Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27)

January 24, 2019; revised July 22, 2022; October 14, 2024

Introduction

1. “Aggañña Sutta (DN 27)” is one of several complex suttās that requires a lengthy explanation. One must have a broad background in Buddha Dhamma to understand the sutta. I have been very reluctant to write this post because it could lead to many questions for many people who do not yet have that background.

  • “Agga” means “highest,” and thus, the word “Aggañña” means “highest knowledge,” in this case, about our world.
  • The Buddha delivered the Aggañña sutta to two brahmins (Vāseṭṭha and Bhāradvāja) to explain the “human origins.” Not only Vedic brahmins but ALL LIVING BEINGS on this Earth came from a Brahma realm at the beginning of the Earth (in the current cycle). In other words, each living being on this Earth was a Brahma at the beginning of the present Earth.
  • I must forewarn that some features contradict existing “scientific theories.” Please do not bring them up. I am aware of them. That is why I have been reluctant to write this post.
  • However, at least for those who have faith in Dhamma, there are some benefits in seeing how self-consistent Buddha Dhamma is. Scientific theories change with time; see “Dhamma and Science – Introduction.”
Summary of  the Sutta

2. Following is a summary:
(i). The universe has no traceable beginning, just like life; see “Origin of Life.”
(ii). The universe is made of an uncountable number of “dasa sa­has­si loka dhātu” (clusters or groups of star systems like our Solar system). Our Solar system is one of 10,000 “star systems” (cakkavāla or planetary systems; chakrawāta in Sinhala) in our “loka dhātu“. 
(iii). When a large star in our “loka dhātu” blows up in a few billion years, that blast will destroy all star systems in our “loka dhātu.” In modern science, such a “star explosion” has a particular name: a supernova. Scientists observe such supernovae every year.
(iv). Then all the “star systems” (cakkavāla) will re-form over a long time, of the order of many billions of years. After existing for many billions of years, they will again be blown up. That cycle continues endlessly! Each cycle is called a mahā kappa. Each mahā kappa is divided into four asaṅkheyya kappa (see #6 below). Earth is in existence for an asaṅkheyya kappa; it (together with all cakkavāla in our “loka dhātu“) will be destroyed over an asaṅkheyya kappa and will remain destroyed for another asaṅkheyya kappa; they will re-form over the fourth asaṅkheyya kappa. That cycle continues endlessly!
(v). Note the difference with modern science, which says the universe came into existence only about 15 billion years ago in a “Big Bang.” 
(vi). Not all 31 realms get destroyed when our Solar system blows up at the end of a mahā kappa. Higher-lying Brahma worlds (where there is very little “destructible matter”) survive. Ābhassara Brahma realm is one of the surviving Brahma realms where all living beings on this Earth end up before the destruction of the Earth.
(vii). How all living beings end up in the Ābhassara Brahma realm (before the destruction of Earth) is a long story. Similarly, the re-formation of the Earth (and the Sun) is also not described in detail in the sutta. However, the creation of suddhāṭṭhaka by an uncountable number of Ābhassara Brahmās over many billions of years is the root cause, i.e., their desire to be reborn in the kāma loka to enjoy sensory pleasures is the root cause.
(viii). When the Earth re-forms, those Brahmās — at the end of their lifetimes in those worlds — are reborn as humans with very light, Brahma-like bodies at first.
(ix). Then the life on Earth evolves to other lifeforms too. That is a “reverse evolution” compared to the “theory of evolution” currently accepted by science. After billions of years, the realms below the Ābhassara Brahma realm will be destroyed again to be re-formed after billions of more years. That cycle will keep repeating.
(x). So, that is the life cycle. It happens all over the universe at any given time. Scientists observe several supernovae in our galaxy yearly (leading to the destruction of several “loka dhātu.“) The universe consists of an uncountable number of “loka dhātu.” Our universe is unfathomably large, as discussed in “Dhamma and Science – Introduction.”

Model of the Universe

3. Therefore, life exists in an infinite number of “star systems” (cakkavāla like our Solar system) where a star provides the energy to sustain life. In our “Solar system,” life exists in 31 realms centered on Earth, located inside, on the surface, and extending out into space. Of course, the Sun is our star.

4. A Buddha appears only in one cakkavāla out of that cluster of 10,000 such cakkavāla in a given dasa sa­has­si loka dhātu. In our loka dhātu, it is the Earth. Brahmās and Devas from those 10,000 systems (dasa sa­has­si loka­ dhātu) can come and listen to Dhamma on the Earth.

  • Of course, humans from those worlds cannot access Buddha Dhamma.
  • So, we can see how rare it is for humans to “have access” to Buddha Dhamma. Sometimes, there can be many consecutive mahā kappās without a single Buddha appearing even in our cakkavāla!
Model of the Solar System (Cakkavāla)

5. The Buddha stated that one mahā kappa or (kalpa in Sinhala) is unimaginably long. He gave the following comparison. During that time, a mountain of solid granite one yojanā (about 7 miles) around and one yojanā high, can be “worn out” by stroking it once every hundred years with a silk cloth.

6. A mahā kappa consists of four “asaṅkheyya kappa” (or “incalculable kappa”) as explained in the Kappa Sutta (AN 4.156):

“Cattārimāni, bhikkhave, kappāsa asaṅkhyeyyāni. Katamāni cattāri? Yadā, bhikkhave, kappo saṃvaṭṭati,..kappo saṃvaṭṭo tiṭṭhati,..kappo vivaṭṭati,..kappo vivaṭṭo tiṭṭhati, ..”

  • “There are four incalculable kappās. Destruction occurs for an asaṅkheyya kappa, remains in that state (void) for an asaṅkheyya kappa, re-formation takes place over an asaṅkheyya kappa, and then it exists in that state for an asaṅkheyya kappa.”
  • That last stage is where the Earth is now.
  • Each incalculable kappa has 20 antakkappās. Thus, a mahā kappa spans over 80 antakkappās.

7. The Solar system will last another 5 billion or so. Thus, the total time in which the current Sun (and Earth) has existed is about 10 billion years, according to modern science. That is the existence phase lasting 20 antakkappās, assuming the current scientific estimate is correct.

  • The other three asaṅkheyya kappās take about 15 billion years each, so a complete cycle takes about 60 billion years.
  • The Earth (and the whole Solar system) continues through this cyclic process that takes roughly 60 billion years per cycle, i.e., for a mahā kappa (with the above assumption.)
  • This cycle will keep repeating. There was no “Big Bang” beginning. Each “dasa sa­has­si loka dhātu” will go through its own cycle lasting a mahā kappa. 
Migration of Living Beings at Destruction/Re-Formation of Earth

8. When our “dasa sa­has­si loka dhātu” blows up in the future, that will be due to one of the stars in our loka dhātu blowing up in a supernova. That will destroy all cakkavāla in our loka dhātu, including the Sun and the Earth. That happens over billions of years when that star starts producing large amounts of energy. Thus, all life on Earth would be destroyed (except those in higher Brahma realms above the Ābhassara Brahma realm.)

  • So, what happens to all the living beings on Earth? We remember that while humans and animals live on the Earth, those belonging to the other three lower realms live on or underneath the Earth’s surface. All those will perish.
  • It is a long story (and not detailed in the sutta), but all those beings move to higher realms as the Earth gets hot.

9. We remember that the Deva and Brahma realms lie above the Earth. But the “density” in those realms is well below the “density” of things at the surface. Deva bodies are much less dense than human bodies, and Brahma “bodies” are even more subtle.

  • One critical thing we learn from science is that “more dense stuff” burns first. For example, in an incinerator, we can burn anything dense. But gases are not burned (i.e., not decomposed.)
  • Brahmās have bodies made of only a few suddhāṭṭhaka. They are made to last much longer times and are not burned in the destruction phase.
  • The deduction is that all those realms above the Ābhassara Brahma realm will not be destroyed in the destruction phase. That is why the lifetimes of some Brahmās are many mahā kappās.

10. The bottom line is that all realms below the Ābhassara Brahma realm will eventually be destroyed. By then, all the living beings would have “migrated” up to that realm.

  • How do all these living beings, including those in the apāyā, migrate to higher realms?
  • That is related to the fact that when the Earth starts getting “hot,” those “mind-pleasing sense objects” will be destroyed over time. Living beings will have fewer “sensory attractions;” thus, their minds will be temporarily freed from “upādāna.”
  • That needs a detailed explanation, but those who understand Paṭicca Samuppāda may have at least a glimpse of how it happens.

11. When the Earth is re-formed, those Brahmās will start coming down to those newly-formed Earth. They all will be in the human realm. That would be an uncountable number of humans! However, they would still have subtle “Brahma-like” bodies and thus hardly take any space. Over billions of years, their bodies will gradually become dense, and many other changes will occur simultaneously. Vegetation will appear, and some humans will be reborn as animals as they regain their “bad gati” and cultivate apuñña kamma. This is a “reverse evolution”!

  • That will take long explanations. But the critical point is that with time, old “gati” (which have been lying dormant as anusaya) start to re-surface, and the activation of Paṭicca Samuppāda cycles will ensure those “downward paths.”
Conflicts with Current Scientific Theories

12. Now, we immediately run into difficulties with the current scientific knowledge of Earth’s history. According to current understanding, the first humans appeared only about 2 million years ago. Note that a billion years is 1000 million years!

  • Therefore, what we described above is a “reverse evolution” compared to the “theory of evolution” currently accepted by science.
  • We need to go back only 500 years to see how a prevailing worldview changed and became compatible with Buddha Dhamma. See #13 below.
  • I have discussed how Buddha Dhamma has withstood past such “contradictions”; see “Dhamma and Science – Introduction.“  I hope the next revision in science will happen during my lifetime.

13. For example, only 500 years ago, the accepted “worldview” was that Earth was at the center of the universe with all the stars embedded in “celestial spheres.“

  • If someone had tried to explain that the Earth was rotating around the Sun, he would have had a hard time. After proving this, Galileo spent the rest of his life in solitary confinement.
  • Of course, no one is prosecuted for proposing any theory these days. Still, the scientific community does not take them seriously.
  • As new experiments/observations provide further evidence, an accepted scientific view accommodates the new evidence. For example, the above change in the worldview occurred after Galileo invented the telescope.
  • Of course, adopting that scientific method for mundane purposes is only rational. That is the only way science can make progress.
  • However, when one comprehends Buddha’s Dhamma, one can better understand our world.
The Rarity of Buddha Dhamma in the World

14. There have been four Buddhas in this mahā kappa, and one more Buddha will appear before the destruction of this Earth and the Solar system.

  • Then, many billions of years, the Earth will re-form in this cyclic process (not the same Earth).

15. In the Vepullapabbatta Sutta (SN 15.20), the Buddha provides the names of the three Buddhas on this Earth (in this mahā kappa) before him: Kakusandha, Koṇāgama, and Kassapa. He describes how a particular mountain had three different names and heights during those Buddha’s times.

  • The point here is that those Buddhās were on this Earth at times far apart from each other. Considering that the age of the Earth is about 4.5 billion years, it is reasonable to assume that they were about a billion years apart.
  • One piece of evidence in the Tipiṭaka for material from previous Buddhas transmitted via Vedic teachings (with superficial meanings) is given in the post, “Arōgyā Paramā Lābhā..” (see #8 there).

16. By the way, the existence of Buddha Kassapa before the Buddha Gōtama helps explain many questions about the connection between Vedic terms and Buddhist terms. Some examples are kamma (karma), Bhikkhu (Bhikshu), paññā (pragnā), jhāna (dhyāna), Nibbāna (Nirvāna), and so on. See “Vedās Originated With Buddha Kassapa’s Teachings .”

  • After the end of the Kassapa Buddha Sāsana, his teachings were transmitted as Vedic teachings without deeper meanings. I will need to write some posts just on this issue.
  • A good example is the Ānāpāna bhāvanā, which was transmitted as “breath meditation.”
  • After re-gaining Buddha Kassapa’s interpretation during our Buddha’s time, the Vedic description has again taken hold by the current time. The correct version will be fully restored in the coming years. But, of course, it will again disappear and be rediscovered by the Maitreya Buddha in the future.

17. Furthermore, only 7 Buddhās have existed within the past 91 mahā kappās; see “Mahāpadāna Sutta (DN 14)“.

  • There have been 30 mahā kappās without a single Buddha before the current mahā kappa. That is 1800 billion years or over a trillion years!
  • Even in this mahā kappa, the Gōtama Buddha Sāsana would last only 5000 years, a negligible time compared to a mahā kappa. That is why we should not waste this rare opportunity.
Origins of the World – Limits of Inquiry

18. The human mind is naturally curious. We want to know everything, especially regarding this wondrous place called the universe. It is mind-boggling but exciting at the same time. Growing up, I spent a lot of time reading science fiction and speculations about the origins of the universe, etc.

  • One time, Ven. Moggallāna, who was only second to the Buddha in psychic (abhiññā) powers, wanted to explore the universe and see for himself how far he could go. He got lost! Buddha had to come to his rescue.
  • Then there is the account of a yogi, Rohitassa, who developed abhiññā powers. He wanted to see the end of the world and took off looking for it, got lost, and died. He was reborn as a deva, came to see the Buddha, and told the Buddha about his quest. See, “Rohitassa Sutta: To Rohitassa.“

19. Cosmology is one of the things that the Buddha declared “unthinkable (acinteyya)” for an average human; see “Acinteyya Sutta (AN 4.77)“:

“There are these four things that one should not conjecture about and would bring anxiety and madness to anyone who speculates. Which four? (i) capabilities of a Buddha, (ii) subject of jhānā, (iii) detailed knowledge of kamma/kamma vipāka, and (iv) origins of the world.

  • One can spend a lifetime looking into the details of those subjects and getting nowhere.
  • However, as we saw above, we can gain some insights by having a rough idea about those subjects. One gets into trouble when one tries to get into details.
  • We will explore some more aspects in the future that are beneficial for progressing on the Path.

20. Please keep that in mind when you comment on the discussion forum. We can learn a few things from the sutta, but arguing about how it contradicts current scientific findings is useless.

July 12, 2019: I have started a new subsection, “Origin of Life,” to discuss the necessary background material for future posts on the Aggañña Sutta.

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