Buddha imparted the wisdom that cultivating a "healthy self" stands paramount, while adamantly dissuading the pursuit of an "essential or individualized self." He proclaimed that attachment to a personalized and merit-based selfhood lies at the core of all worldly suffering.
Initially, Buddha grappled with the question of whether a distinct sense of self is intrinsic to human nature or a product of societal constructs. To unravel this enigma, he embarked on a journey across the Indian subcontinent, engaging in dialogues with various philosophers. Yet, these interactions failed to yield satisfactory answers.
His contemporaries often asserted that beings were inherently predisposed to assert dominance and wield power over others. The common populace deemed egoism a natural trait, while the religious inclined believed humanity was burdened with an original sin, binding them to egotism and material attachment.
All these doctrines, at their core, normalized human nature as inherently egocentric, attributing strife, conflict, and suffering to this inherent egoism. Buddha vehemently opposed such perspectives, as they presupposed that human nature was inherently individualistic and people were innately unequal.
Contrary to these notions, Buddha contended that an individualized self is not a natural state but rather a lamentable outcome of unfortunate historical events. In light of this understanding, Buddha crafted a genesis theory, which we present in a modernized
rendition below.
The Evolution of a Fragmented Society
For almost a hundred thousand years, human society evolved in small groups that were based on trust and a feeling of fraternity. Such a high level of trust and fraternity was essential to the survival of such small groups. Accordingly our mind was shaped by evolution to create a selfhood based on mutual recognition.
As we began to settle down with agriculture, these groups became larger, still maintaining trust and cooperation, for several thousands of years. The course of human history started to change at some point, when the first forts were erected. Buddha refers to the dominant groups who formed the first exclusive class as the lord of the lands, in his genesis.
Greed and exploitation took over. Society began to develop complex hierarchies and fragmented groups, with leaders forming a chain of command and control, all the way from top to the bottom. This structure largely continues to exist in the world today, in our homes, in our workplace and in communities where we live.
How did Social Fragmentation create an Individualised Self ?
For millennia stretching almost a hundred thousand years, human society flourished within intimate communities grounded in trust and a profound sense of brotherhood. Such elevated levels of trust and fraternity were not merely incidental but vital for the very survival of these close-knit groups. Consequently, our minds, shaped by the forces of evolution, forged a selfhood rooted in mutual recognition.
With the advent of agriculture, these communities expanded into larger settlements, their foundation still rooted in trust and cooperation, enduring for thousands of years. The trajectory of human history shifted significantly when the first fortifications were erected. In Buddha's conceptualization of genesis, he denoted these dominant groups, who carved out the inaugural exclusive class, as the "lords of the lands."
However, the tides turned, and the insidious forces of greed and exploitation crept in. Society underwent a transformation, giving rise to intricate hierarchies and fragmented factions. Leaders emerged, establishing a hierarchical chain of command and control, a structure persisting to this day, pervading our homes, workplaces, and the communities where we reside.
What is Buddha’s Idea of a Healthy Self ?
According to the teachings of Buddha, a flourishing self possesses the inherent capacity to harmonize our innermost perceptions and external understanding—a harmony that fosters mutual recognition and lays the foundation for a society grounded in fraternity. But what do we mean by subjective and objective awareness?
Vibrant Subjective Awareness: Our subjective awareness grants us an emotional insight into ourselves and others, experienced on a deeply personal level, as if the very essence of our being is intertwined with the unfolding events.
When we cultivate a vibrant subjective awareness, authenticity becomes our guiding light, illuminating our interactions with others, even in the midst of conflict-ridden scenarios. These situations can emerge in various spheres of life—our families, workplaces, or local communities. Within these contexts, a vibrant subjective awareness liberates us from the compulsion to rationalize our separation from others.
Balanced Objective Awareness: Cultivating a balanced objective awareness allows us to view ourselves and others with a sense of detachment and reflection. This perspective enables us to assess our mental states and those of others within the framework of our relationships. It also empowers us to comprehend how disparities in the objective social reality can influence our interactions and shape our connections with others.
Wholesome Sense of Self: Nurturing a wholesome sense of self empowers us to harmonize our subjective awareness amidst the contradictions inherent in the objective social reality. One such contradiction exists in the valuation of our work against the compensation we receive, a paradox that often leads to feelings of alienation and dismay.
A robust sense of self serves as a catalyst for collectively resolving these contradictions in the objective social reality, fostering genuine bottom-up democratic transformations. It equips us to reimagine the governance of fundamental social institutions we inhabit—our families, schools, workplaces, and local and global communities.
On a deeper philosophical plane, a thriving self empowers us to collaboratively transmute our contradictory objective social reality. By synchronizing with our inter-subjective awareness, we work tirelessly for the well-being of one and all, embodying the essence of Buddha's timeless wisdom.
How Individualism and Meritocracy Sabotages a Healthy Self
Buddha's profound insight reveals that an individualized and meritocratic perspective disrupts the natural development of a wholesome self, rendering us prone to misrecognizing and objectifying others.
Crucially, Buddha observed that objectifying others inevitably leads to objectifying ourselves. When we exclude someone from our thoughts and believe we deserve our place while they deserve theirs, we distance ourselves from genuine human connection.
Apathy diminishes our humanity, rendering our self less effective, even in our personal spheres.
Our capacity to reshape our shared social reality based on a collective sense of fraternity, whether within our families, workplaces, or local and global communities, becomes severely constrained.
As our minds rationalize our circumstances, they create a divide between our subjective ideals and the objective social reality. We surrender the possibility of change, allowing an individualized and meritocratic self to reconstruct a fractured society, marred by conflict and suffering.
How we do we break out of this situation ?
Buddha's teachings illuminate the initial step toward liberation from an isolated sense of self: the extinguishing of the flames ignited by three powerful urges within our consciousness. These drives—self-gratification, self-annihilation, and self-maintenance—must be transcended to attain freedom.
In the pursuit of spiritual freedom, one reaches a selfhood devoid of essentialism (Annata). In this liberated state, the self no longer craves distinctiveness that excludes others or hungers for notions of merit and superiority. By embracing the middle way, the self is redefined to encompass and treasure the other, engaging in an eternal transformation of both self and other (Annica).
A wholesome self fosters mutual recognition, internalizing the other and transcending personal boundaries, leading to a dynamic self shaped through joyful interactions. These amicable exchanges, rooted in friendship (maitri), evoke feelings of immense joy.
Buddha stressed that a non-essential and interdependent self (based on Annata and Annica) is imbued with compassion (Karuna). Such a self acknowledges the distinctions between "self" and "other" without excluding the other.
A healthy self perceives that others love themselves as deeply as one loves oneself, recognizing the significance of their pursuit of happiness. Moreover, it cultivates Maitri, a disposition towards happiness, shared through joyful interactions. Maitri entails a genuine struggle against personal and social separateness and a lifelong commitment to the well-being of all sentient beings.
By nurturing the quality of Maitri, the distinction between self and other is cherished. No external validation is necessary, enabling interactions to be inclusive, allowing one to relate to various individuals boundlessly and assimilate diverse perspectives. Buddha discerned that this approach alone could cultivate human connections and realize the objective of universal fraternity.
Maitri empowers us to sincerely extend the following wish to others:
"May all beings be happy and secure; may they be joyous in mind. Whatever living beings there may be—feeble or strong, tall or short, big or small, visible or invisible, near or far, born or yet to be born—may they all be truly happy. Let none deceive another, nor despise anyone in any situation. Let no one, through anger or ill-will, wish harm upon another. Just as a mother loves and protects her only child at the risk of her own life, cultivate boundless love towards all beings. Let one’s love pervade the entire world, above and below, across all directions, without any obstruction, without any hatred." — Metta Sutta, Khp 8-9
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