Nairātmya

nairātmya (T. bdag med; C. wuwo) is translated as "selflessness," etc. It is a term used in Buddhist philosophy that is synonymous with "not-self" (anatman).

Nairātmya is used as a noun to refer to the absence of self.

In Buddhist philosophy, two types of selflessness are identified:

• selflessness of self (pudgalanairātmya) - refers to "the absence of a permanent and autonomous entity among the aggregates of mind and body (nama-rupa) that transmigrate from lifetime to lifetime"
• selflessness of phenomena (dharmanairātmya) - refers to "the absence of any kind of enduring element in the factors that make up the universe"

In the Mahayana, these two types of self are used to distinguish between the realization of sravakas and bodhisattvas.

• the sravaka realizes only "selflessness of self"
• the bodhisattva realizes both "selflessness of self" and "selflessness of phenomena"

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University