Exploring the philosophical concerns of the nature of self, this book draws from two of the most influential Indian masters, Asaa...kara and AsA ntideva. Todd demonstrates that an ethics of altruism is still possible within a metaphysics which assumes there to be no independent self. A new ethical model based on the notions of a flickering consciousness' and a constructive altruism' is proposed. By comparing the metaphysics and ethics of AsA ntideva and Asaa...kara, Todd shows that the methodologies and aims of these Buddhist and Hindu masters trace remarkably similar cross-cutting paths....