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  • Published: 15 September 2010
  • ISBN: 9781590307298
  • Imprint: Shambhala
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $38.00

Stepping Out of Self-Deception

The Buddha's Liberating Teaching of No-Self



The nonexistence of a permanent, substantial self is the Buddha's most important teaching--yet many people find it difficult to understand fully. A prominent Insight Meditation teacher presents no-self in a way that's easy to understand and that can radically change your perspective on life.

A prominent Insight Meditation teacher presents the Buddhist concept of “no-self” in an easy-to-understand way that will radically change your perspective on life

Anatta is the Buddhist teaching on the nonexistence of a permanent, independent self. It’s a notoriously puzzling and elusive concept, usually leading to such questions as, “If I don’t have a self, who’s reading this sentence?” It’s not that there’s no self there, says Rodney Smith. It’s just that the self that is reading this sentence is a configuration of elements that at one time did not exist and which at some point in the future will disperse. Even in its present existence, it’s more a temporary arrangement of components rather than something solid.

Anatta is a truth the Buddha considered to be absolutely essential to his teaching. Smith shows that understanding this truth can change the way you relate to the world, and that the perspective of selflessness is critically important for anyone involved in spiritual practice. Seeing it can be the key to getting past the idea that spirituality has something to do with self-improvement, and to accessing the joy of deep insight into reality.

  • Published: 15 September 2010
  • ISBN: 9781590307298
  • Imprint: Shambhala
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 160
  • RRP: $38.00

About the author

Rodney Smith

Rodney Smith is founder and guiding teacher of the Seattle Insight Meditation Society and is a senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. He is retired from a career as a hospice administrator. His first book, Lessons from the Dying, grew out of his experiences in hospice work.

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Praise for Stepping Out of Self-Deception

"Every so often a book appears that revitalizes our understanding of who we are and what our lives are about. Stepping Out of Self-Deception is such a book."--Joseph Goldstein, author of Insight Meditation: The Practice of Freedom