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Translations of
English self, soul
Pali attā, atta
Sanskrit ātman, atman
Chinese 灵魂
(Pinyinlínghún (soul, spirit))
Japanese アートマン
Tibetan བདག་
(Wylie: bdag;
THL: dak;

Atman (Sanskrit; Pali: atta) refers to the concept of a permanently existing "self" or "soul" that was prevelant in the ancient Indian religious traditions at the time of the Buddha. The Buddha rejected the existence of a permanent self. The Buddha instead describes the self as a collection of continually changing components. This concept of "self" as something that is collection of constantly changing composite parts is called anatman.


Ātman and atta refer to a person's "true self", a person's permanent inner nature.[1] Occasionally the terms "soul" or "ego" are used.

The cognates (Sanskrit: आत्मन्) ātman, (Pāli) atta, Old English æthm, German Atem, and Greek atmo-[2] derive from the Indo-European root *ēt-men (breath).

Early Buddhism

"Atman" in early Buddhism may simply refer to the sense of "I am",[3][4] similar to the pre-Buddhist Upanishads, which link the feeling "I am" to a permanent "Self".[5] Contrary to this, the Buddha argued that no permanent, unchanging "self" can be found.[6][7] All conditioned phenomena are subject to change, and therefore can't be taken to be an unchanging "self".[7] Instead, the Buddha explains the perceived continuity of the human personality by describing it as composed of five skandhas, without a permanent entity.[8][9] This analysis makes it possible to avoid attachment, and is supportive for attaining liberation.[10][11]


Of the early indian Buddhist schools, only the Pudgalavada-school diverged from this basic teaching. The Pudgalavādins asserted that, while there is no ātman, there is a pudgala or "person", which is neither the same as nor different from the skandhas.[9]


Buddha-nature is a central notion of east-Asian (Chinese) Mahayana thought.[12] It refers to several related terms,[note 1] most notably Tathāgatagarbha and Buddha-dhātu.[note 2] Tathāgatagarbha means "the womb of the thus-gone" (c.q. enlightened one), while Buddha-dhātu literally means "Buddha-realm" or "Buddha-substrate".[note 3] Several key texts refer to the tathāgatagarbha or Buddha-dhātu as "atman", self or essence, though those texts also contain warnings against a literal interpretation. Several scholars have noted similarities between tathāgatagarbha texts and the substantial monism found in the atman/Brahman tradition.[15]

See also


  1. Buddha-dhatu, mind, tathagatagarbha, Dharma-dhatu, suchness (tathata).[13]
  2. Sanskrit; Jp. Busshō, "Buddha-nature".
  3. Kevin Trainor: "a sacred nature that is the basis for [beings'] becoming buddhas."[14]


  1. Harvey 1995, p. 51.
  2. atman: definition, usage and pronunciation -
  3. Wayman 1997, p. 531.
  4. Harvey & 1995-b, p. 17.
  5. Harvey & 1995-b, p. 34.
  6. Kalupahana 1994, p. 68.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Harvey 1995, p. 52.
  8. Kalupahana 1994, p. 69-72.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Fischer-Schreiber, Ehrhard & Diener 2008, p. 27.
  10. Harvey 1995.
  11. Kalupahana 1994.
  12. Lusthaus 1998, p. 83.
  13. Lusthaus 1998, p. 84.
  15. Jamie Hubbard, Absolute Delusion, Perfect Buddhahood,University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu, 2001, pp. 99-100


  • Fischer-Schreiber, Ingrid; Ehrhard, Franz-Karl; Diener, Michael S. (2008), Lexicon Boeddhisme. Wijsbegeerte, religie, psychologie, mystiek, cultuur an literatuur, Asoka 
  • Harvey, Peter (1995-b), The Selfless Mind, Curzon Press  Check date values in: |year= (help)
  • King, Sallie B. (1991), Buddha Nature, SUNY Press 
  • Lusthaus, Dan (1998), Buddhist Philosophy, Chinese. In: Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Index, Taylor & Francis 
  • Wayman, Alex (1997), The 'No-self' of Buddhism. In: Alex Wayman, "Untying the Knots in Buddhism: Selected Essays", Motilal Banarsidass Publ. 
  • Yamamoto; Page, Tony (2007 (1973)), The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra (PDF)  Check date values in: |year= (help)

Further reading

External links

This article includes content from the September 2014 revision of Ātman (Buddhism) on Wikipedia ( view authors). License under CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikipedia logo