Anatta-what was buddha denying?
There seems to be lots of interpretation regarding Anatta ( pali not self).some interpret Anatta to be Nihilism, some interpret it to mean as lack of self in phenomena only therby deducing some universal self. To understand Anatta one has to first understand atta/atman and its meaning in Indian brahmanical thought. Atta in pali is same as Atman in sanskrit both denote 'essentialhood'. Vedic philosophy was based on agni/fire oblation sacrifical rituals. In the Vedas , Agni is called Jata-vedas or the knower of all births as he knows the births of all creatures as their indwelling Self(atman). Fire or agni therefore is a metaphor in brahmanical philosophy so as to denote dynamism principle of creation and therefore the idea of motion or cosmos.Fire was considered to have manifested as well as unmanifested(avaykta) state, the manifested was the one with form(akhara) and was the medium to communicate with the Brahman( unmanifested). That unmanifested(avyakta) or Brahman is the es...