Gombrich/What the Buddha Thought, 5. What Did the Buddha Mean by ´No Soul´?

Introductions to the Buddha's thought usually begin by highlighting two of his ideas: the First Noble Truth, that ´everything is suffering´; and the teaching of No Soul or No Self. So far I have devoted only a few short sentences in the Introduction to those ideas. There I showed that in my view the key to the Buddha's thought is the doctrine of karma and the idea that we are all responsible for ourselves -- an idea that has an important metaphysical aspect but is above all an ethical principle.