Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

(Readers should see our definitions of nirvana in
Chapter V, C, 6; after which they will understand that
Hinduism has no such ideas and that it is improper to
compare the "higher self" with nirvana.)
c. As we have said, "great self" is used in the sense of
Dharmakaya but there is no doctrine of Dharmakaya in
Hinduism. There is certainly the theory of an
all-pervading self (sutratma) but this is allied with ideas
on the creation of the universe. (First Brahman created
the universe and then he entered into it.) Buddhadharma
never teaches that Gautama Buddha was responsible for
such creation—all Buddhists would laugh at this idea!
Yet many make mistakes even on this point. Our
Dharmakaya is based on the no base of sunyata, but
their "higher self" is rooted in the theory of the god
Brahman. We do not allow any creator, so there is a
great difference here.
As a conclusion, we may say that for the propagation of
Buddhism, including Mahayana doctrines, the term
"great self," even in the sense of sunyata, should not be
used very much, for it results in too much confusion
arising in students' minds. Because of this, in my works
I have never used this term; and it is not frequent in
Buddhist canonical scriptures, being found only in the
Sutra of the Great Passing Away. When we are
Enlightened (that is, in the position of consequence), we
shall know thoroughly the meaning of "great self" as
one of the four virtues of nirvana (the others are
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