What
makes the Human Blueprint
and
The
Human Genome Project
I
would like to spend a bit more time talking about humans in terms of birth and
death and especially the Human Genome Project which is the greatest scientific
achievement of this century.
In
trying to convince you further about the claw of the law of kamma gripping
sentient beings so tightly that no one can escape, I am about to tread on one
of the most challenging issues of humankind and indeed of this century – the
creation of humanity. The Buddha did not try to answer the question of who
created the first human being like in Christianity. In fact, the Buddha looked
at human birth rather scientifically but with much more wisdom because he could
see and understand so many things that we can’t.
The
Buddha has clearly said that there are three factors to make the birth of a
human being:
1)
a woman has her monthly cycle
2) the meeting between an egg and a sperm
or a conception
3) there is a rebirth consciousness; the
Pali term is patisandhi-vinnana.
When
these three factors are united, there will be a birth.[1]
This kind of concept must be very new to the non-Buddhist. I am sure you have
no doubt about the first two factors of human birth, but the intriguing one is
obviously the third factor. What exactly is patisandhi vinnana or rebirth
consciousness?
According
to the dictionary of Buddhism written by Pra Thepweathee (Prayut Prayuto),
vinnana means consciousness; act of consciousness, soul, spirit. This
translation can confuse a lot of people especially with the western mind. That
is because if you believe in having a soul or spirit, you would relate it to a
non-material entity which is part of this physical life form and can survive
our physical death. In other words, when the physical body has broken down or
died, the soul or spirit still lives on and moves on to another dimension. Of
course, only if you believe so. People also call the soul or spirit a ghost.
As
for consciousness, it is not a soul, spirit or ghost as far as the western and
modern way of thinking is concerned. Although consciousness itself has no real
physical form, people in the intellectual world know it as a fact that
consciousness has a direct connection with the brain which subsequently produces
the whole of our nervous system and the functioning of our body. Therefore, to
the modern way of thinking, consciousness and spirit are not of the same
nature. They are of different natures and are different entities.
However,
to the Buddha, he considered soul, spirit, ghost and consciousness to be of the
same nature and he called them by the one word vinnana. It is obvious that both
cannot be right. But who is the right one, the Buddha or science? At first
glance, science seems to have the upper hand over the Buddha’s approach.
Straight away, our brain tells us that consciousness and ghosts are not and
cannot be the same nature. Consciousness is about the living, soul or ghost is
about the dead and the deceased. Maybe this is exactly the point. But before we
quickly judge that the Buddha’s verdict is wrong, we must investigate this very
carefully. The result may turn out to be in the reverse.
I
need to warn you that this chapter is very complicated, it is because I am
aware that I am writing this book for people who know nothing about Buddhism,
so I cannot jump to talk about the consciousness which is the main issue of
this chapter right away without explaining to you about how the Buddha views
certain things in a way which is totally different from us. By raising each
topic, I have no choice but go through the full scale of explanation. To
understand consciousness or vinnana, it is important that you know about the
five aggregates which constitute our life form – body and mind. That is one of
those five aggregates is the consciousness faculty.
I
told my class that it is true that during the Buddha’s time, there was no
knowledge about how the brain worked but somehow people were more successful in
their way of life. They managed to lead a very happy and peaceful life in just
following the teaching of the Buddha. So, we must investigate how exactly the
Buddha viewed this life form and how he advised his followers to handle and
lead their lives so that they would be able to reach their well-being and harmony.
To
investigate human birth, you must initially know the constitution of this life
form first. The Buddha’s notion of this life form is very different from our
modern way of thinking of which the human brain is the main focus point. Please
do not quickly brush it away but be open-minded and follow carefully.
The
Buddha said that this physical life form is the aggregation of the five khandha
or five elements. They are as follows:
1) Rupa Khandha means the
corporeality. Rupa includes all the elements which make up the physical body.
The brain is classed as Rupa because it is part of this physical body. Most
Buddhists like to think that Rupa means the physical body alone but in fact
Rupa means much more than that. As far as the Buddha is concerned, Rupa refers
to this life form and everything in the universe as one entity.
Why?
It is because this physical body has sense organs - eyes, ears, nose, tongue
and skin, which are the bridges to the corresponding sense objects of sights,
sounds, smells, tastes and objects of touch. The Buddha called the sense
spheres Ayatana. The true meaning
of Ayatana covers both sense organs and sense objects. To make it easier for
you to understand, the Buddha tried to tell us that the sense organs and sense
objects are in fact the same thing. Eyes and sights are the same thing, ears
and sounds are the same thing and so on. Without the eyes, there is no sight,
without the ears, there is no sound and so on. Therefore, the term Rupa doesn’t
cover only our sense organs but covers every sight, every sound, every smell,
every taste and every touch. They are everything from our life form to
everything else in the universe. You have to look at yourself as the centre of
the universe and the way you perceive the universe is through your senses.
Without your senses, the universe does not exist to you although it is still
there and very much exists for other people.
Sometimes
the Buddha replaced the word Rupa with the words ocean or universe. He says
that ocean does not mean just water and universe does not mean just stars in
the sky. Water in the ocean is just one sight and stars in the sky are yet
another sight only. The real ocean is the ocean of sights, ocean of sounds,
smell and so on. The real universe is the universe of sights, sounds, smell and
so on.
I
know it is getting very complicated at this point. Please read very carefully
and try to follow intensely what I am trying to tell you. I have tried to avoid
talking about the sixth sense so that you are less confused but I really have
no choice. Otherwise, I could be accused of twisting the Buddha’s words.
Now,
to us, there are only five sense organs and five sense objects, but to the
Buddha, there are six sense organs and six sense objects. The sixth sense is
the mind (citta) and the sixth sense objects are thoughts and feelings. At this
stage, I just want you to acknowledge the Buddha’s concept of senses that there
are 12 sense spheres or 12 Ayatana altogether and not 10. They are the 6
internal sense organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin and mind, which
correspond to the six sense objects of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects
of touch, and thoughts and feelings. Thoughts and feelings cannot be perceived
by eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin, they can only be perceived through the
mind which makes the mind become the sixth sense organ. This is the first
reason why the Buddha included the sixth sense. Please carefully work this out
whether it is true or not. Although the mind is the formless sense organ, it
has the most important function because it filters all the other senses.
Without the mind or citta, the other senses would not and could not exist on
their own. The mind has to be awake first before the other senses can work.
This is the second reason why the mind becomes the sixth sense organ.
Please
do not confuse this sixth sense with being psychic or telepathic as in the
modern way of thinking. All these paranormal abilities have nothing at all to
do with the meaning of the sixth sense above. I merely explain the sixth sense
above as another sense organ which corresponds to certain sense objects –
thoughts and feelings. If you can work it out that you cannot sense your
thoughts and feelings by using your eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin, you will
understand why the Buddha added the mind as the sixth sense organ. To
understand the sixth sense in this meaning is the gateway to wisdom.
The
significant point that I want you to see is that Rupa is the whole of the
universe and not just this physical body as most Buddhists tend to understand
it. So, although I talk about the aggregation of this life form, the first
aggregate or Rupa Khandha is indeed a human life form which is the same entity
as the rest of the universe.
I
have explained this concept briefly in A Handful of Leaves so that you can have
access to the ultimate truth. It is very important that you understand the term
Rupa in this profound meaning because this is the crucial turning point between
the Buddha’s knowledge and intellectual knowledge which science is based on. If
you take the wrong turn, you can never scratch your itch at the right place,
you will be lost in your mental jungle. And this is what happens to our
intellectual world right now. If you can understand the term Rupa correctly,
you have a better chance of finding ultimate truth. Then, you will realise that
the Human Genome Project is really nothing compared to the Buddha’s knowledge.
To understand the term Rupa, you must not forget the fact of a single hair
hindering the whole mountain.
2) Vedana khandha is the feeling
and sensation, the second aggregate or element which makes up this human life
form. There are both physical feelings and mental feelings. There are three
major types of feelings: a) positive feelings; joy, happiness, etc. b) negative
feelings; grief, sorrow, suffering, etc. c) neutral feelings; no feeling.
3) Sanna-khandha is the cognitive
faculty or the memory box. The ability to recognise things by perception.
Knowing the names of objects, shapes, and colours as well as recognising
feelings and sensations. This is the third aggregate which makes up our life
form.
4) Sankhara-khandha is officially
translated as mental formation or volitional activities. Most Buddhist teachers
will translate this faculty as thoughts or the thinking nature. I will try to
simplify it for you. In other words, this aggregate or faculty is made up of
three professions blending into one – the architect, the engineer and the
builder. This constructing process is the root cause that builds our body and
mind. Whatever we are physically and whatever we feel mentally are the result
of this building faculty which has the architect, the engineer and the builder
all in one. Instead of using timbers, sand and cement like other builders, this
building team uses the materials called Cetasika. I represent it with several
tiny scattered dots……... which are ready to form into a big group of dots……
Cetasika will form into whatever depending on our intention or volition or
kamma. If the intention is good, cetasika will form into good feelings. Vice
versa, if the intention is bad, cetasika will form into bad feelings. If you
think good, you feel good; if you think bad, you feel bad. This big group of
dots or Cetasika, once they have formed, they will become the second aggregate
or Vedana khandha which are mental feelings such as happiness, suffering and
non-feeling. Whatever we feel mentally will affect the making of our physical
body. If the mind is feeling good, the body normally feels good and healthy
too. Vice versa, if the mind is ill and unhappy, the body will be affected
sooner or later. All these makings of the body and the different states of mind
are the result of this constructing faculty or sankhara khandha.
To
extend its duty a bit further, this faculty is also responsible for the
collective behaviour in society and makes the world as it is. This is a very
important faculty that I will talk about again later.
5) Vinnana-khandha meaning
consciousness faculty is the last aggregate making up this human life form. The
consciousness faculty works upon perception. Every time you see, hear, smell,
taste, touch, think and feel, consciousness faculty will act upon those
functions and allow you to be conscious and aware of sights, sounds, smells,
tastes and so on. Without the consciousness faculty, your perceptions do not
work and do not exist. Consciousness will slip away in three events. They are:
a) when you go into a deep sleep without
any dreams,
b) when you undergo surgery and need anaesthetic
or become unconscious due to an accident or illness such as fainting or being
in a state of coma,
c) when you die.
Should
one of those three events happen, your perceptions will cease although you
still have your sense organs and the world of sights, sounds, etc. still exist.
Your individual world or universe will not exist. Sometimes the Buddha called
this faculty ‘perception’ which can be quite confusing but the main reason is
because consciousness works together with each perception.
Although
it is obvious to you that consciousness has a direct connection with the brain,
otherwise doctors couldn't condition it by using anaesthetic, I still must ask
you to brutally abandon this idea.[2]
My argument is that body and mind are one entity, therefore, they must have
something to do together. To find out that the brain can condition the state of
our consciousness is only 25% true as far as I am concerned. To the Buddha,
consciousness is a faculty on its own and apart from the Rupa to which the brain
belongs and has the ability to function on its own without having to tamper
with the brain. That’s why we cannot explain why we can go into a deep sleep
and be woken up by ourselves in which the consciousness naturally disappears
and comes back again on its own. We are all familiar with this natural event.
Without the abandonment of this piece of modern knowledge, it is very difficult
to explain and make all the reasons fit in together. After all, we must admit
that this life form is a very complex and mysterious matter anyway and that we,
modern people, cannot fully understand it yet. The part of our life form that
is most mysterious is indeed our consciousness. What exactly constitutes the
consciousness? We only partially know that it has something to do with the
brain but maybe the brain is not all there is to it as we think. That’s why the
whole issue about the mind is still very much in the dark although science has
moved on quite far in other areas.
However,
I hope you still follow that I am telling you about the five Khandha or the
five aggregates because I was talking about the rebirth consciousness or
patisandhi vinnana which is the third factor of a human birth. That’s why I
need to tell you about the five aggregates (khandha) so that you know about the
consciousness or vinnana in the Buddha’s terms. Once you know about the five
Khanda, maybe we are able to throw some light on the birth of a human being.
The
above five aggregates make up a life form which consists of body and mind. If
you go back to look at them carefully, you will see that there is only one part
that makes up a physical body – Rupa. The other four parts Vedana (feelings),
Sanna (cognition, memory), Sankhara (builder, thoughts) and Vinnana
(consciousness) make up the mind.
To
convince you that the Buddha knows what he is talking about, I want you to
imagine a bottle with liquid in it. The bottle is the Rupa or corporeality or
our physical body. The liquid inside the bottle is the mind which is the
mixture of four different types of liquid blending into one. Talking about the
five aggregates means that the Buddha has the ability to separate those mixed
substances into four individual substances and tell us about each of them very
distinctively in terms of their nature and function.
If
those substances were made from water and other chemicals in a test tube, of
course humans would have no problems, scientists could separate them as they
have done. The point is that this blended liquid is our own mental state,
trapped in this solid life form and we are powerless to learn about it
objectively. That’s why we can only link everything about us to the brain
because it is the only solid part that we can actually learn about. But that is
not it, this is about having the right tool for the right job. I am sorry that
I have to put down the intellectual knowledge so brutally at this point. The
fact is that we humans do not have the right tools to study our own mind.
That’s why our intellectual knowledge is scattered, fragmented and pointless in
a lot of areas. We can live quite easily without a big chunk of our
intellectual knowledge. Therefore, we must rely on the knowledge of the Buddha
to guide us. And this is what I am trying to do.
Now
that you know about the five aggregates or the five Khandha, please pay
attention to the sankhara faculty which is a building team as well as the
consciousness or vinnana faculty. I am trying to get you to be familiar with
these two words and their functions because they link directly to human birth.
Death
consciousness (cuti vinnana)
I
said earlier that our modern way of thinking considers consciousness to be
related to the living whilst soul, spirit and ghost relate to the dead. And I
also said that maybe this was exactly the blind area where we could not fully
understand yet.
Indeed,
in terms of logic, the law of kamma and the cycle of rebirth suggest that we do
not actually die or we do not have a real death. This is absolutely true.
According to the Buddha, the only real death is to get out of samsara for good
and enter Nirvana. Apart from that, any death is not real. At this stage, we
shall leave the real death or Nirvana on one side first and just focus on the
area that causes rebirth.
There
are two words which mean death in Buddhism.
1)
Marana means the death of this physical body. When the body grows old, has
illness, ceases to function, and decays, it regroups with the four basic
elements of earth, water, wind and fire. The Buddha called this marana.
2)
Cuti is a word which refers to the death of the mind. It actually means a
shifting from one existence to another. There are also words like Cuti-citta
and cuti-vinnana which have the same meaning of death consciousness or the last
consciousness before disconnecting from the present life and shifting to the
next life. The Buddha replaced the word citta (mind) with the word vinnana
(consciousness) sometimes. The mind and the consciousness nevertheless are the
same thing.
It
is very clear that marana is the death of the body and cuti is the death of the
mind which has no meaning of death as such; it merely means the shifting out of
one existence to another. The word cuti is used and referred to all through the
Pali canon. Therefore, the words cuti-citta and cuti-vinnana do make a lot of
sense and comply perfectly to the law of kamma and the cycle of rebirth. Those
words prove that there is obviously an entity that survives the physical or
brain death. This non-material entity is in the form of consciousness or
vinnana which is one faculty of our life form according to the five aggregates
or five Khandhas. This is the part that science cannot confirm because it
cannot prove it, but to the Buddha and the Buddhists, this non-material entity
is very much an undisputable fact. Otherwise, where did all those words come
from?
This
is the reason why I asked you earlier to abandon your intellectual knowledge
about the brain being responsible for your consciousness. I am not saying that
the brain has nothing to do with our consciousness. Of course, the brain (which
is part of the Rupa khandha) and consciousness (vinnana khandha) must have some
connection because body and mind are living closely together, but my argument
is that the brain is not the only answer. According to the Buddha’s knowledge,
we have now learnt that even after brain death, the nature of consciousness
somehow is still alive.
Please
do understand that I am talking about this intriguing issue on the ground of my
fully accepting the great mystery of nature, a lot of which we cannot
methodically prove by way of science. I merely go along with the Buddha’s words
because I wholeheartedly have trust in him and in his wisdom. And I am
convinced that he knew about the human life form and the universe far more than
we know about ourselves.
It
is because science cannot prove the existence of this non-material entity,
which in this case has been called soul, spirit or consciousness, that at this
point I think it is quite useful to listen to some genuine out of body
experiences which may explain a great deal about our existence after physical
death. This is the area that will always be left unanswered because no one can
know the real truth. The best we can do is put some trust in those who are
honest and truthful enough to tell us their authentic experiences.
There
was one story that I find most interesting and I have my reasons to believe
that he was speaking the truth. A man in his fifties said he was lying side by
side with his wife in bed and suddenly he had a heart attack. He was powerless
in letting his wife know. Then, he described the moment of death. He said when
death was arriving, all the physical sense organs were shut down completely;
there was no sight, sound and so on. The only sense that was still left open
was the mind and its sense objects of thoughts and mental feelings. When the
struggling ended after a few minutes, he could see himself sitting up by the
side of his bed and stood up. He described his sitting and standing up with the
words ‘very upright’ and ‘as light as feather’. Once he stood up, he could see
his physical body lying still in bed by his wife. He then realised he was dead.
He saw two men waiting for him by the door and he knew that they had come for
him and he had to follow them. His walking was a matter of floating very
lightly a few inches above the ground. He was taken to a place when he was told
that his presence was a mistake. The head man there told his subjects to take
this man to have a peep at both hell and heaven.
“You
might as well have this chance now that you are already here so that you won’t
be complacent when you come back to life and you can tell others too.”
To
cut the story short, his soul did come back to his body and he was alive again.
He felt obliged to tell people his story because of what he knew.
I
have reason to believe the above story because I had a similar experience. It
was about ten years ago and my eldest son’s eighth birthday. The highlight of
the day was for daddy to come home, have a birthday meal and sing happy
birthday to the birthday boy. Every five or ten minutes, little voices would
ask me when daddy would be home. The three boys were so excited. To my relief,
5.30 PM came at last and I began to tell the boys that daddy would be home any
time now. Then, 7.30 passed and still no sign of daddy. That was the longest
two hours of my life when I had to try to explain to my three little boys why
daddy did not come home on his son’s eighth birthday. After a few phone calls,
I found out he had gone to the pub with his friends and gone back to his
friend’s for more chat. That was it. I was not prepared to forgive him, not
when he did that to his little boys. When my husband did come home, I did not
look at his face at all. On the next day, I left my boys and went to spend a
night with my friend. When I came back, I still did not talk to him and didn’t
look at his face at all. I was enraged and tried to think of a way to hurt my
husband. On the fifth day after the incident, I took my three little boys to
another friend’s house and stayed there for two nights without telling my
husband. He was beside himself but managed to track us down. He went to take us
home and I still did not talk to him.
On
that night, I lay down on my son’s bed watching my heart burning with anger and
disappointment. I just could not find enough reasons to cool myself down and
forgive him for what he had done although I wanted my peace back so much. The
pain from the burning of anger was absolutely awful, it was a living hell and I
wanted so badly for it to end. But for some reason, my mind would not back down
and already a week had gone by. No one can sleep in such a turmoil. Neither did
I. I was kind of closing my eyes and dosing on and off.
Then,
at one point, I could see a Buddha image, the one I had on the shrine in my
house, floating at the end of my bed, just about four to five feet off the
ground. My consciousness told me that it was real. I told myself that the
Buddha was here now and I was going to follow him to wherever he would take me
even if it meant the end of the world. My mind was suddenly elated and had a
sense of great joy. I repeatedly said to myself: “Go on, follow the Buddha,
follow the Buddha…” I was fully prepared to go with him wherever he took me.
Then,
I sat up and stood up. Only then did I see my physical body was still lying in
bed. The way I sat up and stood up were exactly like what the man had described
in the above story, ‘very upright’ and ‘as light as feather’!!! I looked at my
physical body on the bed briefly and had no reluctance at all to leave it
behind. Then, I found myself floating following the Buddha image which was
moving as well. I did not move very far and I could see that the Buddha image
took a turn into our bedroom where my husband was sleeping. I followed the
Buddha image and the next thing, I found myself hovering in the most awkward
position by the headboard of our bed and overlooking my sleeping husband. I
looked over his face and he was as if three or four inches away from me. At
that moment, the Buddha image had gone and I began to be scared and was
wondering how on earth I could get back to my body. Then, within seconds, I
found myself opening my eyes while I was still in my son’s bed. I knew right
away that the Buddha had come to help me to make up with my husband. It was 3
am. I sat up in bed and my consciousness indicated no sign of sleep at all. I
was fully awake both physically and mentally.
I
then went into the bathroom, turned on the cold tap, wet a face towel, squeezed
it dry, walked back to our bedroom, turned the light on and slapped that cold
wet towel onto my husband’s face. We had a good talk that night and all my
trouble was lifted from my heart. Our marriage still survives to this day,
thanks to the Buddha!!!
I
never told this story to anyone for a long time. Nevertheless, although I had
this out of body experience, it doesn’t mean that I can explain everything. I
just know that it was not a dream and was not any hallucination or the playing
up of my brain. I simply told you exactly what happened on that night ten years
ago, that’s all there is to it. And I told my story so that I can back up the man’s story above.
I
think the man in the above story could explain the moment of death so vividly.
If that was true, it means that when the physical sense organs are all shut
down because of the breaking down of this physical body (marana), the only
sense that is still working for a short while is the mind or consciousness. His
experience indeed corresponds to what I have heard and read from some well
known Buddhist monks in Thailand. I have heard that once the physical body
(including the brain) has broken down or died, the mind still lives on for a brief
moment before it leaves the body. The sixth sense along with its sense objects
- thoughts and feelings - still functions.[3]
What
is happening at that brief moment is that your mind or citta will retrieve the
major events that you have done in your life as if you are watching your home
video. In fact, dying persons are watching their own thoughts and previous
actions even before the physical death. Then, the mind will cling to the
thoughts and feelings that matter most to them. This is the very brief crucial
moment of your life that will condition where you will be shifting to and to
what kind of existence depending on what kind of thought is taking the front
seat in your mind. That thought will take over your mind or your consciousness
until it leaves your body. That last consciousness is called cuti-citta or
cuti-vinnana or death consciousness.
Now,
I will connect the brief crucial moment above with the different types of kamma
so that you can understand why it is so important for you to do the right thing
for yourself. The four types of kamma – weighty, habitual, proximate and
reserve kamma are the classifications according to the order of ripening of
kamma.
If
you have done some weighty kamma which is the most serious kamma, the weighty
kamma will take the front seat and give results first. The down side of weighty
kamma is killing your mother or father or hurting a Buddha or any holy persons
especially a Pra Arahant.[4] If your death consciousness is taken
over by this thought which contains the karmic force, it is certain that you
will go straight to the lowest of the hells. Pra Devadatta had made several
attempts to kill the Buddha. Although he felt regret for his malicious actions
at the point of death, his near death consciousness could not get over what he
had done to the Buddha and that sent him to hell.
Nowadays,
there is no living Buddha for anyone to hurt but there are still different
levels of holy people around, especially in Buddhist countries. The trouble is
holy persons of the four levels do not walk along the street with halos above
their heads so that we can single them out and treat them properly. They look
normal like the rest of us; the difference is their state of mind. Holy people
will not fight back, or answer back and they won’t reveal themselves either.
Devout Buddhists can only speculate about the holy attainment of certain
teachers. As for holy persons who are not teachers and not known to the public,
there is no way that other people would know. Therefore, people who practice
the four foundations of awareness are normally very careful in the way they
treat people, especially those whom they suspect might have attained holiness.
If you happen to somehow ill treat a Pra Arahant even unintentionally, it is
considered very sinful. To be on the safe side, always treat people well.
The
positive side of weighty kamma is the attainment of jhana or the higher levels
of meditative consciousness. If you die with jhana state of meditation intact,
you will be reborn in the Brahma world or the higher levels of heaven.
Habitual
kamma or regular kamma
Nevertheless, if there is no weighty kamma, the habitual or regular kamma inclines to take the front seat. Habitual kamma is the type of action that you do regularly in your normal life until it becomes your habit both good and bad. You may have the habit of abandoning your five precepts and doing unwholesome acts. You may steal or lie or commit adultery and so on until the unwholesome acts become your regular habit. On the contrary, you may have the habit of giving, loving, caring and doing meditation regularly. Whatever they are both good and bad, this type of kamma will take over your death consciousness and condition your rebirth later as long as you don’t have any weighty kamma.
If
you are in between of doing both good and bad kamma, and one thing more than
the other, your near death moment might be taken over by either type of
thoughts depending on what is on your mind at the time of death. This type of
kamma is called proximate kamma which is that done at the moment of death. It
is very important because it determines the immediate rebirth. It can even
overtake the habitual kamma. Maybe the following story can help you to
understand better.
During
the Buddha’s time, there was a noble lady who loved to do the dana or giving
especially to the Buddha and the Sangha. Everyone knew her as the lady of
maha-dana or the great giver. But for some reason, she once lied to her
husband. In the end she died. Although her habitual kamma was very good and she
undoubtedly deserved to be born in heaven, somehow her death consciousness
retrieved the thought when she had lied to her husband, and her mind was
subsequently taken over by that little bit of guilt. That is called the
proximate kamma and it determines the immediate rebirth. Indeed, this noble
lady was reborn in hell but because it was a minor sin, she only spent 7 days
in hell.
During
those seven days, the husband invited the Buddha and his monks to have meals at
his household. He wanted to know the whereabouts of his kind wife whether she
had gone to heaven. The Buddha knew that his wife had to be in hell for 7 days
and would cuti (shifting from one existence to the other) from hell and be
reborn in heaven after that. The Buddha also knew that if he had told the
husband the truth about his wife’s whereabouts, the man would lose his faith in
doing good deeds. He would certainly think that his wife had done plenty of
good kamma and did not deserve to go to hell. The Buddha could not lie to the
husband either, should he ask about his wife. In the end, the Buddha had to
perform magic by making the man forget to ask the question for the whole of the
7 days. When the eighth day arrived, the wife had already been reborn in heaven
and the husband could remember to ask the Buddha. The Buddha then told the man
that his wife had been born in heaven.
You
too might be put off by the thought that one minor mistake in your lifetime can
send you to hell. It’s true but it is also like a minor offence: whatever the
sentence is will be a very short term. That’s why the noble lady in the above
story only spent 7 days in hell, unlike a criminal offence, for which you have
to serve a much longer sentence. So, your habitual kamma will result in more
substantial consequences.
There
is also another contrasting story of an evil man who hunted animals all his
life. For killing so many beings, he was going to be reborn in a woeful state.
However, his son was an Arahant and, in the last moments before death, helped
him to attain a better rebirth.
This
is the type of kamma that you do with very light intention or a mere casual
action. You do it without meaning much to you. You may walk past a beggar with
your friend. You do not particularly have any sympathy or compassion towards
the poor beggar but because you see your friend put some coins into the
beggar’s bowl and your hand happens to be in your pocket and is touching a coin
so, you take that coin out and drop it into the beggar’s bowl without much
intention of doing a good deed as such. It is more like a casual act. In
England, a great number of English husbands have to go to temple, not because
they want to but because they have to take their Thai wives to pursue their tradition
of making offerings to the monks. While the wives do the offering, they like to
persuade their husbands to hold their hands while they offer the requisites for
the monks or put rice into the alms bowls. This is the kind of behavior that
Thai wives like to do at the temples with their husbands and children who are
born in the Western culture. To the husbands and the children, they may not
particularly want to do this good deed. They do it with very little intention
or they are more or less cajoled into doing it. It is more of a casual act for
them. Therefore, the intention is very weak and light. However, this type of
kamma will be put in reserve. When there is no weighty, habitual or proximate
kamma which incline to give results first, reserve kamma will take the front
seat and give results.
Therefore,
animals which have no chance to do any good kamma may be born as humans again
because of this reserve kamma in the past.
Thai
people have different ways to prepare dying people so that they can have a good
rebirth. In devout families, critically ill patients will certainly have a
chance to listen to dhamma tapes so that their minds can be thinking around the
dhamma and bring peace to their death consciousness. Some very ill patients
will ask their favourite monks to visit and talk them through certain dhamma
topics that they really want to hear and be reminded of. This is all about
guaranteeing that their minds will be taken over by the thought of dhamma at
the point of death. Even to a much lesser degree among the not so devout
people, we still like to whisper into the ears of the dying the words like
Buddha or Arahant. This is to remind the dying to think of the Buddha or Pra
Arahant so that their minds can be at peace and secure for them a good rebirth,
which is indeed a very rich tradition. This is about the proximate kamma or the
kamma that is done at the moment before death which determines the immediate
rebirth.
Not
everyone can take advantage of proximate kamma. There was a story about a dying
woman who heard the word Buddho Buddho whispered into her ear, but she could
not work it out what that meant because she was not a temple goer and did not
have the habit of doing good deeds while she was living. She then took it all wrong
that people were cursing her at the moment of death by saying 'pooto, pooto,'
because pooto is a cursing word in Thai!!!
Therefore,
you must not take it for granted that you are able to carry out proximate kamma
at the point of death. It is better to secure yourself with the good habitual
kamma or the positive weighty kamma.
Telling
the dying not to worry about the family and wealth left behind is almost a
natural thing for people of all religious cultures. If the death consciousness
is taken over by worrying and greed, it is certain that the rebirth will be as
a Peta or hungry ghost. If you have never learnt to let go before while you are
living, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to let go at the moment of
death because it is about mental habits as I have said before.
That’s
why the whole point of my teaching is to train people to let go while they are
living until it becomes a habit. You can also begin to understand why I teach
my Tai Chi students the death drill. It is very important that people should
have some idea of how to handle their mind or consciousness at death so that
they can guarantee a good rebirth.
Since
I have never studied the Abhidhamma which has recorded all the details about
this particular issue, I phoned a monk up just to confirm this transitional
period between the death and rebirth consciousness. How does it work? Ajahn
Maha Supit, who has studied the Abhidhamma, clarified for me that there are
many small details but generally speaking, as soon as the cuti vinnana or death
consciousness has left the physical body, there is no hanging around, it
simultaneously has to find a place for rebirth. In the same way that our
physical body needs a house to live in, our mind or consciousness also needs a
home or a host to live in. Our physical body is indeed one of the types of home
that can host our consciousness. All the different states in samsara from
heavenly beings, humans, animals, peta to hellish beings are the different
types of house that can host the consciousness. Therefore, the death
consciousness or cuti-vinnana will simultaneously become rebirth consciousness
or patisandhi vinnana and go to whatever realm in samsara depending on the
karmic force of that consciousness. This is the general idea of what is
happening after we die.
When
the rebirth consciousness is shifting to the next host or next rebirth,
whatever the host the rebirth consciousness will go to in samsara, it requires
different ways of birth. The Buddha distinctively stated that there are four
different kinds of birth which accommodate the rebirth in every realm of
samsara. They are as follows:
1) Jalabuja, which means womb-born
creature: the beings which require a womb as incubator before birth such as
humans, cows, dogs, cats, etc.
2) Andaja, which means egg-born creature
or the oviparous such as birds, hens, ducks, etc.
3) Samsedaja, which means moisture-born
creature or putrescence-born creatures. I have no clear example at this point.
4) Opapatika, which means spontaneously
born creature, the apparitional. This is the type of being that requires no
gradual growth like the above types of birth. It is simultaneously born into a
full grown creature, such as heavenly beings, deities, hellish beings, peta,
etc.
Let’s
suppose that one’s death consciousness is reborn in human form again. To make
this human’s birth become successful, it comes back to the three factors that I
talked about earlier at the beginning of this chapter. They are: 1) a woman has
her monthly cycle, 2) there is a conception of an egg and sperm and 3) there is
a birth consciousness or patisandhi vinnana.
Now,
you can see the full cycle of rebirth from the moment your consciousness
shifted from your body and come back again. To help you to understand how our
karmic force effects every individual birth, I must talk about dependent
origination which again is another difficult and complicated subject.
The
Buddha told us about the cause of suffering or dukkha through the fact of
dependent origination or Paticca-samuppada. The Buddha pointed out that
suffering can only come about because there is a birth that has ignorance as
the root cause. This concept nevertheless is one of the most profound and
difficult teachings produced by the Buddha. Whether one can get to the bottom
of this concept exactly the way the Buddha intended for us to know or not is
still very much a question. There is a great deal of debate going on among
Buddhist scholars as far as dependent origination is concerned. Therefore, I am
not going to go into much detail because I cannot say that I can get to the
bottom of this concept either. I just want to point out the part how our karmic
force has direct influence on the state of our birth. Hopefully I can
subsequently connect this most profound Buddhist concept to the Human Genome
Project. Whatever course of action scientists are about to take in terms of
genetic engineering, I really think that they should know this fact first so
that they can take it into account.
First
of all, I will write down the 12 dependent factors which begin with ignorance
and end with suffering or dukkha. Then, I can point out the part where I think
they may link to our human birth and the rebirth consciousness or patisandhi
vinnana.
1
/ 2) Dependent on ignorance, sankhara (karmic formation) arises.
3) Dependent on sankhara, vinnana
(consciousness) arises.
4) Dependent on vinnana, body and mind
arise.
5) Dependent on body and mind, the six
sense spheres arise.
6) Dependent on the six sense bases,
contact arises.
7) Dependent on contact, feelings arise.
8) Dependent on feeling, craving arises.
9) Dependent on craving, clinging or
attachment arise.
10) Dependent on clinging or attachment,
becoming arises.
11) Dependent on becoming, birth arises.
12) Dependent on birth, decay, death,
sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair arise.
I
would like you to notice numbers one to four of dependent origination. You
should be very familiar with those few Pali words already because I have used
and explained them to you clearly in this chapter. I have my reasons to believe
that dependent origination depicts human birth from one angle which has
everything to do with our previous kamma. Please remember that we are talking
about a circle of life. That is because samsara is round and circular.
Through
the 12 links of dependent origination, the Buddha explains that the suffering
of life begins from the point of being ignorant or not knowing the ultimate
truth as to the supreme goal of life. The state of ignorance then conditions
the building team or sankhara (no. 2) to build a state of consciousness (no.3)
according to the kamma one has done previously. I suspect that at one stage,
the consciousness or vinnana at no.3 relates to the patisandhi vinnana or the
rebirth consciousness which conditions the formation of body and mind at number
4. This is indeed one angle from which we can interpret dependent origination.
As far as I am concerned, it is most intriguing that the Buddha placed body and
mind, which is the very nature of a human’s life form, at no. 4 on the chain of
dependent origination. This must have some reasons. The way I look at it, those
reasons have been stated clearly that human birth is conditioned by our karmic
force first. Sankhara – mental or karmic formation - forms the state of
consciousness and thus forms the body and mind or human life form.
Unlike
Christianity and science which persistently want to answer the unanswerable
questions about the origin of humankind, the Buddha told us not to search for
such answers. He says there is no way we can find the answer about the
beginning of samsara and who the first living being was. Apart from there is no
use in doing so, one can also be subjected to madness. It wouldn't change
anything if you had the answer because you would still have to do what you have
to do in terms of getting rid of
your ultimate ignorance and getting out of samsara. As far as finding the answer
to the question of the origin of humankind is concerned, I place God’s creation
and Darwin’s theory of Evolution on the same ground but at two extremes. They
are more or less the same in the sense that there is no real answer so far and
there will never be an answer. The Buddha accepted the fact that samsara exists
and we should just get on with it by doing our best to at least live in a
better realm or better still get out of samsara altogether.
If
dependent origination is really the way I interpret above, it means that our
karmic formation or sankhara is responsible for the forming of our physical
body and the make up of our individual genetic coding. This is the reason why
no two humans are the same because everyone’s karmic force is different. This
is the stage that science has not yet answered. It is true that science knows
very well the stage of how genes are responsible for our physical and mental
status but science cannot answer beyond that stage, can it? Scientists do not know why our genes
and DNA come in certain codes in the first place. Why does everyone have their
own pattern of genes and DNA? Indeed karmic formation is the only reason that
can explain why an individual human is born as it is. Why can no two persons be
exactly identical in every way?
Why is one born pretty, ugly, clever, stupid, healthy, sickly, perfect
or deformed? That is because everyone has his or her own thoughts, does his and
her own things or kamma and thus produces his or her own vipaka or result of
kamma. We can see this fact right now in our society. All these factors move
along in a circle and they come round again.
Therefore,
the first three links of dependent origination – ignorance, sankhara (the
building team) and consciousness – are indeed the actual blueprint of the
creation of each human. This human blueprint is indeed the result of our karmic
force. We can say that our own karmic force actually writes that human
blueprint for ourselves. Every life brings along his or her own karmic
formation which subsequently conditions the making up of this life form or body
and mind. It means that by carrying on with your very own actions or kamma in
this life time, you are actually writing the blueprint for your next life. You
are the one who makes what you will be in your next life by doing what you are
doing in this life. This is not about miracles or God as an omnipotent being
creating you. You create yourself. You condition your own destiny. This is the
message that the Buddha wanted to get across to you and I am helping him by
using my own language and approach.
My
talk has now reached a complete circle and I want to plant a seed of doubt into
people’s minds as far as the Human Genome Project is concerned. It may look
like scientists can manipulate the genes for our own benefit but we must ask
whether this is about tampering with nature or not. I really think that the
secret of heaven is so huge and significant that we humans should not
interfere. This is the great mystery of mother nature or God whichever term you
want to use. Humans are not God and we should not put God’s or mother nature’s
work into our own hands. We are only asking for trouble. Please do understand
that I am not contradicting myself in talking about the secret of heaven or
God. I do know exactly what I am talking about. The fact is that the knowledge,
terms and words used nowadays are so confusing. People don’t quite know what is
what anymore. I try to straight things up. That’s all.
Indeed,
we are creating for ourselves a whole new range of kamma which will definitely
give results in the future. We all know far too well that tampering with nature
means disaster and catastrophe and it could cost the whole of the human race.
It may be far too late before we can see the real danger of our present
actions. Scientists of the Human Genome Project of today may not live to
witness the disaster they have left for their children and children’s children.
We must be extra cautious before we rush into what seems to be a golden age of
genetic technology. As far as I am concerned, it is much easier to alter our
actions or kamma than to alter the coding of our genes. I will talk about this
in the next chapter.
To
help readers who have not yet learnt much about the Human Genome Project, I
would like to put down some facts I read from the press so that you can follow
why I need to stand up against the scientific world and dispute about this most
significant issue of this century concerning the creation of humankind.
Just
recently (June 2000), the world learnt about the biggest-ever breakthrough in
medical science which has been called the most important in the history of
humankind. At last, scientists have succeeded in unlocking the secret of
genetic codes. After several years of research across the world which involved
reading all the three billion ‘letters’ of the code, or human genome,
scientists revealed that they could at last crack the genetic code which is the
map of humankind. This staggering scientific achievement is considered far
greater than the discovery of antibiotics and even the landing on the moon.
To
make it easy to understand, this so called Human Genome Project will enable us
to manipulate human life just like Newton’s laws of gravity enable us to
manipulate the movements of physical objects. It makes this discovery immensely
significant because there is a great deal of difference between human life and
physical objects. If this technology is fully advanced and in use, it means
that we are able to know our future health both of ourselves and our children
while they are still in the womb and we are able to prevent all kinds of
diseases including cancer, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, arthritis and
tuberculosis. We may be able to prolong our ageing process which is genetically
based. It means that we will be able to live as long as 150 years or even for
1200 years, depending on which geneticists you listen to. Of course, these are
the achievements that scientists are anticipating to reach. Whether they will
or not is totally another matter.
Indeed,
it looks as though humanity is on the point of a golden age. The difference is
that this golden opportunity was not produced by some caring and compassionate
political leaders but by the cool rationality of science.
Please
do not get me wrong. I do admire the incredible efforts of scientists who have
managed to crack the secret of heaven which is the term I prefer to use. It is
no doubt a painstaking job to come this far and indeed scientists deserve to be
proud of themselves and the rest of the world should rejoice with them. But we
must be very careful with our first step into everything. Such high confidence
must be balanced well with wisdom. It should be opened to a wide range of
debate from all angles. I am glad that there were many experts who came along
and talked about this issue all across the world media.
This
is the whole reason why I feel so compelled to talk about this most challenging
issue concerning the creation of the human life form although I know very well
that I have a very slim chance to convince people. Without a belief in the law
of kamma and the cycle of rebirth, I don’t think anyone can swallow what I have
said in this chapter. Apart from the karmic analysis above, there are also many
other reasons why we should not rush into this new genetic technology.
It
is very obvious that this scientific achievement merely stresses the physical
perfection and physical eternity. Indeed, we need to ask what this new world
without disease and ageing will actually be like. Are we going to assume that
only those who are in some scientific sense ‘fit’ should live and those who
have defective genes should be terminated? It means that science is going to
dictate who should live or die which makes science become God and makes killing
become just under science or God’s law.
We
also assume that as long as we have eternal youth, beauty, intelligence and
long lasting health, we can all live happily ever after. We seem to forget that
the causes of pain and suffering among people nowadays do not always relate to
the ingredients of youth, beauty, intelligence and even diseases at all. We can
be physically as perfect as we could be, the bottom line is that normal human
beings can still easily get hurt when they are rejected. People will still have
their foul moods, resentment, disappointment and anger when they cannot get
what they want. It will not provide a cure for sorrow or for a sense of
inadequacy. Nor will it make personal loss any less grievous. We will still cry
when we lose our loved ones.
We
think that we have our future all planned out in a very rosy way but we seem to
forget as well that three of the main causes of suffering among humankind come
from accidents, wars and natural disasters which are responsible for killing
people in mass numbers at a time. No matter how advanced science has become, we
are unable to eliminate these destructive events in the world. People are still
facing immense loss, pain and sorrow through accidents, wars and natural
disasters.
Please
think carefully about it. A lot of people who are hit with mental turmoil, have
nervous breakdowns or feel suicidal nowadays are quite good looking, witty and
physically healthy. That is because the true cause of pain and suffering among
humankind is based on greed, anger and delusion which are not connected to any
genetic imprint and therefore cannot be manipulated. In other words, we cannot
take away certain genes or DNA and eliminate our greed, anger and delusion.
We
only look at the scientific opportunities but very little at scientific
responsibilities. The knowledge of how to design genetic codes cannot be
confined to democracies under the rule of law. The fact is that the world is
still full of mad people some of whom are leaders of states and nations. If
this knowledge falls into the hands of some crazy dictators who have no moral
conscience whatsoever, which is very likely to happen anyway, we subsequently
will witness, not only designer babies as we have anticipated but also the
designing of human weaponry such as designer warriors, designer killers and
even designer slaves. Then, what seems to be a golden age will turn out to be a
monstrous age instead.
As
far as I am concerned, human’s unpolished minds are not trustworthy. This is
the sad truth that we all know far too well. Our past 50 years of history has
told us well enough of the evil side of humanity and what people are capable
of. We need only one crazy leader who is well equipped with power and all hell
can break lose again. We therefore have to admit this ugly fact and do our best
not to put too much trust into human hands especially in a task as staggeringly
important as the Human Genome Project. Humans who have no knowledge of
morality, spirituality and especially the ultimate goal of life cannot be
trusted. It is as simple as that.
I
have no doubt that scientists have the best interests of humanity at heart, but
it is the politicians, the wealthy and the powerful who run the world. No
matter how pure and innocent the knowledge is, the manipulation will certainly
not remain at the genes and DNA when it reaches the hands of people who are
well equipped with wealth and power. No matter how good the original intention
is, somewhere along the line, human greed, anger and delusion will join in.
When that happens, The Human Genome Project might turn out to be the Blair
Witch Project instead.
Scientists
seem to assume that everyone wants to have a long life. I don’t think it is the
case at all. We can make people live as long as one century but if they are
bored to death, what good is it anyway? What kind of activities and
entertainments will we need to create to help people get rid of their boredom
of day to day life. Some people nowadays are already bored to death until they
have to go off for some cheap thrill. I have no doubt that the social problems
in the future will still be the same as they are now although we can live
longer and healthier, if not worse.
Indeed
we are being fooled by what looks like eternity and immortality. No matter how
long we can engineer ourselves to live, it doesn’t mean that we are not going
to die at all. It is certain that we will all die for sure sooner or later and
when death finally comes, we still have to face that ultimate fear of death all
the same. In fact it is worse because the longer we live, the more and the
longer fear we have to bear too. If we die quickly, we suffer less fear.
It
is obvious to me that the fear of death and the wish to prolong life are the
direct result of delusion and ignorance about the ultimate goal of life. What
difference will it make anyway to be able to extend life for another 50, 100 or
even 1000 years or so. Such numbers might seem a great deal to those who know
nothing about the law of kamma and the cycle of rebirth. If people can
understand what I have said so far about the length of samsara, living as long
as a century or even longer doesn’t have an iota of meaning whatsoever and
subsequently makes the Human Genome Project become some trivial matter.
Indeed,
what exactly humans need to crack is not the genetic code but delusion. Only
when the thin layer of illusion is ripped apart, will we realise that we have
indeed lived so long that we should be bored to death of living and it is time
to find a real death, the real eternity or Nirvana.
[1] Questions will arise about the conception in a test tube or
artificial insemination. This is a very complicated matter. I would like to say
that as long as there is a faculty of conceiving, that is an egg meeting a
sperm, that will do for now.
[2] When I am ready to talk about the practice, I will come
back to the five aggregates again in terms of finding the right tool for the
right job. Therefore, the abandonment of your modern knowledge about the
functioning of the brain can help you immensely when you reach the state of the
practice.
[3] I must admit that my source doesn’t come from the Pali canon
itself but from reading and listening to well known teachers in Thailand who
have done their research from the Pali canon because I do not have much time to
research myself. I try to write all these things down which are based on my own
experience and my own understanding which may not be accepted by Buddhist
scholars. I want the knowledge to be clear enough for beginners so that I can
prove to them how the law of kamma has a strong grip on all of us and so that
we can all get on with our practice. I do not have any intention to talk about
these issues for any philosophical reason and take no notice of the practice.
Therefore, although my explanation and approach may not be acceptable to the
Buddhist scholars, if I can persuade people to engage in the practice after
this, I think I should be forgiven for the mistakes I may have made. As far as
I am concerned, there is no easy way to talk about this issue at all. So, I am
doing my best to digest this knowledge myself and pass on the way that I can
understand and you can also relate to without adding any more unnecessary
confusion. After all, this is a very difficult and complicated subject to talk
about anyway. I hope the Buddhist scholars can understand my genuine intention
and can forgive me should my explanation and my approach be wrong by their
standards.
[4] There are four levels of holy people in Buddhism. They are 1)
Sotapanna - the stream enterer 2) Sakadagami - the once returner 3) Anagami -
non returner 4) Arahant - the worthy one