PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION: A contemporary introduction

294 NONMONOTHEISTIC CONCEPTIONS

Hume’s claim is that all his introspection yields is awareness of
independent states – say, a state of being in pain and a state of wondering
where the aspirin went. At another later time, introspection may reveal,
say, a desire for fish and wine and a regret that one forgot to buy either.
What there are, so far as persons go, are such states, and nothing else. In
briefest scope, his line of reasoning goes: I am what I appear to be in
introspective experience; what I appear to be in introspective experience
is this: individual states; hence I am individual states.

Theravada Buddhism

It is well known that this Humean view is shared by various Buddhist
perspectives. A Buddhist text tells us that:

Whether Buddhas arise, O priests, or whether Buddhas do not

arise, it remains a fact and the fixed and necessary constitution

of being that all its constituents are transitory. This fact a Bud-

dha discovers and masters, and when he has discovered and mas-

tered it, he announces, teaches, publishes, proclaims, discloses,

minutely explains, and makes it clear, that all the constituents of

being are transitory... Whether Buddhas arise, O priests, or

whether Buddhas do not arise, it remains a fact and the fixed and

necessary constitution of being, that all its elements are lacking

in an ego [substantial, permanent self-nature]. This fact a Bud-

dha discovers and masters, and when he has discovered and mas-

tered it, he announces, teaches, publishes, proclaims, discloses,

minutely explains, and makes it clear, that all the elements of

being are lacking in an ego.^33

A longer and more familiar passage reads as follows:

Just as the word “chariot” is but a mode of expression for axle,

wheels, chariot-body, pole, and other constituent members,

placed in a certain relation to each other, but when we come to

examine the members one by one, we discover that in the abso-

lute sense there is not chariot; and just as the word “house” is

but a mode of expression for wood and other constituents of a

house, surrounding space in a certain relation, but in the abso-

lute sense there is no house; and just as the word “fist” is but a

mode of expression for the fingers, the thumb, etc. in a certain

relation; and the word “lute” for the body of the lute, strings,

etc.; “army” for elephants, horses, etc.; “city” for fortifications,