“…a fella ain’t got a soul of his own, but only a piece of a big soul, the big soul that belongs to everyone.”
Tom Joad, The Grapes of Wrath.
In the 1940 movie…based on the John Steinbeck novel… the main character, Tom Joad, explains to his mother that even if he loses his life fighting for the poor and oppressed, it will be worth it. See the clip of the movie here… Grapes of Wrath – I’ll Be There Speech (Tom Joad) – YouTube.
Buddhist thought suggests that our idea of “a self” is an illusion, and that our stubborn clinging to an independent, separate, and permanent self is the cause of a great deal of human suffering.
But wait, there’s more. The idea of No Self isn’t just about humans, it applies to all phenomena. In the Buddhist view, nothing…no person, object or occurrence…is separate from anything else. Everything exists because of something else. Everything is interdependent and impermanent.
Talk like a Buddhist… the word for “no self” in Pali is “annata”.
Funny...You Don't Look Buddhist 