Recently there has been some discussion in the newspaper about the Buddhist doctrine of anatta. In one letter written in response to an article by Prof. Carlo Fonseka, Mr. Leo Fernando mentioned that he failed “to comprehend the logic of the theory” despite reading many books on the subject (The Island, 24, Feb. 2019). I sympathise with him completely. As a monk who strives to explain Buddhism to others I find that many inquirers and new-comers to the religion often express this same bewilderment. As anatta is not just central to the Dhamma but unique to it also, this is seeming a pity. People who otherwise are attracted to the Dhamma sometimes lose interest in it specifically over this doctrine. However, I feel that the problem is not so much the doctrine itself but how it is often presented. I would like to look at three aspects of the anatta that I find is all too often badly presented and causes confusion and doubt.
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