Nagasena

Question 1

We cannot infer identity or person from the use of names or labels

Answer 1

P1: Names are conceptual terms that do not necessarily reflect ultimate reality.
C: We cannot infer identity or person from the use of names or labels (i.e. ‘I’).

Question 2

We are not a fixed self, but a process

Answer 2

P1: The essential elements of a being are the skandhas.
P2: The skandhas are in a constant state of flux.
C: We are not a fixed self, but a process.

Question 3

No essential self can be apprehended

Answer 3

P1: When the Skandhas are present, the denomination Nagasena occurs.
P2: The denomination is not a reflection of ultimate reality, due to annica.
P3: Acceptance of annica leads us to annata, in that there is no persistent self over time.

C: No essential self can be apprehended.

Question 4

There is no continuity of self through rebirth

Answer 4

P1. At rebirth, one dharma arises, while the other stops, but the two processes take place almost simultaneously.
P2: Our existence is thus characterised by a collocation of successive dharmas.
P3: Each act of consciousness is neither the same as the previous one, not completely separate from it.
P4: Our existence is a continuous process of connected (but not identical) acts of consciousness
C: There is no continuity of self through rebirth.

Question 5

Moral responsibility is preserved in the doctrine of non-self through dharma and samsara

Answer 5

P1: All of our conscious acts are connected through dharma.
P2: Despite the fact we not persist as an unchanging self over time, we are not separate from our acts of consciousness due to samsara.
P3: We cannot be absolved from our evil deeds.
C: Moral responsibility is preserved in the doctrine of non-self through dharma and samsara.

Question 6

We cannot infer identity or person from the use of names or labels EVAL

Answer 6

Is there personal responsibility? Problematic implications for morality? I guess there’s karma.

Reveals the error that can occur when we believe the label we ascribe to something does not always reflect reality itself.

Question 7

We are not a fixed self, but a process EVAL

Answer 7

Accounts for changes in self, self as a process in flux, development.

Question 8

No essential self can be apprehended EVAL

Answer 8

Allows for the good life in the sense that it liberates us from the burden of positing a single ego. We recognise the self as an illusion, and thus, ease our suffering.

Question 9

There is no continuity of self through rebirth EVAL

Answer 9

Yep. This is coherent within the belief system that they are operating within.

Question 10

Moral responsibility is preserved in the doctrine of non-self through dharma and samsara EVAL

Answer 10

Kharma saves us.