The Living Computer
Photo: Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives C06422
“The Buddha’s first words on enlightenment were “Aneka jāti saṃsāraṃ sandhāvissaṃ anibhissaṃ” (Through the round of many births I roamed…). We chant these words every day. How then can one deny some kind of rebirth, whatever intellectual difficulties we face with the concept of anattā?”
~ Response by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu ~
It seems that you have not understood the meaning of the word ‘rebirth.’ Don’t always insist or assume that rebirth means ‘to be reborn in the womb of a mother some place.’ Many people speak only of physical, material rebirth. This is not what the Buddha was talking about. The Buddhist teachings are spiritual, not materialistic, so one must understand the word ‘rebirth’ in a spiritual way rather than a materialistic way. Therefore you should understand that the meaning of what the Buddha was saying was that,
“Before my enlightenment a lot of attā got born in me. Attā kept being born over and over again before the enlightenment. But now that there is full enlightenment regarding life, regarding the Four Noble Truths, there’s no more of this attā being born in me. I’ve torn down and destroyed all the causes and conditions by which attā can be reborn.”
So this is the kind of rebirth that the Buddha was talking about – the rebirth of self, of ego, of attā through ignorance, desire, and attachment. We would never deny that there is such a rebirth, and this understanding of rebirth is not at all in conflict with anattā.
(From the retreat “The Living Computer,” as translated from the Thai by Santikaro)
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Dhamma Questions & Responses sessions were offered by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu in 1990-1991 to foreign meditators attending Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage courses.
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