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Full Idea
Buddhism says nothing of any divine mind and rejects any idea of the soul. The world consists of processes and events. The human sense of self is an illusion; freedom is found in ridding oneself of this illusion.
Gist of Idea
Buddhism has no divinity or souls, and the aim is to lose the illusion of a self
Source
John Gray (Seven Types of Atheism [2018], Intro)
Book Ref
Gray,John: 'Seven Types of Atheism' [Penguin 2019], p.6
A Reaction
I'm not clear why shaking off the illusion of a self is a superior state. Freedom to do what? Presumably nothing at all, since there is no self to desire anything.
| 7600 | The Buddha believed the gods would eventually disappear, and Nirvana was much higher [Buddha, by Armstrong,K] |
| 7601 | Life is suffering, from which only compassion, gentleness, truth and sobriety can save us [Buddha] |
| 7900 | Speak the truth, yield not to anger, give what you can to him who asks [Anon (Dham)] |
| 7904 | The first stage of trance is calm amidst applied and discursive thinking [Ashvaghosha] |
| 7905 | The Buddha sought ultimate reality and the final goal of existence in his meditations [Ashvaghosha] |
| 7909 | The Eightfold Path concerns morality, wisdom, and tranquillity [Ashvaghosha] |
| 7607 | Nagarjuna and others pronounced the world of experience to be an illusion [Nagarjuna, by Armstrong,K] |
| 18990 | Nirvana means safety from sense experience, and hindus and buddhists are just afraid of life [James] |
| 7901 | 'Buddha' just means a person who is fully enlightened about life [Conze] |
| 21832 | Buddhists reject God and the self, and accept suffering as key, and liberation through wisdom [Flanagan] |
| 23058 | Buddhism has no divinity or souls, and the aim is to lose the illusion of a self [Gray] |
| 20766 | Four Noble Truths: life is suffering, caused by attachment, it is avoidable, there is a path [Aho] |