Transmigration of aggregates through rebirth?

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
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YouthThunder
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Transmigration of aggregates through rebirth?

Post by YouthThunder »

Is there such thing in theravada(what about the other two?).What I mean is will our tendency for certain attachments carried over to our future lives?On the bright side,will the wisdom we gained in this life be carried over to the next? If not,what is the reason to practise the dhamma other than better rebirth for those who don;t think they can achieve something like sotapanna?

:alien:

With metta
daverupa
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Re: Transmigration of aggregates through rebirth?

Post by daverupa »

Imponderable; head-splitting to ensue. The practice yields benefit now; don't make plans about how one may practice in the future - that would be how one attends inappropriately.

:heart:
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
santa100
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Re: Transmigration of aggregates through rebirth?

Post by santa100 »

Practicing the Dhamma brings great fruits and great benefits to the here and now, for future rebirths, and for ultimate liberation. Your kamma (good and bad) won't get lost over your next life. It's not a coincidence that math prodigies could start solving complex calculus problems or music geniuses start writing grand concertos at age four or five..
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cooran
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Re: Transmigration of aggregates through rebirth?

Post by cooran »

Hello YouthThunder,

Human rebirth is the rarest of all.

I find Bhikkhu Bodhi's information to be the clearest on this matter:
Bhikkhu Bodhi ''Rebirth''
http://www.beyondthenet.net/dhamma/rebirth.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

SN 56.48 Chiggala Sutta - the Hole
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Unless one concientiously practices sila, samadhi and panna - rebirth in a lower realm is most likely. The state of mind at the moment of death is all-important.

Bhikkhu Pesala ''An explanation of rebirth''
http://www.theravada-dhamma.org/blog/?p=9257" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
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YouthThunder
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Re: Transmigration of aggregates through rebirth?

Post by YouthThunder »

What I mean is does our personality(not only kamma) transmitted to next life?All our good and bad qualities(with all the tendecies and peculiarities),or is it starting from scratch?
If we have attachment to a certain thing would it go away after death( although a new one might develop in it's place in the next life) ordoes it remain?

:alien:
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mikenz66
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Re: Transmigration of aggregates through rebirth?

Post by mikenz66 »

YouthThunder wrote:What I mean is does our personality(not only kamma) transmitted to next life?All our good and bad qualities(with all the tendecies and peculiarities),or is it starting from scratch?
This is certainly spoken about in the suttas and/or commentaries, but I can't find a specific example at this moment. I recall that somewhere there is the story of an Arahant who still had certain haughty personality traits. Perhaps someone can find that?

:anjali:
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Lazy_eye
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Re: Transmigration of aggregates through rebirth?

Post by Lazy_eye »

YouthThunder wrote:What I mean is does our personality(not only kamma) transmitted to next life?All our good and bad qualities(with all the tendecies and peculiarities),or is it starting from scratch?
If we have attachment to a certain thing would it go away after death( although a new one might develop in it's place in the next life) ordoes it remain?
Isn't personality the result of habitual actions of body, speech and mind -- and thus a byproduct of kamma? What do we mean when we say someone has this or that "personality"?
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DNS
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Re: Transmigration of aggregates through rebirth?

Post by DNS »

I remember a story from a Sutta, but unfortunately don't remember the exact reference where an arahant is jumping around playfully. Another person or bhikkhu asks the Buddha, "how come he is jumping around like a child and he is supposed to enlightened?" The Buddha responds, "it is true he is enlightened it is just that he was a monkey in a recent past life". :)

(Seriously, the story is there, but I forgot the Sutta name)
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mikenz66
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Re: Transmigration of aggregates through rebirth?

Post by mikenz66 »

Perahaps it is this Dhammapada backstory:
http://www.aimwell.org/Books/Suttas/Dha ... -mala.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There is No Fire Like Lust

There is no fire like lust, no bond like hate,
no net like delusion, no torrent like craving. 251

Five Laymen Listen to Dhamma

Five laymen paid homage to the Buddha, asked him to teach the Dhamma, and sat respectfully at one side. As the Buddha was preaching, one man immediately fell asleep, one man sat digging the earth, another sat shaking a tree, another sat gazing at the sky, but only one was attentive. The Elder Ānanda noticed this as he fanned the Buddha, and asked why some failed to pay attention even when the Buddha was teaching the Dhamma like a thunder-cloud pouring rain. The Buddha said that in many past lives one man had been a snake, so he could never get enough sleep, another had been an earth worm, another had been a monkey, and another had been an astrologer. The man who was attentive had been a scholar of the three vedas. He thus attributed their inattentiveness to their past tendencies. He uttered the above verse showing that it was very hard to escape from lust, hatred, ignorance, and craving.
:anjali:
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DNS
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Re: Transmigration of aggregates through rebirth?

Post by DNS »

Googling for it I found this post by RobertK:
Another word for habit or accumulation is vassana (spelling?). Even arahants still have these. So there is the example of I think Mahakaccana who used to jump over puddles in an unbecoming manner because he had many past lives as a monkey.
http://www.abhidhamma.org/forums/index. ... ed&pid=425" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It may have been in one of the Commentary stories that I read that a while back.
YouthThunder
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Re: Transmigration of aggregates through rebirth?

Post by YouthThunder »

lol,I was hoping after I die,all my irritating attachments/unwholesome thought-patterns which i am pretty sure is delusional but have problem looking past it, will just go "poof!",that is the reason why I post this thread,and on the other hand I hoped whatever insight I get won't be lost.

:alien:

With metta.
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