The intelligence I am using doesn’t belong to anyone. It is not mine, and it is certainly not ‘me’. It is a whole bunch of mental processes that take place within the body from which I experience the world, but these processes, this body, and this experience are not mine, are not ‘me’.

Not-self is a tricky idea to wrap your head around, and interpretations of what the Buddha meant exactly vary, but to me it is mostly about not taking myself too seriously and being aware that I have a bias towards myself (seeing things from my perspective, assuming things are about me etc). I consider the natural idea/assumption that there is an unchanging, individual ‘me’ running my life and deciding what to do, think and say is incorrect. Intuitive, but incorrect.

I know that’s not what you were talking about, so I was playing with words a little. 😀 Hearing more about how you see the hypothetical atheist who doesn’t believe in God or themselves is helpful though. I agree that self-doubt is a fear-related emotion. But I think there is a way to not believe in the self that has nothing to do with self-doubt, as I tried to describe above.

My non-belief in myself and my non-belief in God are of the same nature. I don’t doubt God because I think he or she might not have the power to help me or the inclination to come through for me or I feel abandoned by God or anything like that. I just don’t think he or she exists. When it comes to the self, same thing.

Sorry for the thread-hijack. I think your approach is sensible, Blissful, and I hope you guys work wonderfully together. <3