Christianity & Buddhism
No-Self (Anatta) and the Christian Person
Here Buddhism and Christianity differ at the deepest level. Buddhism teaches anatta: there is no permanent, unchanging self; what we call 'I' is a shifting bundle of processes, and clinging to it causes suffering. Christianity teaches that each person is real, enduring, uniquely loved, and made in the image of God, and will be raised. Both critique the selfish ego; they disagree about whether the self is finally an illusion to see through or a person to be redeemed.
What Buddhism teaches
The doctrine of anatta (Sanskrit anatman, 'non-self') holds that there is no permanent, independent self or soul. What we experience as a self is produced by the five aggregates (skandhas): form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness, constantly changing. The sense of a fixed 'me' is, on this view, a deep and painful illusion, and clinging to it binds us to suffering. To see through it is part of liberation. (This is subtle: Buddhism does not say 'you do not exist,' but that there is no permanent, unchanging self behind experience.)
What Christianity teaches
Christianity holds that the human person is real and enduring, made in the image of God, known and loved by name.
Where they meet
Both traditions sharply critique the grasping, self-centered ego and see it as a source of suffering; both call people beyond selfishness.
Where they part
For Buddhism the permanent self is ultimately an illusion to be seen through; for Christianity the self is a real person, made and loved by God, whose problem is not that it exists but that it is turned in on itself, and whose hope is to be healed, not dissolved. One path releases the self; the other says God loves this self and will raise it.
Buddhist sources: the Pali Canon (Sutta Pitaka) and the Dhammapada (F. Max Müller's 1881 public-domain translation where quoted). Buddhism is diverse (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana); we note where traditions differ. Bible: King James Version. Every reference on this page was checked against its source.
The word itself
anattā (Pāli; Sanskrit anātman) → non-self
Anatta means 'non-self': the teaching that there is no permanent, unchanging soul or self behind our ever-changing experience. It is one of Buddhism's three marks of existence, alongside impermanence (anicca) and suffering (dukkha).
Frequently asked questions
- What does anatta (no-self) mean in Buddhism?
- Anatta means there is no permanent, unchanging self or soul. What we call 'I' is a changing bundle of processes (the five aggregates). Clinging to a fixed self is seen as an illusion that causes suffering. It does not mean 'you do not exist' at all.
- What does Christianity say about the self?
- Christianity teaches that each person is real and enduring, made in the image of God, known and loved individually, and destined for resurrection. The problem is not that the self exists but that it is turned in on itself.
Come and see
Buddhism begins with an honest look at suffering; so does the Gospel, though it answers it differently. The most direct way to know Jesus is to read his words and watch what he does. There is no pressure here.
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