Paradigms of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity

Abstract

compare and contrast Christian conceptions of the self with Buddhist ones? Are there discernible paradigm shifts in the development of Buddhist thought? With the desire to address and answer these questions, I have chosen a rather wide topic, a comparison of paradigms of the in Buddhism and Christianity, in order to maintain a certain symmetry of proportion, which, hopefully, will help to clarify the situation. Buddhism and Christianity is used here technically to refer to the two religions-and not East and West-so as to avoid further generalizing the subject under discussion. This is, in a sense, a philosophical discussion of content, if I might apply the word theological to Buddhism as well as to Christianity; my points of departure are drawn especially from the respective scriptural texts and their commentaries. However, because of the vastness of the scope, I do not attempt to cover all the ground, and shall limit myself to a discussion of certain representative views on each side. While preparing this paper, I have had very much in mind Hans Kiing's essay on paradigm change in Christian theology'; it is against this perspective that I shall reflect upon the subject of my choice. The English word self as principle of subjectivity is more closely associated with modern Western philosophy, especially with and since Descartes, than with the Biblical heritage. To refer to the self' is to point to a delimited individual as distinct and separate from the to posit a distance between the subject and the object, the knower and the known. Modern psychology has pushed further this tendency by dwelling on the alienation of the self, not only from others, but also from itself. However, when applied to the study of another tradition, the same word may be used to translate other words, each of