The idea of self and not self...are rarely mentioned in the pali Buddhist cannon. When Buddha is asked blankly "is there a self?" Buddha refuses to respond. He said that to hold either a view of "self" or "not self" causes problems. He advises us to turn the attention away from if we exist, if we have a self, and to look exactly at the fear...the clinging...etc. where the suffering is....Then you will be liberated and know what is true. The teaching of Anatta, wasn't to say we don't have a self. It was to show how carrying a definition of who we are...just limits us from seeing what is true...and fixes us to qualities that are not always so. We are more like a bunch of personalities that come and go and change and morph, rather than one continuous personality. So think when you define yourself as an artist...or a cook...or a depressed person...or whatever. These things are subjective and only serve to distract us from the clinging they produce.

Thanissaro Bikkhu on Self:
www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/au...f2.html

for a great audio stream teaching on Self in Buddhism:
www.dharmastream.org/upload/...0801.mp3

[Thank you phalguni, for providing the catalyst for exploration that will only become an opportunity for all members of our community to question their beliefs and grow together]

Namo Buddha, Namo Dharma, Namo Sangha