Dharmanairātmya
dharmanairātmya (T. chos kyi bdag med ཆོས་ཀྱི་བདག་མེད་; C. fawuwo) is translated as "selflessness of phenomena," "insubstantiality of dharmas," etc. It is one of two types of selflessness identified in the Mahayana; the other being "selflessness of person" (pudgalanairātmya).
These two types of selflessness are two aspects not-self (nairātmya) that are identified in the Mahayana.[1] These two aspects counteract the two types of self-grasping.
Selflessness of individual refers to the absence of "self" among the five aggregates (skandhas).[1]
Selflessness of phenomena refers to the absence of "self" in all other types of phenomena (dharmas).[1] This term refers to the so-called "dharmas" that were defined as truly existent entities in the early Abhidharma treatises. The Mahayana scholars used this distinction to emphasize that there were no truly existing entities; that all entities are dependently arisen.
For example, early Abhidharma scholars believed in indivisible particles as the building blocks for material things. These particles are similar to the Western concept of the atom, which was also originally thought to be an indivisible particle. A key distinction of the Mahayana view (from early Abhidharma thought) is the Mahayana assertion that there are no truly existent particles.
The Mahayanist labelled the belief in such particles as belief in the "self of phenomena."
Realizing that all things (including the so-called "partless particles") are truly non-existent is called realizing "selflessness of phenomena" (dharmanairātmya).
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. pudgalanairātmya.
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University