6.1: What is the Self?

A good beginning question is to address, "what is the Self?" In other words, what makes you you. What makes one identical twin, for instance, different from his or her identical twin? This is an effective example to begin since it immediately discounts appearance; a person's Self is not concerned with facial features, height, weight, hair color, and all the different elements we focus upon when looking in the mirror or meeting someone. The Self is not the body. In addition, the Self is not those physical characteristics commonly used to identify ourselves and prove that an individual is in fact that actual person: a face on a driver's license, a finger print used to open an iPhone, a sample of DNA, or a scan of the iris. A person's body in all its many varied characteristics, therefore, does not define that person nor does is it the individual's Self.

Moreover, when people think of the Self, they are confusing the Self with the empirical self. The empirical self includes that aspect of being which makes human beings different from animals: reason and having a conscience, that inner voice that guides us in decision making. The empirical self is also an individual's beliefs and the totality of one's choices as he or she goes through life and follows or fails to follow one's conscience, as well as all the memories created therein. However, the empirical self is not the Self.

If the body is not the Self, and if the empirical self is not the Self, then just what is the Self? The answer depends upon where the specific religion falls: the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; or those that originated in India and Nepal, Hinduism and Buddhism.

A painted archway depicting Genesis 2:7 at the Lanier Theological Library in Houston

Beginning with the Abrahamic faiths, the Self is understood to be one's soul. In other words, if we have identical twins who (we have to stretch the truth and us our imagination here...) have the same appearance, finger prints, DNA, and even made the same choices in life, their souls would be different. In the faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, what makes you you is your soul. The doctrine is traced to scripture. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all hold man was created from the earth then brought to life by the breath of God: "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature" (Genesis 2:7). This results in the teaching that human beings are created in the image, or likeness, of God, which is also known by the Latin term Imago Dei, image of God: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Genesis 1:27).

Please be aware Imago Dei does not mean human beings resemble or look like God. This is not the case. A good way to understand the difference is to take a selfie with your cell phone. You made an image of yourself. But is that an accurate representation? No. An individual has height, weight, and width; after all, we live in a three-dimensional world, and when we add time, it is truly four dimensions. Look back at your selfie; it is two dimensional. It is an image of you but really does not even come close to truly resembling you. After all, it changes you from a four dimensional being to a two dimensional image. The same is true for Imago Dei - being created in the image of God. In this understanding, the Divine has dimensions of being which are utterly beyond our understanding. After all, in the Abrahamic faiths, God is the Absolute, the Ultimate, the Holy and cannot be made finite and limited by our understanding. This is a good way to understand Imago Dei and how one's soul is one's true Self.

The Abrahamic faiths all teach that after death, one's soul either joins with God in the afterlife or is damned. Though the terms differ, such as Heaven and Paradise, or Hell and Jahannam, the concept is the same. It is important to note the Self in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam only has one life on Earth; it is not reborn.

Om: Signifies the essence of Brahman, the Ultimate

Moving to Hinduism and Buddhism, the answer to the question "What is the Self?" changes since the doctrines and teachings are different. In Hinduism, the Self is known as Atman, or one's innermost soul. One's Atman comes from Brahman, which is the Absolute, the Ultimate. Brahman is ultimately without or beyond attributes. Souls emerge from Brahman and exist separately from Brahman before returning back to Brahman.

While the terms are not synonyms, it is helpful to think of the soul as one's Om: Signifies the essence of Brahman, the Ultimate Atman, one's true Self, and the Atman comes from and ultimately seeks reunion with Brahman, the Absolute.

Here we can see parallels between the Abrahamic faiths and Hinduism; in all the Absolute or actions of the Absolute result in the creation of the Self in individuals. Please note that important and significant differences prevent us from saying the understandings of the Self in these different faiths is the same.

The Buddha as flame

In the case of Buddhism, however, there is neither an Ultimate of Brahman nor an eternal soul, Atman. The Buddha did not teach the Self was something permanent and lasting, seeking reunion with the Ultimate. Instead, he understood the Self as a flickering flame. Imagine a burning candle. The flame is the Self while the candle is the body. The fame is never constant as it burns: it flickers and, as we will see shortly, can jump from one candle to another.

Later, the Buddha's teachings of the Self changed as he realized that since the Self had no aspects of being eternal, it is truly self -- not Self, essentially denying the existence of the Self. A good way to understand this concept is the difference between Self and self. Capitalizing Self is a way of expressing its importance. This is actually an expression of ego. In addition, the Buddha believed and taught there is no permanent core of self since one's personality and aspects of one's being are constantly changing. A good way to understand this teaching is to write down your age, then subtract five or ten years, and think about how different you were then compared to now. Don't just concentrate upon physical elements, which are part of your empirical self, after all. Think about how your personality has changed, as well as your likes and dislikes. With this in mind, we can see how the self really is impermanent and always in flux.

The transmigration of the soul in Hindu art

Hinduism and Buddhism both teach after death, one is reincarnated and given another life. This is also called the transmigration of the soul. It is important to remember this concept is not part of the Abrahamic faiths. For example, neither Moses, Jesus, nor the Prophet Muhammad taught after this life one is granted another. In Hinduism, one's Atman moves into an embryo to be reborn. While in Buddhism it is a bit tricky since the Buddha taught there is no self. It is best thought of as one's essence leaving one's body to be reborn.

Reincarnation is viewed as a negative force, which many readers find confusing. After all, who wouldn't want to have another chance at life since one has grown so wise after decades of maturity? However, this is not true and overlooks the fact that the self or Atman is not to be confused with the empirical self. All that knowledge and all those memories will be lost. In addition, stop and reflect upon the emotional, physical, and mental suffering involved with the first few years of life: the terror of being born, learning to walk, being potty trained, going to a new school as a child; then consider the angst of puberty and being a teenager! The list continues. Both Hindus and Buddhists seek to stop the endless cycle of life, death, rebirth, and more suffering.