What is Not Dhamma. - Page 278

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WHAT IS NOT—DHAMMA

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  1. So Brahma is not real and any religion based upon it is useless.
§ 4. Belief in Soul is Not Dhamma

  1. The Buddha said that religion based on soul is based on speculation.

  2. Nobody has seen the soul or has conversed with the soul.

  3. The soul is unknown and unseen.

  4. The thing that exists is not the soul but the mind. Mind is different from the soul.

  5. Belief in soul He said is unprofitable.

  6. A religion based on soul is therefore not worth having.

  7. It only ends in creating superstition.

  8. The Buddha did not leave the question there. He discussed it in all its aspects.

  9. Belief in the existence of soul is as common as the belief in the existence of God.

  10. Belief in the existence of soul was also a part of the Brahmanic Religion.

  11. In the Brahmanic Religion the soul is called Atma or Atman.

  12. In the Brahmanic Religion, Atman is the name given to an entity which was held to be abiding separate from the body, but living inside the body constantly existing from the moment of his birth.

  13. Belief in the soul included other beliefs, connected with it.

  14. The soul does not die with the body. It takes birth in another body when it comes into being.

  15. The body serves as an external clothing for the soul.

  16. Did the Buddha believe in the soul? No. He did not. His doctrine about the soul is called An-atta, no soul.

  17. Given a disembodied soul various questions arise : What is the soul ? Where did it come from ? What becomes of it on the death of the body ? Where does it go ? In what form does it exist “hereafter.”

III

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