The Impossibility of a Permanent Self: Embracing Change and Transformation

“If permanent, the Self, like space,

Would clearly have no action

When it encounters other conditions,

What acts on the unchanging?” (Verse 29)

The Contradictory Nature of a Permanent Self

In this thought-provoking verse, Shantideva exposes the logical inconsistencies inherent in the notion of a permanent, unchanging self. He invites us to consider the implications of such a self, and to recognize the impossibility of its existence within the ever-changing flux of conditioned reality.

The verse draws an analogy between the hypothetical permanent self and the concept of space. Just as space is vast, infinite, and unchanging, so too would a truly permanent self be fixed, immutable, and unaffected by the shifting conditions of the world. It would exist independently of the various factors and influences that shape our lives, untouched by the ceaseless dance of cause and effect.

Yet Shantideva points out the absurdity of such a notion, as it would render the self utterly incapable of action or interaction with the world. If the self were truly unchanging, then how could it respond to the myriad conditions and circumstances that it encounters? How could it grow, learn, or…