I just watched “Description:QED – Glimpses of Death (27 01 1988)”.
The explanation by Dr. Fenwick around 16.30 is a rational explanation of different types of experiences based on one’s upbringing. One’s mind tends to “re-construct” alien experiences to the best of its ability, based on one’s experiences and cultural upbringing.
AxelSnaxel wrote: “It is possible that a gandhabba may stay in the para loka as long as it feels it suitable,..”
– Getting into a new womb is determined mostly by kammic energy. The gandhabba is drawn into a “matching womb” meaning parents would have similar gati.
– Of course, it is possible that the gandhabba may stay close to such a couple because of “gati to gati” attraction. But the gandhabba cannot make that decision on its own.
Cubibobi (Lang) wrote: “When Buddha Kassapa’s sasana was over (the tipitaka from that period was lost, I suppose?), some of his teachings remained here and there in the Vedas, but people could get only the conventional meanings.”
– Yes. What happens is some teachings may still be there after the end of a Buddha Sasana, but only mundane interpretations remain.
– There will not be anyone with magga phala, especially those who can explain the deeper meanings.
– A good example is the interpretation of Anapanasati as “breath meditation” these days. But then Ariyas like Waharaka Thero come along and provide the correct interpretations. Then the teachings would re-surface for another stretch. Eventually, there will be no Ariyas to explain the deeper meanings and only the mundane meanings will be there.
– That is going to happen in about 2000 years. But there is going to be another Buddha, Buddha Maitreya, on this Earth. That would be the fifth and last Buddha on this Earth, i.e., in this Maha Kappa.
– To have five Buddhas in a given Maha Kappa is a rare occurrence. For example, before this Maha Kappa, there were 30 Maha Kappa without a single Buddha. See, #14 of “Pāramitā and Niyata Vivarana – Myths or Realities?”
– Also, a pacceka Buddha cannot explain the Dhamma to others. He would just live and attain Parinibbana even without others realizing that he was a Buddha. Vedic teachings are just transmitted generation to generation. But as time goes, more and more people add their own “mundane explanations” and the true teachings are lost over time. That will happen in about 2000 years. Even during those 2000 years, there are periods where the mundane teachings prevail over the true teachings. That was the case for hundreds of years until Waharaka Thero.
P.S. Of course, these Out-of-Body Experiences or Near-Death Experiences may give people the wrong idea that “everything will be fine” after death. Such experiences happen ONLY if one’s kammic energy for the human bhava has not yet run out. If the human bhava ends, then one would grasp a new bhava, and that in most cases, it is in a lower realm. The problem is, of course, that we are not able to hear from those.