
Originally Posted by
srivijaya
There's a possibility that rebirth is a loaded and misleading term. The word itself implies 'something' getting re-born.
Buddha talks about the stream of becoming which is terminated upon liberation but not upon ordinary death.
Perhaps there is a distinction to be made between the two?
A pāḷi compound that closely reflects what we use in English as ‘rebirth’ is punabbhavaṃ (puna = again + bhava = to become: ‘to come into existence again’) as found in the Suttanipātapāḷi 3.12: 754 – 755
“Ye ca rūpūpagā sattā,
Ye ca arūpaṭṭhāyino;
Nirodhaṃ appajānantā,
Āgantāro punabbhavaṃ.
Ye ca rūpe pariññāya,
Arūpesu asaṇṭhitā;
Nirodhe ye vimuccanti,
Te janā maccuhāyinoti.
754. ‘Whatever beings are possessed of form, and whatever [beings] live in the formless realm, not knowing stopping, will come to renewed existence.
755. But those people who understand [and renounce] forms, and do not stand firm [1. asaṇṭhītā] in formless things, [and] are completely released in stopping, they leave death behind. [Norman, The Group of Discourses, p. 100]
See pericope @ Itivuttaka 73
With reference to the ‘stream of becoming’ there is Bodhi’s ‘Flowing along the stream of existence’ (bhavasotānusārisu):
71. “Those of great wealth and property,
Even khattiyas who rule the country,
Look at each other with greedy eyes,
Insatiable in sensual pleasures.
72. Among these who have become so avid,
Flowing along the stream of existence,
Who here have abandoned craving?
Who in the world are no longer avid?” [SN. 1:28 – Bodhi]
Both cases are with reference to saṃsāra and operative to both is existence (bhava); with reference to what one does to affect renunciation from or the pursuit of it.
Because the interpretation of these terms are usually preoccupied with metaphysical implications of future life-cycle ‘rebirth’ a direct application of them can be missed.
One helpful example is found in the questions the brāhmaṇa student Ajita brought to the Bhagavā which not only open up the concept of ‘rebirth’ to a practical approach but also represents the earliest scaffolding of what later became Dependant Arising (paṭiccasamuppāda) in the later Nikāyas, less the metaphysical baggage usually attributed to it.
Suttanipāta 5.1. (KN. 5.56) – Ajitamāṇavapucchā
Brāhmaṇa Ajita’s Questions:
“Kenassu nivuto loko, (iccāyasmā ajito)
Kenassu nappakāsati;
Kissābhilepanaṃ brūsi, kiṃsu tassa mahabbhayaṃ”.
“What is the world enveloped in? – asked Venerable Ajita – why is it not visible?
By what would you say is it occluded?
What is its great fear?”
“Avijjāya nivuto loko, (ajitāti bhagavā)
Vevicchā pamādā nappakāsati;
Jappābhilepanaṃ brūmi, dukkhamassa mahabbhayaṃ”.
“The world is enveloped in ignorance – answered the Sublime One –
By greed and negligence it is not visible.
By connivance I say it is occluded.
dukkha is its great fear.”
“Savanti sabbadhi sotā, (iccāyasmā ajito)
Sotānaṃ kiṃ nivāraṇaṃ;
Sotānaṃ saṃvaraṃ brūhi, kena sotā pidhiyyare”
“The rivers torrent is everywhere – said venerable Ajita –
What is the torrents prevention?
Tell me the restraint for torrents?
By what are the torrents dammed?”
“Yāni sotāni lokasmiṃ, (ajitāti bhagavā)
Sati tesaṃ nivāraṇaṃ;
Sotānaṃ saṃvaraṃ brūmi, paññāyete pidhiyyare”.
“Of torrents flowing in the world – answered the Sublime One –
Mindfulness is their prevention.
I will tell you the restraint for torrents;
By wisdom they are dammed.”
“Paññā ceva sati yañca, (iccāyasmā ajito)
Nāmarūpañca mārisa;
Etaṃ me puṭṭho pabrūhi, katthetaṃ uparujjhati.
“Wisdom and mindfulness – said venerable Ajita –
And as for nāma-rūpa sir, answer for me this question;
Where do these cease?”
“Yametaṃ pañhaṃ apucchi, ajita taṃ vadāmi te;
Yattha nāmañca rūpañca, asesaṃ uparujjhati;
Viññāṇassa nirodhena, etthetaṃ uparujjhati”.
“I will reply to the question you asked, Ajita,
Where nāma and rūpa have ceased entirely.
With the cessation of consciousness,
It is here that these cease.”
“Ye ca saṅkhātadhammāse, ye ca sekhā puthū idha;
Tesaṃ me nipako iriyaṃ, puṭṭho pabrūhi mārisa”.
“Of those students who are in agreement on Dhamma,
Sir tell me this when asked,
That of the deportment of the wise.”
“Kāmesu nābhigijjheyya, manasānāvilo siyā;
Kusalo sabbadhammānaṃ, sato bhikkhu paribbaje”ti.
“Not craving for sense-gratification,
Their mind is not agitated.
Skillful in all mental conditions,
The bhikkhu wanders mindfully.”