The terminology of the soul (attā): A psychiatric recasting
Among all the beliefs of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, none has stirred more controversy than theanattā doctrine. This teaching suggests that nowhere can a substantial self be apprehended. On the contrary, belief in a fixed, unitive self is to be regarded as an ineluctable condition for the emer...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[1982]
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| In: |
Journal of religion and health
Year: 1982, Volume: 21, Issue: 3, Pages: 206-218 |
| Further subjects: | B
Clinical Practice
B Buddhist Tradition |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
| Summary: | Among all the beliefs of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, none has stirred more controversy than theanattā doctrine. This teaching suggests that nowhere can a substantial self be apprehended. On the contrary, belief in a fixed, unitive self is to be regarded as an ineluctable condition for the emergence of suffering (dukkha). Only when such a truth is grasped by means of wisdom (panñā) can the perennial peace of Nibbāna be found. By providing a model of understanding drawn mainly from psychoanalytic and clinical practice, this essay purports to illumine the pathology of exaggerated self-entitlement (narcissism) rampant during the age of the historical Buddha, and the latter's reaction against it by means of theanattā doctrine. |
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| ISSN: | 1573-6571 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religion and health
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/BF02274180 |
