Reply To: Determinism

#50338
Lal
Keymaster

On June 17, 2024 at 1:28 pm (comment #5304) I wrote the following:

Cubibobi’s comment: “Through meditation, we can all access the knowledge of our past lives, which in Pali we call paṭiccasamuppāda ñāṇa.”

Isn’t this knowledge called pubbe nivāsānussati ñāna in Pali?”

  • Yes. It is.
  • There are two types of related ñāṇa: (i) pubbe nivāsānussati ñāna and (ii) cutupapāda (cuti and uppatti) ñāna.
  • With the first, one can see one’s past lives in the human realm. With the second, one can see all past lives, including those in the apayas.
  • Anariya yogis cannot cultivate (ii). That makes their wrong view of sassata ditthi (a “permanent self” moving from life to life) stronger. However, it becomes easier for Ariyas who cultivate (ii) to see the dangers of the rebirth process. 

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Jittananto’s excerpt from the Brahmajala Sutta appears @ marker 1.32.1: “Brahmajala Sutta (DN 1).”

  • Just before that, the sutta starts explaining how sassata ditthi (eternal view, i.e., that of a “soul-type entity” living forever) in yogis‘ who have cultivated pubbe nivāsānussati ñāna.
  • That section starts @ marker 1.30.1: “Brahmajala Sutta (DN 1).”
  • With pubbe nivāsānussati ñāna, those yogis can ONLY SEE their past lives as humans. So, they erroneously assume that they had been reborn human in ALL their previous lives (through innumerable maha kappas or eons!). 
  • Had they been able to cultivate the cutupapāda ñāna, they would not have grasped that wrong view.