Buddha Statues and No-self | Anattā | Nonself in Buddhism | 4K

This can be one of the hardest truths for folks to process. Even the text you’re reading now, written by us (not by AI, we promise!) is only a result of the mushy nervous tissue that occupies our skulls. Our brain’s skillful trick: that there ever was an “I.”

Buddhism teaches about the no-self or nonself theory, anattā. A belief totally at odds with everyday norms and systems and planning. It can also trigger a slight panic into nihilism for some when they try to grasp that there's really nothing to grasp. Perhaps we don’t need to be so overwhelmed by it, maybe even a bit relieved. We’re all one giant cosmic structure of life, only thinking our detailed journeys are different, or stand apart.

Our consciousness is integrated with the world surrounding it. All the different sections of our brain developed independently over time, with different motives or desires. It’s why, when you awaken in the middle of the night you feel so divided mentally, as if you suddenly stepped into a fog. Because the “I” that we cling to is simply an illusion and an invention.

Maybe, while still honoring our identities and advocating when they’re under attack, we could also learn to loosen our grip on ego every now and then; returning to our collective state. Trans, nonbinary, cis, gay, hetero, queer, pan, ace: we’re all, to put it in a super cliche way, one. We take different forms, but we all belong within a massive atomic framework. All humans, guinea pigs, bamboo forests, even planet earth itself.