How to Lose Yourself: An Ancient Guide to Letting Go
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Description
A central tenet of Buddhism is the idea that the self is an illusion and by relinquishing it, our self-centered impulses melt away. But what does it mean not to have a self, and how does one go about ridding oneself of the idea? Drawing from early Buddhist texts and scriptures from the Theravada, Tibetan Indian, and Chinese Zen traditions, this will be the first non-Greco-Roman volume in our Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers (AWMR) series. Jay Garfield, Maria Heim, and Robert Sharf introduce and translate the key texts they individually know best. They show how these texts argue that while we exist as conventionally constituted, interdependent persons, we have no self, or core that makes us who we are. More importantly, they reveal that this approach is not nihilistic, but rather, a positive way of thinking about personal identity, ethics, and our place in the world. -- Provided by publisher.
ISBN
9780691252636; 0691252637
Publication Date
2025
Publisher
Princeton University Press
City
Princeton
Keywords
Self, Religious aspects, Sunyata, Buddhism, Doctrines
Disciplines
Philosophy
Recommended Citation
Garfield, Jay L.; Heim, Maria; and Sharf, Robert H., "How to Lose Yourself: An Ancient Guide to Letting Go" (2025). Philosophy: Faculty Books, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/phi_books/11
Comments
How to lose yourself : an ancient guide to letting go : classical Buddhist texts / selected, translated, and introduced by Jay L. Garfield, Maria Heim, and Robert H. Sharf.