Eka = One: On the unreasonable effectiveness of consistency in sutta translation

[sujato]

@anders

The term atthattā is translated “the self exist absolutely”. Why have you added absolutely here?

I’ve discussed this previously:

Not-self and no-self and possibly non-self. Totally different

As others have noted, the distinction between “not-self” and “no-self” is not found in Pali. It’s a straw man argument, as no knowledgeable translators actually translate anattā as “no self”. It is always used in the sense of “something is not self” and “no self” wouldn’t work. Having said which, Thanissaro’s writings on this subject are unreliable. When he says: he is simply wrong. This has been pointed out many times, for example by Ven Bodhi in his footnote for this sutta, SN 44.10: Prob…

I’ll make this into a post of its own, as it is an important issue.