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why is the idea that there is not a single self so important in Buddhist thought

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how does it help end suffering or Dukkha

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the view of some Buddhist scholars:

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while the self will not be found in body, feeling, perception, mental formations or consciousness, that doesn't mean there isn't a self

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some practicing Buddhists find this a more useful teaching instead of the idea that there is no self at all

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the source of our dissatisfaction is craving things and clinging to things

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five aggregates

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1. consciousness

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2. body

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3. feeling

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4. perception

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5. mental formations (e.g. opinions)

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the five aggregates of clinging

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the source of our unsatisfaction of life is

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craving for things

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clinging to things that are not going to last forever

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but clinging has to be mediated by the aggregates

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you don't cling to the powdered donuts themselves but to:

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taste

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positive feeling

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opinions

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all forms of clinging could be eradicated if you can stop clinging to these five aggregates

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Buddha goes through each aggregate and says:

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this is not mine

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this I am not

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this is not myself

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the idea is once you realize that these things are not part of yourself, then you can let go of them

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one becomes dispassionate regarding the five aggregates, and through this will be liberated from suffering

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this, however, leads to a paradox

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once you are "liberated from suffering" where are you on the five-aggregate map?

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it's hard to reconcile and the reason is the concept self is used to think and talk about it

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alternative to resolve the paradox

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maybe he did not mean to assert that there is no such thing as a self at all

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he just says that the self doesn't exist in each of the five aggregates

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he was just saying that you don't have to own these five aggregates

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the teaching of non-self

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the Buddha uses different concepts of self in different contexts

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when talking about the attainment of liberation from suffering

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the concept of the self is the primary obstacle

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thinking that there is some kind of substantial core to our being

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the grasping and clinging to the physical components of our being

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teaches not that there is no self but that all of the objects of clinging are not-self

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one should contemplate each aggregate as not mine, not I, not myself

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in other contexts, e.g. ethical action, and karma and its fruit

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Buddha teaches not that there is a self, but will use the language of selfhood

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e.g. "one is responsible for oneself"

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it is unwise to hold as a true and established view either that there is a self or there is not a self

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book: The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvana in Early Buddhism

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Peter Harvey: "The not-self teaching is not so much a thing to be thought about as to be done."

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we shouldn't try to intellectualize about it, but just do it

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the Buddha says his monks should become disenchanted with every aspect of the self

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disenchanted sometimes translated as:

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estranged from

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repulsed by

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pretty thorough alienation

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in these teachings the Buddha is talking to the monks

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left society in search of truth and liberation

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were prepared to go through very harsh austerities

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most people who practice Buddhism today would like to have more modest goals

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the teachings of the not-self says that there is nothing in the five aggregates that you have to identify with

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this particular hatred, jealousy, or sorrow

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you don't have to think of it as yours

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however, the non-self did become part of Buddhist teaching

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"deeds exist but no doer is found"

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"thoughts without a thinker"

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in meditation you become taken by the fluidity of things

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feeds into the idea that there is no substantial core there