The Meaning of Anatta and Why It Is Difficult to Understand

Today, I want to explain the great Dhamma jewel called anatta in a way that is easy for you to understand. In truth, anatta is the very heart of the Buddha’s teachings. Yet, it is also a Dhamma that almost everyone finds difficult to grasp. Why? Because throughout our entire lives, we have been living with the view of atta (self). Seeing anatta is like trying to look at something stuck to your back. Even if it were far away, you could still see it with your eyes, but because it is attached to your back, you can never see it. Anatta and atta are two perspectives that differ by one hundred eighty degrees—completely opposite, like the two sides of a sheet of paper that can never face each other.

From the View of Atta to the View of Anatta

Atta is the belief that a person can control results according to their wishes—that things can happen the way one wants. We constantly think, “I do,” “my possessions,” “my body.” This is the causal pattern of the conventional world. When you clap your hands, sound arises; when fire heats water, it becomes hot. We assume that the cause directly produces the effect.

But Anatta is a completely different view. It is the nature that without involving a person's will, the effect arises taking its own nature in accordance with causes. If I were to give an example, try clapping your hands. While the cause of clapping is present, one cannot control it by ordering "Do not make a sound." Nor can one make the sound happen without clapping. Therefore, one has no control over the effect through one's own will; it arises solely in accordance with causes. This is called the nature of Anatta.

The Three Types of Anatta – The Essential Foundations

I mentioned earlier that there are three pathways to understanding anatta. Please remember them carefully.

1. Breaking Down the Physical and Mental Aggregates

We believe this large body is “I.” But it must be analyzed into the four great elements: earth, fire, water, and wind. These elements are natural phenomena constantly changing due to external conditions. Hardness and softness can only be known through the body-door. Seeing something with the eyes and thinking “it is hard” is a mistaken perception. Hardness is merely a characteristic of the earth element, and can only be truly known by wisdom. When we analyze in this way, the sense of “I” collapses.

2. Dependent Origination (Paṭiccasamuppāda)

When causes meet, phenomena arise; when causes cease, they disappear. Before the cause meets, nothing exists. When it arises due to causes, it is merely a conditioned phenomenon—nothing solid to cling to. We want to remove this clinging called upādāna. Light exists because darkness is absent; darkness exists because light is absent. They arise and cease naturally without any self behind them. Seeing this mutual replacement is the correct foundational understanding of anatta.

3. The Anatta of Non-Substantiality

Sensory experiences are like reflections in a mirror—without solidity or substance, impossible to grasp. This too is anatta. The tactile sensations known through body-consciousness arise only when causes meet. When the cause ceases, the consciousness that knows the sensation also ceases.

The Importance of Mindfulness, Effort, and Concentration

For this understanding to become clear in your mind, you need satipaṭṭhāna. Only when mindfulness, effort, and concentration are strong does wisdom clearly perceive the workings of these natural phenomena. Even if we know the teachings intellectually, without strong mindfulness and effort, they will not become clear in our minds. Without this clarity, we cannot break down the physical and mental aggregates, and the sense of “I” will not fall away.

Non-Control and Natural Functioning

Many people think anatta simply means “things don’t follow my wishes.” But that is not the full meaning. The four great elements are natural phenomena constantly changing due to external conditions. They do not follow anyone’s wishes; they cannot be controlled; they function according to their own nature. Therefore, the characteristic of anatta is non-control, non-conformity to personal will, and natural functioning.

The Path and the Goal

To explain anatta properly, we must first understand sense objects. Otherwise, we will cling to them as a solid self for our entire lives. When causes meet, phenomena arise; when causes cease, they disappear. This is the foundation. Before causes meet, nothing exists. When causes cease, nothing remains. This is anatta. This is also dependent origination. They are the same.

We must not get lost in words but learn to see these natural processes correctly. We must understand the arising, the presence, the practice, the removal, and the cessation of phenomena. When we understand arising, practice follows. When practice follows, removal becomes possible. When removal is complete, cessation (nirodha) occurs.

Relying on Oneself

Some ask, “What benefit is there in practicing the Dhamma?” It is like learning to ride a bicycle, drive a car, or ride a motorcycle. If you cannot do these things, you must rely on others. But if you can do them yourself, you no longer depend on anyone. In the same way, if you penetrate the natural truths of cause and effect, impermanence, suffering, and non-self, you will not need to rely on anyone throughout saṃsāra. This is a great blessing.

Conclusion

Anatta is simply shifting from the view of Atta to the view of Anatta. Seeing Nibbana means seeing Anatta. After avoiding evil and performing good deeds, the instruction "Purify the mind" means not clinging to those Wholesome deeds as "I" or "Mine," but shifting to Anatta. Wisdom will gradually mature. If you hear this repeatedly, you will come to grasp it in your wisdom. One becomes fearless even just by gaining Vipassana Wisdom. If one realizes Path Wisdom (Magga Nana), Fruition Wisdom (Phala Nana), and Nibbana face-to-face, one becomes even more liberated. One obtains all the support and stability of being one's own refuge. One no longer needs to depend on anyone else. One gains such Liberation.

Dr. Soe Lwin (Mandalay)