Sati Center for Buddhist Studies

The Buddha teaches that the five aggregates—form, feeling, perceptions, thought-fabrications, and consciousness—are not self. He also teaches, however, that a healthy sense of self is necessary for the practice. This daylong—through readings, talks, and discussions—will attempt to resolve this paradox by focusing on the questions that the Buddha’s self teachings and not-self teachings were and were not meant to answer. In particular, we will focus on how perceptions of “self” and “not-self” are types of action, so that we can understand how and when they are skillful, so that we can get the most use out of them before we let them both go.

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