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Mapping “Me” and “Mine” onto Modern Psychology

Below is a simple mapping of Bhikkhu Buddhadasa’s explanation of “me / mine” onto modern psychology, using ideas from cognitive science, affective neuroscience, CBT, and mindfulness-based therapies.

Big picture translation

Buddhadasa:
“‘Me’ and ‘mine’ are created when feeling is misinterpreted and clung to.”

Modern psychology:
The sense of self emerges when affective signals are cognitively appraised, identified with, and defended by narrative processes.

In both views, the self is a process, not an entity.

Step-by-step mapping

1. Sense contact → Sensory input

Buddhadasa: Sense contact (phassa)

Psychology:

• Sensory processing (sight, sound, thought)
• Interoception (body sensations, heartbeat, tension)

This stage is neutral. There is no self yet.

2. Feeling → Core affect

Buddhadasa: Feeling (vedanā)

Psychology:

• Pleasant / unpleasant / neutral affect
• Limbic system activation

Experience is emotionally tagged, but still pre-conceptual.

3. Ignorance → Cognitive fusion

Buddhadasa: Ignorance (avijjā)

Psychology equivalents:

• Cognitive fusion (ACT)
• Misattribution of affect
• Naive realism (“this feeling tells me the truth”)

This is the critical error:

“This feeling says something about me or my world.”

4. Craving → Motivation

Buddhadasa: Craving (taṇhā)

Psychology:

• Approach / avoidance motivation
• Dopamine-driven wanting
• Reward prediction loops

Feeling becomes goal-directed.

5. Clinging → Identity formation

Buddhadasa: Clinging (upādāna)

Psychology:

• Narrative self
• Identity attachment
• Schema activation (“this is who I am”)

Examples:

• “This is my success”
• “I am being disrespected”
• “This defines who I am”

Here, “me” is constructed.

6. Birth of “me” → Self-referential processing

Buddhadasa: Birth (jāti) — psychological birth

Psychology:

• Full self-referential loop
• Personal threat and reward framing

Once “me” exists:

• Rumination begins
• Defensiveness appears
• Anxiety or pride follows

7. Suffering → Stress and rumination

Buddhadasa: Suffering (dukkha)

Psychology:

• Chronic stress
• Emotional dysregulation
• Anxiety, burnout, depression

Key insight:
Pain is sensory; suffering is cognitive.

Cessation: how the loop stops

Buddhadasa:
Seeing feeling clearly → no craving → no clinging → no “me”

Psychology:

• Decentering
• Metacognitive awareness
• Cognitive defusion

Shift from:

“I am angry”

to:

“Anger is present.”

This reduces emotional reactivity and disengages the narrative self.

One-line equivalence table

• Feeling (vedanā) → Core affect
• Ignorance (avijjā) → Cognitive fusion
• Craving (taṇhā) → Motivational salience
• Clinging (upādāna) → Identity attachment
• Birth of self → Narrative self activation
• Suffering (dukkha) → Stress and rumination
• Mindfulness → Metacognitive awareness

Core takeaway

“Me” is what the mind does when feeling is taken personally.