Exploring The Dhamma

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Exploring The Dhamma
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What Is The Origin Of Life?
Inconceivable is the beginning, O disciples, of
this faring on. The earliest point is not
revealed of the running on, the faring on, of
beings, cloaked in ignorance, tied by craving
- Samyutta Nikaya
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Creation Theory
Two school of thoughts
One school postulates a first cause, whether as a
cosmic force or as an Almighty Being. In this
school of thoughts, life has a beginning.
Another school denies a first cause for, in
common experience, the cause ever becomes the
effect and the effect becomes the cause. In a
circle of cause and effect, a first cause is
inconceivable. In this school of thoughts, life
is beginningless.
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Theory of First Cause
With respect to the alleged First Cause, men have
held widely different views.
Hinduism traces the origin of life to a mystical
Paramatma from which emanate all Atmas or souls
that transmigrate from existence to existence
until they are finally reabsorbed in Paramatma.
Christianity attributes everything to the fiat of
an Almighty God.
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The Buddha On The So-called Creator God
Refuting the theory that everything is the
creation of a Supreme Being, the Buddha states in
the Mahabodhi Jataka (No. 528)
If there exists some Lord all powerful to fulfill
In every creature bliss or woe, and action good
or ill

That Lord is stained with sin, Man does but work
his will.
If one argues that life must have had a beginning
in the infinite past and that beginning or the
First Cause is the Creator, then there is no
reason why the same demand may not be made of
this postulated Creator!
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Speculative Problems
Modern science asserts that we are produced by
the sperm and ovum cells of our parents. Our
lives are necessarily preceded by those of our
parents and so on. In this way, life is preceded
by life until one goes back to the first
protoplasm or colloid. As regards the origin of
this first protoplasm or colloid, scientists
plead ignorance.
Kamma
According to Buddhism, parents merely provide us
with a material layer. Therefore being precedes
being. At the moment of conception, Kamma
conditions the initial consciousness that
vitalizes the foetus. It is this invisible
Kammic energy that produces mental phenomena and
the phenomena of life in an already extant
physical phenomena.
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Samsara
The constant succession of birth and death in
connection with each individual life-flux
constitutes what is technically known as Samsara
recurrent wandering.
This life-stream flows indefinitely as long as it
is fed with the muddy waters of ignorance and
craving. When these two are completely cut off,
then only does the life-stream cease to flow
rebirth ends.
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Samsara
CRAVING
IGNORANCE
end of Samsara
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Origin of Life as described by Gotama Buddha
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The Lord Buddha once said that if the bones from
all his lives were to be collected, the bones
would stack higher than the highest mountain And
if the tears that he shed throughout his many
lives were to be collected, the tears would fill
all the oceans of the world!!
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The time spent in Samsara by Gotama Buddha before
Enlightenment
World Cycles Infinite Periods
1st Era Unknown
2nd Era 100,000 7
3rd Era 100,000 9
4th Era 100,000 4
Total 300,000 20
The Buddha declared Without cognizable
beginning is this Samsara. The earliest point of
beings who, obstructed by ignorance and fettered
by craving, wander and fare on, is not to be
perceived.
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What is a World Cycle (Mahaa Kappa)?
The Buddha explained a World Cycle as follows
Many, many years from the present time a
destructive rainfall will take place, as a result
of which the world system will come to an end.
One World Cycle
Then, after a long time, the world will re-evolve.
And again, after a long period, another
destructive rainfall will take place, destroying
the world system.
The period between the two destructive rainfalls
is one world cycle.
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How long is a World Cycle?
The Buddha gave a simile to explain the length of
a World Cycle
"Suppose, O monks, that there was a huge rock of
one solid mass with no cracks that was seven mile
long, seven mile wide and seven mile high, and
suppose that every hundred years a man should
come and rub this rock with a silk cloth, then
that huge rock would wear off quicker than one
world cycle."
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The Buddha divided each World Cycle into 4
periods
The first period of a world cycle is the very
long period between the destructive rainfall and
the appearance of seven suns, at which time the
world system is entirely burnt up. This period is
known as the period of chaos or the dissolved
state.

• 1. Samvatta-kappa
• 2. Samvattathaayi
• 3. Vivatta-kappa
• 4. Vivattathaayi

The second period, is when the sky and heavens
both over and under the world are covered with
thick dust and darkness. This long period is
known as the period of continuation of chaos or
continuation of the dissolved state.
The third period starts with a productive
rainfall and goes on evolving until the sun and
moon begin to appear. This period is known as the
long evolving period.
The fourth period, which starts when the sun and
moon appear, is known as the Vivattatthayi-kappa,
the continuation of evolution, and goes on until
the next destructive rainfall. The lifespan of
man rises to a very long period (more than
100,000 years) and again decreases to about ten
years.
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The Buddha divided each World Cycle into 4
periods

• 1. Samvatta-kappa
• 2. Samvattathaayi
• 3. Vivatta-kappa
• 4. Vivattathaayi

Each period is subdivided into 20 anto-kappa.
We are now in one of the anto-kappa of the
Vivattathaayi-kappa. In each anto-kappa the
lifespan of man rises to a very long period (a
few hundred thousand years) and again decreases
to about ten years.
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What is a Incalculable/Infinite Period
(Asankheyya)?
An Incalculable (infinite) Period (Asankheyya) is
a period of so many world cycles that it could
not be counted. In other words, it was longer
than the known largest quantifiable number at the
time of the Buddha.
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Origin of Life As Described by Gotama Buddha
Starting after the evolving period He said that a
time comes when the earth is fully covered with
water.
Then, due to the heat of the sun, a cusp or thin
film forms on the surface of the water, rather
like the scum that is formed when rice is boiled.
An asexual, fluid animal is evolved when the
elements needed for life are present, that is,
heat, moisture, air, etc. The next form of life
He spoke about are fungi. Agganna Sutta
Incidently, this description is similar to the
description of evolution given by scientists.
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Buddhist Attitude On The Origin Of Life
At the outset, the Buddha did not attempt to
solve all ethical and philosophical problems that
perplex mankind.
He was chiefly concerned with one practical and
specific problem that of suffering and its
destruction all side issues are completely
ignored.