanding you are describing is intellectual. Enlightened understanding of anatta isn't factual, philosophical, or based in analogy. It is a realization. When the veil is lifted, we see it directly. It's like realizing for the first time that you have use of your legs. It puts you in a complete different world.

If a computer program were to realize the truth about itself then:

• It wouldn't be surprised to find bugs (i.e. unwanted behaviour)
• It wouldn't be surprised to find subroutines (encapsulated behaviour)
• It wouldn't be surprised to find side-effects (interactions between this and that)
• It wouldn't be surprised to find that its interactions with other software/programs/systems sometimes work as desired or "designed", and sometimes don't
• It wouldn't resist being upgraded with newer/better versions
• It wouldn't have an inflated view of itself as being more capable than it actually is
• And (possibly) it wouldn't suffer from dukkha

I find it helps to try to relate things back to the core teachings: suffering, the cause of suffering, the extinction of suffering and the way to achieve that. So the relevant teaching here as I understand it is not "there is no self" but rather "clinging to a false sense of self causes suffering."

On its face, "there is no self" is patently false, much like the claim that there is no computer program. There's room here to quibble about language, allowing you to see it one way or the other, but that distracts from the real matter at hand. Suffering is a visceral thing and getting to its root requires delving into the nitty-gritty viscera of this self-delusion. Otherwise "there is no self" is just a word game.