Christian: Your statements are very long. Can you break it down into short questions? As I keep saying, don’t rush into replying. Take time to read all that was discussed above.
Rebirth in an existence happens when kammic energy creates a set of NEW hadaya vatthu/pasada rupa for that existence. That is based on a particular kamma bija. There could be numerous kamma bija accumulated in previous lives. The strongest one comes to the mind in the last citta vithi.
Then a new citta vithi starts in the new existence based on the NEW set of hadaya vatthu/pasada rupa.
That is why an animal thinks differently from a human being (even if belonging to the same lifestream). The hadaya vatthu/pasada rupa combinations WILL BE different.
– That is also why there is no “I” in a real sense.
– Of course, the animal thinks “I exist” and the human thinks “I exist”. Who is the real “I” or “me”?
– On the other hand, there is a living-being saying “I exist.” We cannot deny that either.
That is why it is necessary to see that all this (rebirths in the samsaric journey) is a series of events per Paticca Samuppada.
– As long as avijja is there, there will be a “living being” in some form. The problem is that in most cases, that existence is in an apaya.