The Buddha taught the nonexistence of eternal Souls in the beings According to him, the world

was bereft of a soul (or God), and so was the case with the microcosm of any living being. It was
neither possible nor believable that an eternal, imperishable and stable soul could exist anywhere
or in any being, when a mere observation showed that beings were subject to change, aging,
decay and death. The only Self that made sense to him was the objective self, which could be
identified with a name and form and possessed a physical Self, and which was made up of the
mind and body. The Anatta was a formation, created by the aggregates of thoughts, memories,
desires, expectations, compassion, attachment, illusion and egoism. It was temporary, perishable
and changeable. Beyond that objective reality of Anatta, there was nothing else such as a
permanent, unchanging, eternal Self. We are not permanent, individual, solid entities. Instead,
we are changing moment to moment, like the water flowing down a mountain stream. Giving
ourselves a fixed name or identity doesn’t make us permanent, it is just a convention we have
come up with so we can talk about ourselves.

Knowledge is power, Understanding that the self is an illusion will help to reconcile the daily
inconsistencies that we may experience in the way we think and behave. We are all too quick to
notice how others can be manipulated, but we rarely appreciate how our own self is equally
under the influence and control of others. That is something worth knowing and watching out
for.

In short, what the Buddha meant was that the body was not the (eternal) Self, the mind was not
the Self, the feelings were not the Self, or anything possessed by them was not the Self. The
notion of Self, the belief that something was mine or yours, was a mere illusion, which arose
from the coming together of aggregates and the formation of a personality and its consciousness.
The consciousness itself was a formation of thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensations, memory,
reason and intelligence. By observing them and understanding their movements, one could
resolve suffering and attain peace and equanimity. The collection of five changing processes,
known as the five aggregates, are: the processes of the physical body, of feelings, of perceptions,
of responses and of the flow of consciousness that experiences them all. When we identify with
the process of the physical body, we get attached to our physical form. When we identify with
the process of our feelings, our perceptions and our responses, we become attached to them. Our
sense of self arises whenever we grasp at, or identify with, these patterns.

The Buddha’s teachings are primarily based upon ideas of human suffering and how
any individual can overcome the constant struggle of trying to remain satisfied with life. While
intense forms of suffering such as sickness, death, depression, anxiety, and addiction are easy to
observe, it is important to look beyond these intense states. He’s first teaching was on the Four
Noble Truths they are the noble truths of inevitable suffering, the cause of suffering, there is an
end of suffering and the end to suffering is contained in the eight fold path. We all experience
suffering Sometimes we lose what we care about, we are separated from those we love, our
bodies fail us as we get older, we feel helpless or hurt, or our lives just seem to be slipping away.
These are all aspects of dukkha, one of the principal teachings of the Buddha. Dukkha means
suffering, discontent, unsatisfactoriness, hollowness, change. The Buddha said, “All I teach is
suffering and the end of suffering.” Suffering in his teaching does not necessarily mean grave
physical pain, but rather the mental suffering we undergo when our tendency to hold onto
pleasure encounters the fleeting nature of life, and our experiences become unsatisfying and
ungovernable. Whenever there is pain of any kind the pain of aggression, grieving, loss,
irritation, resentment, jealousy, indigestion, physical pain if we really look into that, we can find
out for yourself that behind the pain there is always something we are attached to. There is
always something we’re holding on to.

It is also vital to note that while we primarily like to think about the suffering that comes from
negative occurrences, our attachments to and cravings for positive things, people, events, and
circumstances also are a basis for suffering. Because of the impermanent nature of all things,
when we become attached to pleasurable experiences that are constantly changing we undeniably
stay locked in the cycle of suffering. The Buddha taught that we have to face each day, event,
and situation, both positive and negative, with awareness and equanimity. We have to gain the
proper understanding of our reality and remain unattached to even the most pleasurable
experience.