The Selfless Mind

Book

This careful analysis of early Buddhist thought opens out a perspective in which no permanent Self is accepted, but a rich analysis of changing and potent mental processes is developed. It explores issues relating to the not-Self teaching: self-development, moral responsibility, the between-lives period, and the 'undetermined questions' on the world, on the 'life principle' and on the liberated one after death. It examines the 'person' as a flowing continuity centered on consciousness or discernment (vinnana) configured in changing minds-sets (cittas). The resting state of this is seen as 'brightly shining' - like the 'Buddha nature' of Mahayana thought - so as to represent the potential for Nirvana. Nirvana is then shown to be a state in which consciousness transcends all objects, and thus participates in a timeless, unconditioned realm. (Source: Routledge)

See especially chapter 10, Bhavaṅga and the Brightly Shining Mind.

Citation	Harvey, Peter. The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvāṇa in Early Buddhism. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004. First published 1995 by Curzon Press. http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/The%20Selfless%20Mind_Personality_Consciousness%20and%20Nirvana%20in%20Early%20Buddhism_Harvey_1995-2004r.pdf.

INTRODUCTION1
Key non-Buddhist concepts1
Key Buddhist concepts2
'Not-Self' and scholars7
Sources9
Methodology11

Part I Exploring the Notion of Selflessness

1. THE QUESTION OF SELF17
Scholars who see a metaphysical Self in the 'early Suttas'17
Uses of the word 'self' (atta) in the 'early Suttas'19
Passages which might indicate the acceptance of a Self21
Nibbāna as not-Self and not related to a Self23
Self as 'not being apprehended'24
A Self beyond 'existence' and 'non-existence'?28
Proof of the impossibility of a Self31
Buddhism and the Upaniṣads on Self33
The status of the 'person'34
Why is Self not denied?: the Buddha and the
Annihilationists38
The 'I am' attitude: its cause, effect and its ending40

2 THE MEANING OF 'NOT-SELF'43
The role of viewing phenomena as not-Self 43
The criteria for Self-hood46
Nibbāna and the Self-ideal51

3 DEVELOPING A SELF WITHOUT BOUNDARIES54
Living with citta as an 'island'54
Developing a 'great self'55
'One of developed self' 57
The Arahat as self-contained and 'dwelling alone'58
The Arahat's boundaryless citta60
The Arahat's boundaryless, self-contained self62

4 PERSONAL CONTINUITY AND RESPONSIBILITY64
The person as a continuity65
Responsibility for actions66
The stability of character traits over lives68
What conserves character traits and the unity of the 'continuity'?72
To what extent are 'continuities' isolated from each other and the world?74

5 MY WORLD AND ITS END78
The Self-world link and the meaning of 'world' (loka)78
The Buddhist perspective on the world79
The undetermined questions83
The undetermined questions on the world 84

6 THE LIFE-PRINCIPLE AND THE BETWEEN-LIVES STATE89
The undetermined questions on the life-principle89
The 'life-principle' accepted by early Buddhism91
Discernment and rebirth95
The question of the intermediary existence (antarā-bhava)98
The nature of the intermediary existence102
The gandhabba: spirit-being of the intermediary existence105

Part II: Saṃsāric and Nibbānic Discernment109

7 THE CENTRALITY OF DISCERNMENT111
The nature and centrality of citta111
A person as discernment and the sentient body116
The vortical interplay of discernment and the sentient body119

8 DISCERNMENT AND CONDITIONED ARISING122
The nature of the constructing activities122
The conditioning of discernment by the constructing activities124
The conditioning of discernment by nāma-rūpa127
Discernment as conditioned by attention129
The conditioning of the sentient body by discernment130
Conditioned Arising as an analysis of the perceptual process134

9 DISCERNMENT AND THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS138
The perceptual process in the 'early Suttas'138
The nature and functions of cognition (saññā)141
The activity of discernment (viññāṇa)143
The functions of discernment in the Abhidhamma 'process of cittas'145
The nature of viññāṇa148
The effect of karma on discernment in the perceptual process151

10 BHAVANOA AND. THE BRlGHTLY SHINING MIND 155 Is the bhavailga concept ruled out by the 'early Sutta' world-view? 155 'Early Sutta' evidence for a bhavailga-type state 151 The meaning of 'bhavailga' 160 The roles of bhavahga 162 The brightly shining citta 166 Freedom from defilements 169 The shining citta and bhavailga 170 The Arahat's ever-shining citta 173 The shining citta and the Buddha-nature 114 The shining citta and the realms of rebirth 111