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◉ Podcast · low-confidence enrichment

Did the Buddha Really Teach That There Is No Self?

By Thanissaro Bhikkhu with James Shaheen · Tricycle Talks

56mReleased 22 Apr 2026Philosophy, Awakening
◉ Listen on Apple Podcasts

Thanissaro Bhikkhu, abbot of the Metta Forest Monastery and a long-standing voice in the Thai Forest tradition, argues that the Buddha's not-self (anattā) teaching is a strategy rather than a metaphysical claim. He distinguishes the canonical position from the popular reading of "no self at all," and examines how the strategic reading reshapes practice around suffering and clinging.

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