[DanielSt]

Dear Lal, dear friends,

I have another question to ask.
Here in Myanmar, I heard some people trying to see the “arising and passing away”, and especially the argument that every rupa/ the whole world (I assume they mean the external, not the subjective world) is arising and passing away every 17 mind-moments. I read your posts and also listened to Wahareko Thero’s discourse where he stated that the usuaö pure octad should have a lifetime of 1 mahakappa (I hope it have the number right). It makes much more sense to me this way. Now I wanted to ask you if you have any scriptural proof that I could use to show to some people. Since in Ven. Bodhi’s book, it also refers to a commentary where this statement is “messed up”. In your post about this topic, you say, if I remember correctly, that it is not clearly mentioned in Abhidhamma.

Best wishes,
Daniel

[Lal]

Hello DanielSt,

Offhand, I don’t think I came across a specific Tipitaka reference on the lifetime of a pure octad (suddhāṭṭhaka).

However, any rupa has a finite lifetime. The solid Earth lasts for a fourth of a Maha Kappa, so the lifetimes of MOST OF suddhāṭṭhaka should be in that time range.
See, “The Origin of Matter – Suddhāṭṭhaka”
– Also, see, “Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27)”

I hope you read specifically post, “Does any Object (Rupa) Last only 17 Thought Moments?”

You probably those above cited posts, but I just wanted to make sure.

Finally, certain suddhāṭṭhaka may have longer lifetimes. For example, the lifetimes of arupavacara Brahmas are MANY Maha Kappas. Thus, those suddhāṭṭhaka associated with their hadaya vatthu would have very long lifetimes.
– However, there is no rupa that will last forever. All sankhata have finite lifetimes.

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