The Buddhist term Anatman (Sanskrit), or Anatta (Pali) is an adjective
in sutra used to refer to the nature of phenomena as being devoid of
the Soul, that being the ontological and subjective Self (atman)
which is the "light (dipam), and only refuge" [DN 2.100]. Of the 662
occurrences of the term Anatta in the Nikayas, its usage is restricted
to referring to 22 nouns (forms, feelings, perception, experiences,
consciousness, the eye, eye-consciousness, desires, mentation, mental
formations, ear, nose, tongue, body, lusts, things unreal, etc.), all
phenomenal, as being Selfless (anatta). Contrary to countless many
popular (=profane, or = consensus, from which the truth can 'never be
gathered') books (as Buddhologist C.A.F. Davids has deemed them
'miserable little books') written outside the scope of Buddhist
doctrine, there is no "Doctrine of anatta/anatman" mentioned anywhere
in the sutras, rather anatta is used only to refer to impermanent
things/phenomena as other than the Soul, to be anatta, or Self-less
(an-atta).
Specifically in sutra, anatta is used to describe the temporal
and unreal (metaphysically so) nature of any and all composite,
consubstantial, phenomenal, and temporal things, from the macrocosmic,
to ...
