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Hi Lal,
Firstly, I want to thank you for your immense hard work, in putting together this site. You have helped me out so much and completely changed my perception of this world in such a short span of time. I am super grateful!
I had a question regarding your post: “The Amazing mind – Critical Role of Namagotta”
In that post you stated that, “nāmagotta consists of the “past components of pañcakkhandha.”
From what I understand, no part of the panchakhanda carries forward at the end of a particular bhava. For instance, at the end of a human bhava, if the next bhava is in the animal realm, the panchakhanda associated with the human bhava is completely destroyed, and is not carried forward to the animal realm, Hence why we say there is no eternal soul or anything that can be identified as an eternal entity within us.
If that is the case, then how is it possible for some people to recall past lives when they cultivate abhinna powers?
One possible explanation could be that they can only recall past lives (jati) in the same human bhava. However, they cannot remember the memories from different bhavas. A Buddha may be able to do this, as he has extraordinary powers.
Is this correct? If you could please clarify this for me, it would be much appreciated.
Thank you so much!
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Hello JKSCJ,
You wrote, “From what I understand, no part of the panchakhanda carries forward at the end of a particular bhava.”
Why (or how) did you come to that understanding? That is the critical question.
There are 11 types of rupa included in rupakkhandha, as pointed out in #7 of “Difference Between Physical Rūpa and Rūpakkhandha.”
- The same applies to the other four “khandhas” of vēdanākkhandha, saññākkhandha, saṅkhārakkhandha, and viññānakkhandha.
- The records of the five khandhas are preserved as “namagotta.” Of course, we cannot recall most of them, even within our lives. But those with iddhi powers (even some anariya yogis) can recall their past lives. A Buddha can recall as far as he wishes.
- Also, see “Recent Evidence for Unbroken Memory Records (HSAM)”
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Thank you Lal, for clarifying this.
I was under the wrong impression that the panchakkhanda for a particular bhava is destroyed at the end of a bhava.
However, I may have got confused between the panchakkhanda and the manomaya kaya.
I guess it is the Hadaya vatthu and the relevant pasada rupa for that bhava that is destroyed at the end of the bhava.
Would you kindly be able to clarify the relationship between the panchakkhanda and the hadaya vatthu + pasada rupa, or please direct me to a relevant post?
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A couple of points to emphasize:
1. When we attach to a sensory input (ārammaṇa), it is pañca upādānakkhandha (or pañcupādānakkhandha) that arises, and NOT pañcakkhandha. This is a subtle point that I also did not pay attention to in the past.
- Therefore, in many instances, I may have written pañcakkhandha in some places where it really should be pañcupādānakkhandha. This is a common mistake that many people make. The tendency is to think that we attach to pañcakkhandha and then it becomes pañcupādānakkhandha. Even my teacher, Waharaka Thero, has made it sometimes.
- Keeping that in mind, you may want to read the posts in the section”The Five Aggregates (Pañcakkhandha).”
2. Both pañcakkhandha and pañcupādānakkhandha are “mental”: see “Pancupādānakkhandha – It is All Mental.”
- Also see “Manomaya Kaya (Gandhabba) and the Physical Body.”
3. The above can become clear easily with the comprehension of a series of posts I posted recently: “Recovering the Suffering-Free Pure Mind.”
- When a citta vithi ( series of thoughts) starts based on a sensory input (arammana), the mind starts with a distorted/defiled sanna (perception) and also wrong views (miccha ditthi). Even for a Sotapanna who has removed miccha ditthi, distorted/defiled sanna (perception) arises automatically.
- Thus, a “pure mind” (pabhassara citta) with pañcakkhandha arises only in an Arahant!
- I have discussed that in “Sensory Experience – A Deeper Analysis.”
- You can get to the posts in #3 later on. But I wanted to emphasize it to those who have read the website for a while.
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