Huineng’s Self-Nature and the Reimagining of Selfhood Beyond Non-Self

Can Buddhism sustain a coherent notion of “self” while affirming the doctrine of anātman (non-self)? This paper argues that it can through the Sixth Patriarch Huineng’s (638–713) concept of self-nature (zìxìng 自性) as articulated in the Platform Sūtra. Huineng reinterprets non-self not as the negation of subjectivity but as its transformation: a shift from substantial selfhood to an immanent capacity for awakening. His vision of self-nature as a non-dual, dynamic awareness, described as “originally pure,” “neither born nor extinguished,” “complete,” “unshakable,” and “capable of generating all dharmas,” grounds ethical and contemplative life without positing a metaphysical ego. This framework reconciles the anātman doctrine with śūnyatā (emptiness) and the two-truths model, providing a coherent foundation for the “agent of awakening” in Buddhist practice. The paper further places Huineng in dialogue with Classical Theism, showing how his immanent conception of awakening complements the theistic notion of transcendent ground. By reframing the “self” as an awakening process rather than a substance, Huineng offers a constructive Buddhist model of subjectivity that bridges practice and realization while avoiding both egoistic attachment and nihilistic denial.