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Hello to you all. 🙂 And thank you Alex for bringing up such an interesting and central topic!
I agree with Pierre that the question of No-Self versus True Self is subtle enough that it might not be the most relevant distinction in terms of your practice and the progress of your insight. However, overly robust views on Self might reinforce clinging to some extent. I’ll therefore add a few comments on the matter, in case they turn out elucidating or otherwise helpful.
Firstly, like Pierre said (with wonderful quotations, thank you!), the classical Buddhist stance on Self, as well as the stance of TMI, is that there is no kind of Self, not only to be grasped epistemically, but metaphysically as well. There is nothing there – there is no such thing.
Explaining this with the TMI Mind-System Model, consciousness is just a space in which things appear, without there being any monolithic observer or Witness to observe them. The only entities that hear, observe or witness what takes place in consciousness are whatever subminds are tuned into it at any particular moment, and none of those is the Witness or the True Self. In addition to the subminds, there is no one listening. Just like a physical space like a room does not observe or listen to what takes place in the room, but is simply a space where things happen and which various visitors can temporarily enter and observe and listen to while they are there; just so the consciousness is also only a space which does not observe or listen to anything that takes place in it, but is purely and simply the space where things happen, and in which various subminds are temporarily tuned in to project information for other tuned in subminds to receive and react to, and to receive such information themselves.
No one is listening except for the subminds. They come and go, and none of them is the Self. The space does not witness anything; walls have no ears. There is nothing and no one there. It’s empty.
I hope this short description is of some help and interest. 🙂
