An Upanishadic View of the Self
(There is no underlying spiritual substance to the self:)
1. everything is in causal relation (a causal chain view of the "everyday" or illusory self)
2. we are free (cf., Advaita Vedanta's view that we are already "liberated" and that we just have to realize it)
3. what we take to be ourselves are just streams of consciousness: a bundle of ideas, experiences, emotions, thoughts, etc.
3 is often generalized to:
Phenomenalism: everything that is is an appearance
and
Idealism: Reality is mind-dependent (No substance.)
Reincarnation?
If there is no underlying self, what can be reincarnated? "Like a flame passed from candle to candle."
Escape from the cycle of birth and death?
Does the saint (arhat) who is no longer reincarnated have life after death?
Buddha: not reborn; not not-reborn. Wrong question.
Analogies:
drop in sea; sea in drop;
dream <-> waking
"Buddha": the awakened one, the one who's awake
Kinds of Buddhism:
Northern (Mahayana)
Southern (Theravada, mislabeled Hinayana)