The Problem of Self-identity

Abstract

One of the haunting problems that has dogged Theravāda Buddhism from very early times is to reconcile the doctrine of anattā with the belief in karma and rebirth. T. W. Rhys Davids, pointing out that the Buddha was led into an untenable situation by, on the one hand, preaching the doctrine of anattā and, on the other hand, accepting the belief in rebirth, says:

We have thus arrived at a deadlock: to save what it holds to be a psychological truth Buddhism rejects the notion of a soul; to save what it holds to be the necessity of justice, it retains the belief in transmigration.¹

The word transmigration is misleading. The Buddhist belief in rebirth or rather rebecoming must be distinguished from the Hindu belief in a transmigrating soul. (I do not mean that Rhys Davids was not aware of this distinction or that he did not know what the Buddhist belief was.) What rebirth meant in the Buddhist context therefore needs some explanation. The Buddhist teaching is that tanhā (thirst, desire, craving), which manifests itself in various ways, is that which gives rise to rebirth. It is the will to live, to exist, to re-exist; it is clinging to existence, striving for existence by way of good or bad actions (Kusalākusalakamma).