Expert: Anandapanyo Bhikkhu - 2/4/2012

Question
Hello Venerable Sir,
         I have been wondering about who is actually mindful of thoughts, emotions, feelings, conciousness etc if there is no self.
 Is a certain aspect of conciousness witnessing another aspect, if so what part of the mind is watching the initial witness? There is undoubtedly a witness aspect in meditation that seems unchanging, could you please clarify. Thank-you.

Answer
Dear Jaz,

The concept you are talking about is Anatta. It is translated roughly to NOT-SELF.

This is a very hard concept to grasp, since our existence relies on ATTA - or SELF.

Instead of getting stuck on WHO is the not self entity, I think it is more prudent to ponder WHY there is NO SELF.

Anatta is commonly translated as “not-self.” What this means is cessation of a “self” or being, cessation of existence in a conventional form, or that ownership cannot exist because all things will cease to be.  

“Not-self” exists just as “self” does - only for a brief period. Not-self and self are two sides of the same coin. Anything that comes into existence, like ourselves, is subject to the three common characteristics suffering, impermanence, and cessation of being.

Now, the reason there is no- (permanent) self is because nothing can stay in a particular form forever, therefore there is no one form that we can designate as ME. However, we keep trying to designate a form, Baby John, Infant John, Toddler John, 5 year old John, 9 year old John, 18 year old John...they are all different people. As a new one arises, the old (version) John is gone. Just like a software update, without the possibility of roll-back.

Therefore in absolute terms, there is no JOHN. Just temporary glimpses of something(someone) we call "John." However, not only in this life, but in the next life, John will change into something else. So, in this life there is no self called John, nor in the next life and so on.

Imagine us getting into a car. Do we consider ourselves THE CAR? No, we are merely someone DRIVING or SITTING in the car. The Wheels are not part of us, nor do they represent us. We do not believe that we are a car....why not? because we get in and out of it, we are not born into it, we can use it and then discard it. Therefore, it is not and can not be considered US (or self).

But to answer your question, who notices the car overheating? who notices the car's tires as flat? Who notice that the car is low on gas? The driver knows the car's situation. Can the driver itself fix all the problems alone? no, the driver has to rely on air from a pump, gas from a gas station or just has to wait for the car to cool down.

The driver in this story represents the consciousness that observes the phenomena that occur. The consciousness itself is not the cause, yet is not free from the results.

I hope I have answered your questions

Sincerely,