Rebirth and the Western Buddhist - Khamkoo

More documents

Recommendations

Info

68 Rebirth and the Western Buddhist point Q on the Path which is the first point at which it is certain one will not fall again into the lower realms. If Q precedes P, there will be a class of beings who have attained Q but not P and are thus circling forever in the upper samsaric realms without possibility of falling into lower realms. This is contrary to doctrine, therefore Q either coincides with, or is later than, P. Consider now the point R on the Path, preceding P by one thought-moment. Since it precedes P, it follows a person at R must still expect to take infinitely long to reach Liberation. By the same objection as to Q preceding P, he can hardly spend this infinite waiting time poised at R but must fall again to circle in sarrsiira as before. R is thus an ordinary samsaric state through which I have already passed infinite times. Infinite times have I set out on the Path and traversed the first section to arrive at R; infinite times have I reached the impenetrable barrier which divides R from P, and infinite times been turned back to cycle for further endless ages in the six realms. If Buddhas have taught the means by which this frightful wall can be crossed, I have heard it from their lips times beyond number, and it availed me naught. Already I have tried everything-how can I hope for Liberation this . time? If I enter the Path yet again, my chance of following it beyond R is exactly zero. We note also that since each moment there are beings attaining Perfect Enlightenment, infinite beings must already have done so, therefore if each sentient being has always existed, the number of sentient beings must also be infinite. In this case it does not necessarily follow that every one of them has been my mother even if I have been born from a womb or an egg infinite timesmathematically it is perfectly possible that only an infinitesimal fraction have. It is not without reason that Venerable Geshe Rabten frequently mentions 119 it is extremely difficult to persuade oneself that all sentient beings have
Details of Rebirth 69 been one's mother, and recommends Santideva's method of developing Bodhicitta, which avoids the fearsome difficulties of these infinities. One does not have to read many Buddhist texts to become aware of the arbitrariness of the insanely large numbers frequently quoted and the lack of mathematical sophistication of the Buddhist pandits. It seems unlikely they really understood how unbridgeable is the gulf between the finite and the infinite. We can take their "infinities" non-literally when necessary. They are meant to impress on us that we have endured far more existences than we care to think, but surely not to take away all hope of Liberation. 4· The Intermediate State The intermediate state is contemplated in Lam-rim meditations on the mechanism of samsara, as a more straightforward alternative to the twelve links of Dependent Arising (prafftya-samutpiida), and is of natural interest since we all have to pass through it. The majority of earlier Buddhist schools, including the Mahasanghikas and their branches, the Ekavyavaharikas and Kukkupkas, and the Vibhajya-vadins, Mah1sasakas, Dharmaguptakas and Theravadins, denied that there was an intermediate existence (antariibhava) between death and rebirthY 0 - 1 The Theravadin text Visuddhimagga,12 2 and texts by Nagfu:juna 123 and Candraklrti/ 24 teach that the aggregates of the rebirth existence re-emerge immediately, without a gap, in dependence on those of the dying existence when these cease. Nothing whatsoever passes from one existence to the next-it is like one lamp being lit from the flame of another. The Mahiiprajfiiipiiramitii-siistra, 125 attributed to Naga:rjuna, also asserts, in refutation of a claim that a subtle body continues after death to form the body in the intermediate exist-
Page 3:
Rebirth and the Western Buddhist
Page 6 and 7:
First published in 1984 Second edit
Page 9:
Preface to the Second Printing We a
Page 12 and 13:
10 Rebirth and the Western Buddhist
Page 15 and 16:
2 Buddha Taught Rebirth Throughout
Page 17 and 18:
Buddha Taught Rebirth ~5 Bodhisattv
Page 19 and 20: 3 Observational Evidence for the Fa
Page 21 and 22: Observational Evidence for the Fact
Page 35 and 36: 4 Logical "Proofs": the Theory of R
Page 37 and 38: Logical 'Proofs': the Theory of Reb
Page 43 and 44: Logical'Proofs': the Theory of Rebi
Page 49 and 50: 5 Buddhism, Science and Scientism I
Page 51 and 52: Buddhism, Science and Scientism 49
Page 59: Buddhism, Science and Scientism 57
Page 62 and 63: 6o Rebirth and the Western Buddhist
Page 64 and 65: 62 Rebirth and the Western Buddhist
Page 83 and 84: References and Notes 1 Desjardins,
Page 85 and 86: References and Notes 83 29 Story, F
Page 87 and 88: References and Notes 85 57 Wambach,
Page 89 and 90: References and Notes 87 79 St. Anse
Page 91 and 92: References and Notes 89 with more p
Page 93: Wisdom Publications Wisdom is a pub
show all

Rebirth and the Western Buddhist - Khamkoo

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?