1. OK. I am quite happy to read your post above. I now understand your questions/comments on September 25, 2022, at 3:11 am. I will explain below.
– Communicating via writing can be tricky. We have to be careful to try to get the ideas expressed correctly. I read through the thread from the beginning and saw that I had made some errors (at I could have explained better a couple of points.) I have corrected those. See September 14, 2022 at 10:09 am (I have bolded the new text), and September 14, 2022, at 8:57 pm (first paragraph).
2. I was quite relieved that you seem to understand much more than many others. I am mainly referring to those who are only exposed to “traditional Theravada,” where they value Visuddhimagga and read mechanical (word-by-word) translations of deep suttas. Of course, Mahayana is not even close.
– I can see that many people writing on this forum have a good understanding. It is good to see that there are enough young people now to help others in the future, long after my generation is gone. I am responsible for teaching all I know, and I will do my best. That is all I can do to pay off my debts to Waharaka Thero, who is no longer with us.
– With that out of the way, let me try to address your questions/comments on September 25, 2022, at 3:11 am.
3. You wrote: “It can be summarized as follows: Existing information is required for any new information to occur. It is also why there is no traceable origin in samsara. No matter how far back, there is still information.”
I think what you are trying to say could be the following. Existing namagotta (or recalling existing namagotta) is necessary for us to do more (abhi)sankhara. That is how the rebirth process continues.
– We cannot even live life without recalling past namagotta. Take some simple examples. If records of your experiences several years ago to Disney World were not kept in nama loka (vinnana dhatu), you would not be able to recall them. If you cannot remember what a pizza looks like, you would not know what to do when you are given a pizza.
– For example, see “The Amazing Mind – Critical Role of Nāmagotta (Memories)” and “Five Aggregates – Experiences of Each Sentient Being“. You may have read most of these. I am giving them for the benefit of others.
4. You wrote: “Rūpa(including dhammā) means activated energy. So, anidassana/appaṭigha rūpa can turn into anidassana/appaṭigha nāma. But anidassana/appaṭigha nāma can not turn into anidassana/appaṭigha rupa (you had “nāma” there).”
That is exactly right. Very good.
– P.S. Of course, one can create NEW anidassana/appaṭigha rupa BASED ON recall of PAST anidassana/appaṭigha nāma and/or anidassana/appaṭigha rūpa (i.e., past events.)
5. You wrote: “Rūpa loses energy over time. The record of information is a naturally occurring process of it. The registration and preservation of information is not a process of consuming additional energy. It does not conflict with the above proposition(Existing information is required for any new information to occur).
Because the above process refers to information with energy(New Information), and the below process relates to information that remains as a result of the process of energy disappearance(Remaining Information).”
That may be written better as follows:
“Rūpa loses energy over time. The record of namagotta is a naturally occurring process. The registration and preservation of namagotta is not a process of consuming additional energy. It does not conflict with the above proposition (Existing namagotta is required for any new namagotta to occur).
That is because the above process refers to namagotta with energy (kammic energy or dhammā or appatigha rupa), and the below process relates to information that remains as a result of the process of energy dissipation (converted to namagotta without kammic energy or appatigha nāma).” See “Where Are Memories Stored? – Viññāṇa Dhātu”
6. That is a good explanation. I was glad to see that once I understood what you were trying to say. Note that it is better to use Pali words in many cases without trying to translate them to English (or any other language).
– It is impossible to convey the meaning of certain Pali words in any other language; the closest is the Sinhala language. Some people think I say that because I was born in Sri Lanka. But that is not true. Most Pali words are being used in the Sinhala language without any conversions. Examples include ALL the terms in Paticca Samuppada (avijja through jati, jara, marana, etc.)
– Nama loka (vinnana dhatu) is VERY different from rupa loka that we experience with our five physical senses. Things in the rupa loka have spatial locations. Namagotta in vinnana dhatu (nama loka) have no spatial locations. They can be accessed from even the other end of the universe (if one can get there). See “Where Are Memories Stored? – Viññāṇa Dhātu”
– All namgotta are preserved FOREVER as anidassana appatigha nama. That is why Buddha Gotama was able to recall getting “niyata vivarana” from Buddha Dipankara trillions of years ago. It is a natural law that namagotta are preserved forever. It is just that no one except a Buddha can figure out such details about our world.
– But, one does not need to believe such things based on blind faith. There is enough evidence from various avenues. For example, rebirth accounts by children worldwide, Near-Death Experiences (NDE) of numerous heart patients worldwide, and HSAM studies (“Recent Evidence for Unbroken Memory Records (HSAM)“) are among them. I have discussed them in detail. You probaly read most of them. I encourage others to spend time and read and evaluate them. That will build confidence in the teachings of the Buddha.
7. Thank you for the two suggestions in your later post. I will try to address them ASAP.