rebirth, kamma, progress

[being5]

What possibilities might exist for positive kamma if the life following this one is as, say, a cockroach or a tapeworm or a jellyfish or a tiger or ... etc.

I can't see any.

Does it mean that being born "lower" than a human birth that from there on it's all backwards, away from nibbana (or, at best, no closer)?

being5

[jcsuperstar]

you never know when kamma may ripen

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

you never know when kamma may ripen

Sounds like a thinly-veiled threat from a Buddhist gangster film.

Metta,
Retro.

[Aloka]

Greetings,

you never know when kamma may ripen

Sounds like a thinly-veiled threat from a Buddhist gangster film.

Metta,
Retro.

[Ben]

Hi being5

Do you have "Manuals of Dhamma"? the collection of works by Ledi Sayadaw?

He likened the scenario facing most people at death like a whirlpool sucking beings down into lower realms from which escape is an extraordinarily very rare occurance. And the further down we go, the greater the chances are that we will continue to keep falling further towards avicci hell in each subsequent rebirth. Escape is possible from one of the lower realms but it is dependent on the ripening of good kamma of the past.

The way I look at it is that we should be focused on attaining (at least) sotapatti in this life. Not just because sotapatti removes the possiblity of rebirth n lower realms but because of the profound positive effect such an attainment will have on our quality of life, and those around us. If recounts of rebirth as an animal, insect, peta or asura helps you to generate the required samvega to maintain your practice - all well and good.
metta

Ben

[Peter]

What possibilities might exist for positive kamma if the life following this one is as, say, a cockroach or a tapeworm or a jellyfish or a tiger or ... etc.

I can't see any.

There isn't much.

Does it mean that being born "lower" than a human birth that from there on it's all backwards, away from nibbana (or, at best, no closer)?

It seems you are assuming the cause for where you are born in the next life must come from this life, that each life determines the very next one. This isn't so. The cause for where you are born next MIGHT come form this life OR it might come from ANY PREVIOUS life. So you may be born as an animal for the next 500 lives and you may make nothing but bad choices in all those lives... and yet on that 500th death a choice you made a long time ago might determine your 501st birth.

But the odds are against you. Realizing this, one should strive diligently in this life while they have the chance.

I hope this is helpful.

[Laurens]

it's all about this life, don't spend it worrying about what may have happened in a previous life (assuming there is such a thing) or what might happen in the next life...

Focus on this life, its the only one you can be 100% certain of having

[Aloka]

it's all about this life, don't spend it worrying about what may have happened in a previous life (assuming there is such a thing) or what might happen in the next life...

Focus on this life, its the only one you can be 100% certain of having

Well said, Laurens, this is the important one.




.

[PeterB]

Indeed... I have no idea whether I have had past lives, ot whether I will have future lives.
I do know that at the moment that I write that this moment and this moment and this are arising.
And thats all I know.

[being5]

Ben wrote: The way I look at it is that we should be focused on attaining (at least) sotapatti in this life.

I can't honestly believe that I, personally, have even the remotest chance of achieving stream entry in this present lifetime. I feel mocked by the idea. (Not by you, of course, but by the idea - that it is possible for me).

Laurens wrote: Focus on this life, its the only one you can be 100% certain of having

Good advice but I must be practicing wrongly, or something. My efforts at practice have resulted in feelings of isolation, anxiety and being trapped in some cosmic game of chance. Then comes, not equanimity, but a desire to be rid of those feelings.

Peter wrote:It seems you are assuming the cause for where you are born in the next life must come from this life, that each life determines the very next one.

No, I get it. It frightens me.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings being5,

Good advice but I must be practicing wrongly, or something. My efforts at practice have resulted in feelings of isolation, anxiety and being trapped in some cosmic game of chance. Then comes, not equanimity, but a desire to be rid of those feelings.

Consider this...

AN 4.77: Acintita Sutta
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html

"There are these four unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them. Which four?

"The Buddha-range of the Buddhas is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.

"The jhana-range of a person in jhana...

"The [precise working out of the] results of kamma...

"Conjecture about [the origin, etc., of] the world is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.

"These are the four unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them."

Consider also this...

"If a monk is absorbed in speculation about the other world, then his mind is enthralled" - MN 48

Consider what you can do in the present moment, and learn to accept what you cannot do in the present moment. If you do your best in the present moment to cultivate the path, will you be full of regrets on your deathbed?

Metta,
Retro.

[EricJ]

I was thinking about rebirth in the animal realm today, which lead me to thinking about the fact that billions of insects, spiders, and other egg-laying, short-lived lifeforms are generated and die every year. It's odd to think that this process must be sustained (in some way) by such a massive amount of negative kamma. Which leads me to this question:

Do beings in lower realms generate negative kamma, which perpetuates a cycle of rebirth in lower realms? Or are they merely exhausting kamma from lives as humans and devas? The latter seems so impossible with such a massive amount of life is generated every year.

[Ben]

Ben wrote: The way I look at it is that we should be focused on attaining (at least) sotapatti in this life.

I can't honestly believe that I, personally, have even the remotest chance of achieving stream entry in this present lifetime. I feel mocked by the idea. (Not by you, of course, but by the idea - that it is possible for me).

Why not you? Why not any of us?
Anyway, the important thing is to maintain practice day to day. if you do that, you'll get the benefits here and now, as well as the benefits that accrue gradually over time.\
metta

Ben

[IanAnd]

Ben wrote: The way I look at it is that we should be focused on attaining (at least) sotapatti in this life.

I can't honestly believe that I, personally, have even the remotest chance of achieving stream entry in this present lifetime. I feel mocked by the idea. (Not by you, of course, but by the idea - that it is possible for me).

Why is it that you "feel" or think that way? Is it because of what you have been told by others and have accepted as belief simply because so many others are telling you this? Or for some other reason?

Laurens wrote: Focus on this life, its the only one you can be 100% certain of having

Good advice but I must be practicing wrongly, or something. My efforts at practice have resulted in feelings of isolation, anxiety and being trapped in some cosmic game of chance. Then comes, not equanimity, but a desire to be rid of those feelings.

What you describe here is not abnormal for beginners. Something about what you are doing must be working, or you wouldn't be having these insights into your mental world. And, of course, no one wants to have feelings of isolation or anxiety or of being trapped in some cosmic game of chance. But unless you continue on to observe these phenomena more deeply, you will never find out how to overcome or transcend them.

The best antidote that I can recommend for this is to delve more deeply into a study and reading of the suttas as well as studying the important teachings in more depth. While you can find the discourses online at no cost, I would recommend obtaining the Wisdom Publications editions of the Nikayas (links to which can be found in that post) and reading and studying them one at a time, one sutta a day at a time. The Anguttara Nikaya is not yet fully translated, but the anthology published by Nyanaponika Thera some years ago is still available and very accessible.

What is good about these publications is that there are plenty of excellent explanatary footnotes available which add tremendously to one's correct understanding of these discourses, which footnotes are available nowhere else that I have found. You have to spend the time reading the footnotes in place as you read the suttas for better comprehension. It really is worth the time to do so.

Begin your focus on learning more about and delving deeper into the Five Aggregates. There are some suggestions for reading material in the link above to the Wisdom Publication editions. Once you begin to gain some insight into the workings of the five aggregates and to see how they present in everyday life, the isolation and the anxiety you feel should begin to diminish if not fade away completely. Studying the five aggregates and the teaching on dependent co-arising are two of the most important concepts to be able to grasp if you wish to diminish dukkha. It takes some effort, but once the insights begin to arise, it is well worth it.