Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Anatman translates into the English Language as No-Self. The lack of existence of an inherent self, soul, or ego, as described from the viewpoint Buddhist doctrine, evaluation, and belief; (Pali anatta). This is one of the most important philosophical concepts in all of Buddhism, and is recorded as having been one of the primary realizations attained by the Buddha during his enlightenment experience. Anatman is one of the Three Seals of the Buddhist doctrine and belief system which teaches that the empirical ego is merely an aggregation of various elements, and with their disintegration, ego ceases to exist, therefore, ego has no ultimate reality of its own, however, the Nirvana Sutra asserts the reality of the ego in the transcendental realm. The non-Buddhist definition of ego is that it has permanent individuality and is independent or sovereign. External Links Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (log into linked site as guest for User ID) This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.