The History of Buddhist Thought c16.33

c16.33

But though the mere scheme of the khandhas as constituting the individual is implicitly the denial of something else called an ātman, there is nothing to make it probable that the doctrine was at first termed anattavāda. Aung and Walleser say, “ there can be no doubt that Buddha himself preached the doctrine of anattavāda as one of the most important doctrines, if one only recognizes that the doctrine laid down in the suttas was his own.” If only ! and yet after having posed this if, they leave it in the air and slip from the question as to what is in the suttas and what Buddha himself taught to the harmless statement that “ for Buddhism no acting subject besides action exists and nothing that perceives besides perception.” ²