" 'Illusion of self'? When the torturer tortures and the tortured screams where is the illusion of self? Do both feel each other's pain? Thanks, but I'm going to try to look after my little "self" as long as I've still got it.
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I offer this as a student of classical Buddhist philosophy and not as a practitioner - Brian may disagree.
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It's my understanding the issue is not that the self is an "illusion" as it is impermanent and unfixed, subject to change depending upon ever shifting conditions which shape our perceptions and responses.
The illusion is of a permanent personality construct facing these changing external conditions. This is covered in the 'Questions of King Milinda:
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~rjp31831/nagasena.htm
Non-Buddhists have similar concepts explaining this observation but, unlike Buddhist thought, don't follow them to their logical conclusions regarding the nature of the self.
For example, what happened to the self I was at age 16? We say that I 'grew up' or evolved into adulthood, leaving behind my teen self via time and experience.
Not so different, at least in the beginning, from the Buddhist idea but, as I said, we usually stop at the point of reflecting on change over time and don't take the extra step of considering the full implications.
We're comfortable with the notion of change over time but not with the idea that our personalities may be fundamentally composed of fragile and ever re-arranged thought objects.
DRM