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Yes. That is correct.
- There are several suttās that categorize living beings (sattā) into various categories.
- For example, ten categories in “Migasālā Sutta (AN 10.75),” eight in “Icchā Sutta (AN 8.61)” and four in “Saṁyojana Sutta (AN 4.131).” It depends on the basis of categorization.
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You wrote: “The world (nāma-rūpa, saḷāyatana, phassa, vedanā) comes out of past avijjā and taṇhā.”
- That is not correct. The correct way to say is: “The world (nāma-rūpa, saḷāyatana, phassa, vedanā) has origins in avijjā and taṇhā. The trigger for the arising of avijjā and taṇhā is saññā.”
- In the case of kama loka (where we live), the trigger is kāma saññā. In general, for kama, rupa, and arupa lokas, I call it “distorted saññā.” P.S. In the suttās, this is also referred to as “saññā vipallāsa.” Here, “vipallāsa” means “confusion/distortion.”
- You can read about it in the following section: “Sotapanna Stage via Understanding Perception (Saññā).”
- The current, in-depth series: “Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta – New Series”
- Understanding this requires a real effort. Don’t expect to read a post or two and understand it.
- Perhaps you could start with the post “Fooled by Distorted Saññā (Sañjānāti) – Origin of Attachment (Taṇhā)” to get the general idea.
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Thanks. I will think about it and email you later today.
- Independent of whether a review of mine will proceed, please feel free to share any updates of the paper, especially the final accepted version, as I hope will be the case.
If I agree to do a full review, how would it work?
- Do you first need to get permission from the Editor, or are you thinking about just forwarding my review to the Editor?
- The journals I dealt with, the Editor would ask me for suggestions for reviewers in rare occasions. I never submitted the name of a suggested reviewer without the Editor asking for one.
Thank you! I was not aware of that account.
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I have the following observations.
1. Modern science is based on physics, which is the study of the physical world. Starting with physics (trying to probe elementary constituents of matter and its related properties like heat and electromagnetism), scientists have expanded into more complex entities with chemistry, biology, and zoology.
- In the early days, scientists studied the physics of matter (gravity, motion of particles, etc.) and energy (heat, electromagnetism, etc.) separately. However, Einstein’s mass-energy equation (E = mc^2) made the connection between matter and energy.
2. In the meantime, mental phenomena and inquiries into fundamental reality (unchanging principles that underpin reality itself) were studied separately and fell under the category of philosophy.
- These were termed “metaphysics” (implying “beyond physics” or “not amenable to physics”). For example, questions like “Why does anything exist at all?” or “What is the ultimate structure of existence?” are metaphysical because they can’t be settled by experiments
- They were mostly philosophical in nature. Different philosophers presented vastly different ideas, which could not be proven or disproven with the tools of physics (or science and mathematics in general).
3. As we saw in #1 above, Einstein’s mass-energy equation (E = mc^2) made the connection between matter and energy.
- Furthermore, quantum mechanics has some features (quantum entanglement, Heisenberg uncertainty principle, etc.) that make it appear “mysterious” compared to classical physics, where the predictions are intuitive and transparently deterministic.
- The “hard problem in consciousness” (discussed in philosophy) is also mysterious, just like quantum phenomena: the question of how consciousness can arise in a brain made of inert matter.
- When quantum mechanics emerged in the early 1900s, many people began to connect the two, speculating that the newly discovered quantum theory would explain how consciousness arises in the brain.
4. However, the root problem of the approach in #3 is the following.
- Most of those proposals to connect quantum phenomena to mental processes presume that consciousness arises in the brain. In other words, they attempt to identify quantum processes in the brain, and more specifically, in neurons. Yet, neurons are macroscopic particles and not in the quantum regime!
5. The proposed theory of “Quantum Immortality” based on the “Many-Worlds interpretation of Quantum Mechanics” does not specifically refer to consciousness arising in the brain.
- It is a very general theory (more like a philosophical argument) without specificity.
- It is solely based on the time development of a wave function. Wave functions are used to calculate the trajectories of microscopic particles or energy packets.
6. Buddha’s worldview is exactly the opposite. Mental phenomena are the root cause of material phenomena.
- However, there is a connection to quantum mechanics in the following way. Kammic energy (generated in javana cittas defiled with raga, dosa, moha) is the precursor to both living and non-living matter, i.e., both the living beings and their environments.
- These subtle energies overlap the energies involved in quantum mechanics (QM). The “unusual properties of microscopic particles/energies addressed in QM” are also displayed by kammic energies. A good example is “quantum entanglement”, which is the ability of two spatially separated “entangled particles” to respond to each other instantaneously. See “Quantum Entanglement – We Are All Connected.”
7. However, I believe the paper on “Quantum Immortality: The Missing Element” should be published because it can initiate a productive discussion on the intriguing subject of consciousness between the two camps.
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I am not sure a review like the above can be helpful for getting the paper accepted. If so, I would be happy to do so, and I can address any other points you can bring to my attention.
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Yes. You are correct. Saññā ALWAYS arises in the manomaya kaya, whether it is a Brahma, human, or animal.
- All thoughts (with rupa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, and viññāṇa) arise in the manomaya kaya, NEVER in a physical body. P.S. For those who think thoughts arise in the brain, most animals do not have brains.
- Also, remember that in the suttas, rupa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, and viññāṇa refer to the respective upādānakkhandha, i.e., rupaupādānakkhandha, etc.
Regarding (ii) above, see “Rupa, Vedanā, Saññā, Saṅkhāra, Viññāṇa – Mostly Misunderstood.”
Thank you.
- That summary looks very impressive. These AI bots are quite useful and productive. They can cut down the “research time” to an incredible level.
- If anyone consults AI bots, please keep a log, as Seng Kiat did. If it is to be posted in the forum (and one does not know how to do that), please email me the PDF file ([email protected]), and I can add the link.
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Seng Kiat, I am curious about what you “fed” to ChatGPT.
- Did you “feed it” those suttas or just ask the questions, and it scanned the internet on its own and found the suttas?
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Thank you for the summary, Seng Kiat.
- The first two suttas in that summary are discussed in “Four Conditions for Attaining Sōtapanna Magga/Phala.”
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Thank you, Jittananto.
- I have not had the time to read the post.
- However, the basic idea of a sappurisa is explained in the “Paṭhamaasappurisa Sutta (SN 45.25).”
- According to the above sutta, there can be two types of sappurisa: (i) one who is on the mundane eightfold path and generally a “moral person” (ii) one who is on the Noble Eightfold Path, i.e., a Noble Person or Ariya. The one on the mundane path could be there temporarily, because one can change one’s views and become an asappurisa at any time, especially in future births. On the other hand, one on the Noble Path will never become an asappurisa.
- By the way, the English translation in the link translates sappurisa as ” true person.” That is not a good translation.
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I received the PDF. Following is an easily downloadable file:
QuantumImmortality-Dipabhasadhamma-Aug 6 2025
- I will try to read it over the weekend, as I need to work on the new post first. Thank you!
OK. I will read the revised paper. Could you please send me a PDF copy to my email so that I can replace your link with a directly downloadable link? That will be convenient for others as well.
- If the file is too large to be sent via email, please let me know via email.
Very good. I have made a few revisions.
- Regarding “First. Freedom from pañca nivārana“: This does not mean a Sotapanna has permanently removed pañca nivārana. At the moment of realizing the Sotapanna phala, one’s mind temporarily transcends “kāma saññā” and gets into the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi. That is the first time ever that one will be without any type of “distorted saññā.” However, one may not realize it if the mind remains there only for a brief time. I set the background for that discussion in the new post “Growth of Pañcupādānakkhandha – ‘Anusotagāmi’.” More details in the next post.
- The following will be discussed in later posts: A Sotapanna can cultivate the Satipatthana and return to the Satipaṭṭhāna Bhūmi. With practice, one can remain longer there, contemplate Dhamma concepts without interference from “distorted saññā” and attain higher magga phala.
