Life from what period

[Sylvester]

Hi bb

I'm at a loss for words....

[beeblebrox]

I'm at a loss for words....

Welcome to samsara.

[waterchan]

In embryo's case, the womb is its namarupa.

And what is your source for this?

if someone didn't think that a life was forming, then why would he/she ever think that an abortion was necessary?

Because it's still forming, and not yet formed. It sounds like playing with semantics, but that is the crux of the argument.

[beeblebrox]

In embryo's case, the womb is its namarupa.

And what is your source for this?

Hi Waterchan,

As I've mentioned, I felt like what I wanted to say was being overextended.

There is no way for a person to try determine whether there was consciousness in the embryo or not, except through one's own namarupa (i.e., what he perceives to be the world)... there is no way around this.

To me, that effectively sets up the namarupa around the embryo.

if someone didn't think that a life was forming, then why would he/she ever think that an abortion was necessary?

Because it's still forming, and not yet formed. It sounds like playing with semantics, but that is the crux of the argument.

Right... at what point does the person begin to think that the embryo is alive? The answer for that changes... not just for the person, but in between people, too.

That is what creates the dukkha. This is the only thing I'm interested in, for my practice.

By the way, it doesn't seem like that the life is ever done with forming, not even after the embryo is born. It also doesn't even seem to stop when the person is finally dead, when there are many rebirths.