Ātman

From Tsadra Commons

Key Term ātman
Hover Popup Choices personal self; the self; ātman; bdag; བདག་; self of persons; a self
In Tibetan Script བདག་
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration bdag
Devanagari Sanskrit Script आत्मन्
Tibetan Phonetic Rendering dak
Chinese Script 我; 灵魂
Chinese Pinyin wǒ; línghún
Japanese Transliteration ga
Korean Transliteration a
English Standard self
Karl Brunnhölzl's English Term identity
Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term self
Gyurme Dorje's English Term "self"
Term Type Noun
Source Language Sanskrit
Basic Meaning Though it can simply be used as the expression "I" or "me", in Indian thought the notion of self refers to a permanent, unchanging entity, such as that which passes from life to life in the case of people, or the innate essence (svabhāva) of phenomena.
Has the Sense of The notion of ātman is often equated with the Western notions of an eternal soul.
Related Terms anātman;svabhāva
Definitions
Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism See page 78: In Sanskrit, “self’ or “I,” with a similar range of meanings as the terms possess in English, but used especially to refer to a perduring substratum of being that is the agent of actions, the possessor of mind and body (nāmarūpa), and that passes from lifetime to lifetime.
Rangjung Yeshe's English Term essence, self-entity, identity.