philosophico-religious  system".   Rahulo  seems  to

　　   suggest  in not  so abmiguous  term  that  even  the

　　   Brahman-Aatman  concept  of  the  Upani.sads  stands

　　   hereby negated.

　　　　  It is clear that the concept  of the Upani.sadic

　　   Aatman acts as a powerful background  in influencing

　　   the formulations of both the above-mentioned  views.

　　   Conze, (21) on the other hand, propounds a different

　　   theory  which is not connected  with the Upani.sadic

　　   Aatman in any way. He is not sure what notions of an

　　   aataman  were deined  by the Buddha, but he believes

　　   that  these  notions  are  of two  kinds, e.g.i) the

　　   ideas implied  in the use of 'I' and 'mine', and ii)

　　   the  philosophical  opinion  of  the  Saa^mkhya  and

　　   Vaisse.sika.  The basic formula absence of a self is

　　   confined  to the five skandhas, and nothing  is said

　　   either  way about  its existence  quite  apart  from

　　   them.  The Buddha never taught that the self is not,

　　   only that it cannot be apprehended.

　　　　  It is obvious  that the solution  of this knotty

　　   problem  hinges  on the proper understanding  of the

　　   nature of attaa that was rejected by the Buddha.  It

　　   is really  strange  that  none  of the scholars  who

　　   suggested  the equation  of attaa  either  with  the

　　   Upani.sadic   Brahman-Aatman   or  with  some  other

　　   non-buddhist   concepts   ever   tried   to  clearly

　　   enunciate  what this attaa  is.  Any such suggestion

　　   without first defining the concept of attaa is bound

　　   to　　 be　　 methodologically　　 unscientific　　 and

　　   unconvincing.

　　　　  To arrive  at a more  objective  conclusion  the

　　　　 following  approach  may  be suggested.  On the one

　　　　 hand  we should  study  those  materials  from  the

　　　　 Nikaaya and

　　   ────────────

　　   (19) Rahulo. What the buddha taught, p.51

　　   (20) Ibid, p.55

　　   (21) The Buddhist Thought in India, pp.38-39 (George

　　　　   Allen & Unwin, London, 1962)

　　　　　　　　　　　　  P.399

　　   Aagama which are more or less descriptive in nature,

　　   Such  materials  provide  us with legends  and other

　　   informantions about the attaa philosophy dominant in

　　   the  region  where  the  Buddha  was  preaching  his

　　   anattaa doctrine, and so engaged his attention.  The