If we arrive at the knowledge that the self at which we grasp is empty, we may imagine this means that we as individuals with personal identities do not exist. But of course this is not the case—our own personal experiences demonstrate that as subjects and agents of our own lives, we certainly exist. So how, then, do we understand the content of this insight into the absence of self? What follows from this insight? We must be very clear that only the self that is being grasped as intrinsically real needs to be negated. The self as a conventional phenomena is not rejected. This is a crucial aspect of the Buddha's teachings on emptiness. Without understanding this distinction, one cannot fully understand the meaning of no-self.
---His Holiness the Dalai Lama---
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