08-08-2010, 12:00 AM
An anecdote will explain this apparent ambivalence between denying and asserting the soul.
The Buddha was once asked by his disciple Vacchagottagotta whether or not there was a self. The Buddha declined to answer, and the disciple left. He later explained his refusal to respond: "If I had answered 'There is a self,' [that would not have been] in accordance with my knowledge that all things are without a self...If I had answered 'There is no self,' then that would have been a greater confusion to the already confused Vacchagottagotta. For he would have thought! 'Formerly indeed I had a self, but now I haven't got one."
The Buddha was once asked by his disciple Vacchagottagotta whether or not there was a self. The Buddha declined to answer, and the disciple left. He later explained his refusal to respond: "If I had answered 'There is a self,' [that would not have been] in accordance with my knowledge that all things are without a self...If I had answered 'There is no self,' then that would have been a greater confusion to the already confused Vacchagottagotta. For he would have thought! 'Formerly indeed I had a self, but now I haven't got one."