Sybe:
Let us start by seeing what the Tipitaka has to say concerning this.
1) beings have been around from beginingless time (sansara)
2) on the attainment of Arahanthood beings attain ‘the Deathless’, literally. (Nibbana)
2a) Udana 8.3 is speaking about Nibbana: ajātaṃ abhūtaṃ akataṃ asaṅkhataṃ.(an unborn, unbecome, unmade, unconditioned) is the Refuge from the :jātassa bhūtassa katassa saṅkhatassa (the born, become, made, and conditioned).
So we have; beings who have always existed in the past (in sansara) and will continue to exist forever in Nibbana in the future after that. Both taken as one stream of existence,clearly then there is eternality to the existence of beings.Yet this does not go against the Buddha’s refutation of the doctrine of eternalism, because there what He was refuting was the idea of ‘those eternalists who assert the existence of a ‘Self’, that is of an UNCHANGING self or abiding personality throughout. As it is, beings are ever-changing (i,e, non-self) in sansara through the many different bhava they acquire, but will be non-changing in Nibbana (Self).
- ‘By a stable element i mean a stable element, an unconditioned element, an element which was never born, does not change in the meantime and does not end. I am convinced such an element is present, and it is not an illusion.’ –
But Sybe, is this not the being itself? And it has been said that beings are unique. So what makes for that uniqueness? Or is it inherent in the being, quite apart from the presence (sansara) or absence (Nibbana) of the pancakkhandhas.? Is this what you are getting at?
Is this what you mean by: ‘It is the base, the essence, the ground of any living being. It is always present but not seen because of our obsession and identification with CONDITIONED PHENOMENA?’ It cannot be Nibbana you are referring to, for that is ATTAINED, not ‘always present’ in us.
So what is it?