Venerable members of the Sangha,
Venerable fellows,
Valued Upasaka, Upasika,
Dear interested,
"
Is anatta, 'not-self', a tool or real?" was asked outside and my person thought to repeat the answer here as well. May possible mistakes or missing points, for best use for all, out of compassion, be pointed out as well, after sacrifices of time and effort to read about it.
- Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammā-sambuddhassa - No-self, good householder, is a tool, a tool (and as such, one toward real, also fine to call it real, at least where a non-liberated is) to gain "the real", the Unbound, and it's not a tool for intents in the world but used after
First things are clear. Anatta is further not introduced as quality or attribute (
lanka by the Sublime Buddha (a later addition) but used as perception (
sañña), and there 'are' good and bad for liberation and althought perception, remember, as mind aspect is called part of Paramatta-Dhamma, it is not a/the Ultimate truth. Anatta is actually, as a path-tool also not used to struggle with questions whether there is a self or not, and actually there are many kinds of self, but to remind and encourage to investigate whether that of one just graspes is real, lasting, under ones controll, suitable to make or hold it as mine, me, myself. In this way it works as a tool for certain release, as one is already used in regard of outwardly things to take on or let go of this and that to be able to move on. In regard of the objects/phenomenas to be investigated it's, if one looks for himself, actually real so far, neither eye, it's object, touch at the eye, feeling, consciousness, will... are real, lasting, under ones controll, not fit to be regarded as me, mine, myself and therefore one is - if seeing clear, or reasons proper, or has faith that it is that way - able of letting go and release from it. Same holds for ears, nose, tongue, body and intellect, it's objects, touch...
As it is a tool to leave sensual world and even most refined spheres of experianses, it can be seen and used like late Mahathera Chan once gave in simple words (here used in regard of anicca, but also fit to use likewise anatta:
The Broken Glass
You may say, "Don't break my glass!" But you can't prevent something breakable from breaking. If it doesn't break now, it'll break later on. If you don't break it, someone else will. If someone else doesn't break it, one of the chickens will! The Buddha says to accept this. He penetrated all the way to seeing that this glass is already broken. This glass that isn't broken, he has us know as already broken. Whenever you pick up the glass, put water in it, drink from it, and put it down, he tells you to see that it's already broken.
Understand? The Buddha's understanding was like this. He saw the broken glass in the unbroken one. Whenever its conditions run out, it'll break. Develop this attitude. Use the glass; look after it. Then one day it slips out of your hand: "Smash!" No problem. Why no problem? Because you saw it as broken before it broke. See?
But usually people say, "I've taken such good care of this glass. Don't ever let it break." Later on the dog breaks it, and you hate the dog. If your child breaks it, you hate him, too. You hate whoever breaks it — because you've dammed yourself up so that the water can't flow. You've made a dam without a spillway. The only thing the dam can do is burst, right? When you make a dam, you have to make a spillway, too. When the water rises up to a certain level, it can flow off safely to the side. When it's full to the brim, it can flow out the spillway. You need to have a spillway like this. Seeing inconstancy is the Buddha's spillway. When you see things this way, you can be at peace. That's the practice of the Dhamma.
Once clear on the conventional truth of the path-tool, leading to the only real, having applying it already for all in the world of experiances, one, as sublime encouraged in the
raft simile - actually dealing with anatta - has to give up the tools as well, having found a footing on the other shore, for who would carry on a raft, once having gained the secure. But to do not through out the baby with the bath-water, as many do, having got things wrong, not done, gained, the basics, "First things first!" as already linked above.
Liberated, done the task, all those questions are then total clear, and a little taste and release of doubt, will arise if good householder simply investigates one sense of the six after another, for this Dhamma is ehipassiko, not to be real gained in other ways aside of look, and see for oneself.
At least a certain promise of the Sublime Buddha as final encouragement to let go of the question as raised, on faith for now, and to get to the essence of the path:
SN 25.1: Cakkhu Sutta — The Eye