Buddhism and Self.

Question:

I follow most of what you teach and recognize the basic tenets of Buddhism, where the prescription is to understand pain and the process to remove it. (The George Harrison lyric, “and because of all their tears, their eyes can’t hope to see, the beauty that surrounds them, isn’t it a pity?” comes to mind) Not that I am suggesting I am a master at it, but it makes very good sense to me.

However, my understanding is that Buddha taught that we did not have a soul and that we (the “I”) are a sort of hologram created by the skandhas. I also understand we know very little of what Buddha actually said. What specific teachings indicate that Buddha or the tradition recognized an individual soul or spirit? I recall stories of him rebuking those who discussed re-incarnation etc.

I can’t resist this story; Someone asked Buddha, “Why have you not taught about the life before and where the soul will go?” To which Buddha replied with something like, “Our lives are like water drops. We fall from the clouds, our birth, and we travel through the sky until we land in the water below or return to the ocean, our death. When we return to the ocean, we are still water but we are not ourselves. We are all one.”

I get that the transient “I” or ego is not the true self, but that the collective life force is. What I don’t see evidence for is the disembodied individual self. In meditation, I have seen myself watching myself, but this could be another division of the brain or transient self, like a hall of mirrors.

Perhaps this teaching is a sect division?