The Buddha's Path of Peace - A Step-by-Step Guide - Geoffrey Hunt
15. Right Understanding: Self & Waveform Model
The Buddha's Path of Peace - A Step-by-Step Guide - Geoffrey Hunt
Geoffrey Hunt [+]
University of Surrey
Geoffrey Hunt is Buddhist Chaplain at the University of Surrey, UK. He is now Visiting Professor in Buddhist Ethics at the same university where, before retirement, he was Full Professor in Philosophy of Care, and taught and researched mainly in the field of healthcare and bioethics. From 2008 to 2014 he worked on ethical aspects of nanotechnology for scientific projects of the European Commission. In 2002 he founded, and continues to lead, the lay movement New Buddha Way www.newbuddhaway.org in Surrey, UK.
He has taught meditation in schools, in a prison, a village for the elderly, and an alcohol rehabilitation centre. He has served the Dhamma in hospices, funerals and interfaith events. He has worked in Japan, Nigeria and Lesotho and is a writer and international speaker on ethical issues of health, science and advanced technology. He has published several books in the field of professional ethics. He is married to Rev. Beverley Hunt, an Anglican minister.
He has taught meditation in schools, in a prison, a village for the elderly, and an alcohol rehabilitation centre. He has served the Dhamma in hospices, funerals and interfaith events. He has worked in Japan, Nigeria and Lesotho and is a writer and international speaker on ethical issues of health, science and advanced technology. He has published several books in the field of professional ethics. He is married to Rev. Beverley Hunt, an Anglican minister.
Description
Two vivid models are used in this chapter to elucidate the Buddha’s vision of ‘not-self’. This vision presents things including persons as not (at a deeper level) having a separate, discrete essence or ‘self’. And that is despite the strong illusion that most human beings share of the universe as a vast container containing many distinct objects including you and me. One model is that of that of rolling waves and the other is the slipping of a slipknot. The question is also addressed, ‘Does the Buddha reject the idea of a soul?’