Stepping Out of Self-Deception: The Buddha’s Liberating Teaching of No-Self

Rodney Smith (Lessons from the Dying), a Seattle insight meditation teacher and former hospice director, argues that the core of Buddhist wisdom is the nonexistence of the self (anatta). But even dedicated practitioners find this teaching difficult, he argues: “Through all our techniques and procedures, the sense–of-I remains the cornerstone of our existence.” Focusing on Buddhism’s eightfold path, Smith tries to jolt the reader out of this “belief in a separate self.” He emphasizes the importance of discovery and experimentation, following the Buddha’s dictum of testing principles rather than accepting dogma. A sometimes idiosyncratic terminology reflects Smith’s own journey from reliance on spiritual teachers to detailed investigation. Acute insights mingle with vague abstractions: “We only lose sight of unity; it never leaves us.” He critiques what the late influential Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa considered “spiritual materialism”—attachment to particular methods or experiential states, especially in the Western pursuit of psychological health. Additional concrete examples and tighter editing would have made this book more approachable, but Smith’s examination of a profound teaching is thought provoking. (July)