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**TimoPizaz** · 04-06-2012, 08:16 AM

From my perspective as a student of neuroscience, I've made a couple of connections between anatta and my area of study. These two excerpts from the Samyutta Nikaya got me thinking...

Samanupassana Sutta: Assumptions (SN 22.47)

"Now, there is the intellect, there are ideas (mental qualities), there is the property of ignorance. To an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person, touched by experience born of the contact of ignorance, there occur (the thoughts): 'I am,' 'I am thus,' 'I shall be,' 'I shall not be,' 'I shall be possessed of form,' 'I shall be formless,' 'I shall be percipient (conscious),' 'I shall be non-percipient,' or 'I shall be neither percipient nor non-percipient.'

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....047.than.html

Assutavā Sutta: Uninstructed (SN 12.61)

"Just as a monkey, swinging through a forest wilderness, grabs a branch. Letting go of it, it grabs another branch. Letting go of that, it grabs another one. Letting go of that, it grabs another one. In the same way, what's called 'mind,' 'intellect,' or 'consciousness' by day and by night arises as one thing and ceases as another."

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....061.than.html
Based on these observations - in text, in my meditation practice, in everyday interactions, in the lab, in the world around me - I've noted a couple of things.

In modern scientific circles, the brain is often argued to be at the root of selfhood, and this holds true to a certain, limited extent. Although our likes/dislikes, predispositions, biases, opinions, personality traits, and sense of distinction from other people can be said to be contained in the brain - wired by means of conditioning and neuroplasticity - the network of connections that make up this cortical seat of consciousness is in no way stable or the same from one moment to the next. Constantly firing in a multitude of directions, the brain's activity gives rise to a wide array of mental happenings. The inner workings of the brain are not still and unmoving. Hence, there is no reason to believe the brain is the absolute epitome of what makes us who we are. There is such a thing as a conventional self that is born and dies, just no lasting Self that is exempt from arising and passing away.

04-06-2012, 08:16 AM	#21
TimoPizaz Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 420 Senior Member	From my perspective as a student of neuroscience, I've made a couple of connections between anatta and my area of study. These two excerpts from the Samyutta Nikaya got me thinking... Samanupassana Sutta: Assumptions (SN 22.47) "Now, there is the intellect, there are ideas (mental qualities), there is the property of ignorance. To an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person, touched by experience born of the contact of ignorance, there occur (the thoughts): 'I am,' 'I am thus,' 'I shall be,' 'I shall not be,' 'I shall be possessed of form,' 'I shall be formless,' 'I shall be percipient (conscious),' 'I shall be non-percipient,' or 'I shall be neither percipient nor non-percipient.' http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....047.than.html Assutavā Sutta: Uninstructed (SN 12.61) "Just as a monkey, swinging through a forest wilderness, grabs a branch. Letting go of it, it grabs another branch. Letting go of that, it grabs another one. Letting go of that, it grabs another one. In the same way, what's called 'mind,' 'intellect,' or 'consciousness' by day and by night arises as one thing and ceases as another." http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....061.than.html Based on these observations - in text, in my meditation practice, in everyday interactions, in the lab, in the world around me - I've noted a couple of things. In modern scientific circles, the brain is often argued to be at the root of selfhood, and this holds true to a certain, limited extent. Although our likes/dislikes, predispositions, biases, opinions, personality traits, and sense of distinction from other people can be said to be contained in the brain - wired by means of conditioning and neuroplasticity - the network of connections that make up this cortical seat of consciousness is in no way stable or the same from one moment to the next. Constantly firing in a multitude of directions, the brain's activity gives rise to a wide array of mental happenings. The inner workings of the brain are not still and unmoving. Hence, there is no reason to believe the brain is the absolute epitome of what makes us who we are. There is such a thing as a conventional self that is born and dies, just no lasting Self that is exempt from arising and passing away.
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