Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

I classify the teachings on selflessness presented in Early Buddhism into three categories. In the preceding paper, I examined the six types belonging to the first two categories, and in this paper, I focus on the six types that fall into the third category. The types of the first category advocate for a meaning of selflessness that is close to the meaning ‘it's not mine (非我).’ These types are not ontological negatives to the self, but only point to disidentification with empirical phenomena. The three types belonging to the second category criticize speculative views and even regard views or claims about selflessness as objects of overcoming. These types convey a message of not falling into the idea of ‘me’ in any form, while remaining wary of obsession with the concept of selflessness. In contrast, the six types of the third category, which are intensively dealt with in this paper, correspond to the starting point of the metaphysical selflessness discourse. These types attempt a speculative interpretation of selflessness in an objective and universal way. These six types of selflessness were heterogeneous at the time of Early Buddhism, but gradually expanded their influence as they were transmitted to later literary traditions after Early Buddhism. This paper provides sufficient examples to remind us of the general aspects and transformation process of the theory of selflessness in Early Buddhism.