catmoon wrote:
BTW I would like to know if references to rebirth, non self and so on occur in earliest versions of the 8FP? Would that be hard to find out?
It's all somewhat relevant I think, since it relates to just how far one can go in stripping practice to the bare essentials. Maybe we can set a reasonable lower boundary on that.
There are numerous places where rebirth and anatta are referred to in the first four Nikayas, which are considered as authentic and pre-sectarian by perhaps everyone.
"He recalls to mind his various temporary states in days gone by – one birth, or two or three or
four or five births, 10 or 20, 30 or 50, a 100 or a 1,000 or a 100,000 births, through many cycles
of cosmic contraction and cosmic expansion . . . Now there comes a time, when sooner or later,
after the lapse of a long, long period of contraction, this world-system passes away. And when
this happens beings have mostly been re-born in the World of Radiance, and there they dwell
made of mind, feeding on joy, radiating light from themselves, traversing the air, dwelling in
glory; and thus they remain for a long, long period of time. Now there comes also a time,
friends, when sooner or later, this universe begins to re-evolve by expansion." (The Buddha,
Brahmajala Sutta, Digha Nikaya, Sutta Pitaka)
Yet, there is a controversy among some, if the Buddha actually taught rebirth.
Here is one of the places where the 8FP is discussed in the Samyutta Nikaya:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;