An Essay on the Not-self, Nothingness, and Being of Consciousness: A Primer on Existential Buddhism

Is there a Self? Is the Self an illusion? Is there a real person that is conscious? Who am I? Although seemingly inconsequential, on these questions hinge over two thousand years of eastern and western philosophical thought. These are questions which we, either consciously or subconsciously, are confronted with whenever we examine our thoughts and beliefs, when we are bored, or in times of distress. For these are existential questions which originate from of the very essence of human consciousness. This book reveals that the confusion with the Self originates with the question itself, and the answer issues from the very nature of consciousness. Although the title of this book appears overambitious, the goal is to succinctly establish the fundamental principle of Existential Buddhism: that the Nothingness and Not-self of human consciousness is experienced as Being.