The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvana in Early Buddhism

by Peter Harvey

Overview

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 centred 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780700703388
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/28/1995
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; I: Exploring the Notion of Selflessness; 1: The Question of Self; 2: The Meaning of ‘Not-Self'; 3: Developing a Self Without Boundaries; 4: Personal Continuity and Responsibility; 5: My World and its End; 6: The Life-Principle and the Between-Lives State; II: Sa?s?ric and Nibb?nic Discernment; 7: The Centrality of Discernment; 8: Discernment and Conditioned Arising; 9: Discernment and the Perceptual Process; 10: Bhava?ga and the Brightly Shining Mind; 11: Nibb?na as the Timeless ‘Stopping' of the Entire Personality; 12: Nibb?na as a Transformed State of Discernment; 13: Seeking The Tath?gata; 14: Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

'Anyone interested in Buddhism, psychospiritual/yogic processes, and the phenomenology of meditation/ecstasy will unquestionably find this book a treasure trove.' - www.yrec.info

From the Publisher

Harvey's book is full of thought-provoking discussions of various puzzles and points raised by the Nikaayas' understanding of consciousness and personality....[The book's] great virtue is that Harvey continually cites interesting and challenging material from his primary sources; he is also not afraid of those awkward passages that others often overlook or shy away from because they do not fit the received understanding of early Buddhist thought.
— Journal of Buddhist Ethics

Rupert Gethin