Page:Henry Mulford Tichenor - The Buddhist Philosophy of Life.djvu/24

 22 without power of its own, and cannot spring up of its own effort, nor perform any action. Yet when they mutually support one another It is possible for them to do this.

There is no material that exists for the production of Name and Form. When Name and Form cease they do not go anywhere in space. After Name and Form have ceased, they do not exist anywhere in the shape of stored-up music material. As when a lute is played upon, there is no previous store of sound; and when the music ceases, it does not go anywhere in space. Having previously been non-existent, it came into existence by the structure and stem of the lute, and the work of the performer; and as it came into existence, so it passes away. In the same manner all the elements of being, both corporeal and non-corporeal, come into existence after having previously been non-existent; and having come into existence pass away.

There is not a "self" residing in Name and Form, but the co-operation of the conformations produces what we call a man. Just as the word "chariot" is but a mode of expression for axle, wheels, the chariot-body and other constituents in their proper combination, so a living being is the appearance of the groups with the four elements as they are joined in a unit. There is no "self" in the chariot and there is no "self" in man. This doctrine is true and eternal, that there is no self outside of its parts. This self of ours which constitutes Name and Form is a combination of the