Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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Cittasanto
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by Cittasanto »

Hi Stuka
stuka wrote:Individual has reified this notion of "mind" in true mahavajra fashion, as if it were a "thing", an "entity" -- an eternal Atta -- rather than a constantly changing, impermanent collection of mental processes.
You remind me of something a teacher I have mentioned before says
Michael Kewley wrote: It is a ever changing sequence of Thoughts, Moods, Feelings, and Emotions which we call the Mind
Blog, Suttas, Aj Chah, Facebook.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them.
But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion …
...
He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them … he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.
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Ceisiwr
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by Ceisiwr »

Isnt annihilationism just a flase view that there is a self to be annihilated instead of seeing that there was no permanent self in the first place to be annihilated as all things are impermanent, dukkha and not-self and are dependent on conditions?
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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retrofuturist
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings clw_uk,
clw_uk wrote:Isnt annihilationism just a flase view that there is a self to be annihilated instead of seeing that there was no permanent self in the first place to be annihilated as all things are impermanent, dukkha and not-self and are dependent on conditions?
Precisely so... yet people often falsely accuse others of being annihilationists, simply because they deny literal rebirth or feel that literal rebirth is largely irrelevant to Buddhist practice. Such accusations are often levelled by those who have heavily invested in the truth of rebirth, such as those who have taken bodhisattva vows etc.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Individual
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by Individual »

Element wrote:
Individual wrote:Annihilationism seems to be rooted in the delusional belief of materialism, in believing that the "self" arose out of matter and that once matter dissolves, self (including self-consciousnesses) ceases to exist... ever.
If fact, it is you who hold this belief Individual. You appear to hold the 'self' is the five aggregates.

The self arises out of ignorant thinking. When ignorance ends, self view ends but the aggregates live on until death.

In Buddhism, there is no such thing as 'self consciousness'. There is eye, ear, tongue, nose, body & mind consciousness but not the 'self consciousness' you speak of.

The mind indeed is rooted in matter. This is why the Buddha used the co-joined term 'nama-rupa' as one.

When you find a mind not joined to matter, please be kind enough to show me. :shrug:
I do not hold the self to be the five aggregates, but the illusion of self does manifest through them.

Your request towards the end of that post seems to be impossible to address, because it's contradictory. You're essentially asking, "If you find a mind not joined to matter, please be kind enough to show [the material for this mind] so that I can perceive it." If there were a mind without a body, the only way it could be perceived is if either you developed such a mind, or such a mind developed within you do to external factors. But once it's manifest into a lump of something that I can pull out and show you, it ceases to be a mind disjoined from a body. So, you're asking for tangible, empirical evidence of something that is by nature intangible.
The best things in life aren't things.

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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by kc2dpt »

Trying to knock down a strawman with another strawman, retro? ;)
retrofuturist wrote:
Isnt annihilationism just a flase view that there is a self to be annihilated instead of seeing that there was no permanent self in the first place to be annihilated as all things are impermanent, dukkha and not-self and are dependent on conditions?
Precisely so... yet people often falsely accuse others of being annihilationists, simply because they deny literal rebirth
Are you suggesting these "others" you refer to are sotapanna? Remember, the Buddha teaches it is only with the attainment of sotapanna that one no longer takes the five aggregates as self. I would argue that just because one intellectually assents to the teaching of anatta does not mean they do not actually hold a view of self, even if they themselves may not be aware of it. I would bet that most rebirth-deniers you and I encounter do in fact hold a view of self.
- Peter

Be heedful and you will accomplish your goal.
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by Individual »

Peter wrote:I would bet that most rebirth-deniers you and I encounter do in fact hold a view of self.
I would bet that most rebirth proponents and deniers hold a view of self, of some sort. For a while now, I've realized that people who are opposed to "literal rebirth," seem to be subtle annihilationists and those who are opposed to "non-literal rebirth," are subtle eternalists, while for people who are beyond such views, it's really not that big of a deal, not that important of an argument.

And for people who basically agree on what rebirth means, it can be easy to get into unnecessary arguments about the proper way of describing it, making false claims of wrong views in others.
The best things in life aren't things.

The Diamond Sutra
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by Prasadachitta »

Precisely so... yet people often falsely accuse others of being annihilationists, simply because they deny literal rebirth or feel that literal rebirth is largely irrelevant to Buddhist practice. Such accusations are often levelled by those who have heavily invested in the truth of rebirth, such as those who have taken bodhisattva vows etc.

Metta,
Retro. :)
If you think about it from Buddhistic point of view accusing anyone of "being" anything is a false accusation. Dont you think? I do not think it is correct to say that any of us unenlightened beings are "not annihilationist" either. In reality there is not even really any idea we could call literal rebirth. I would just say that every now and then we all dwell in the idea that our beings are coming to an end and at other times we dwell in the idea that we have nothing to fear and that everything will be alright. If we hold that there is no rebirth in a literal sense it is wrong in the sense that it is holding to an idea that can never "be" reality. Is it annihilationist? To say this is just as wrong.


Metta


Gabriel
"Beautifully taught is the Lord's Dhamma, immediately apparent, timeless, of the nature of a personal invitation, progressive, to be attained by the wise, each for himself." Anguttara Nikaya V.332
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by Prasadachitta »

Peter Wrote
Trying to knock down a strawman with another strawman, retro? ;)

retrofuturist wrote:

Isnt annihilationism just a flase view that there is a self to be annihilated instead of seeing that there was no permanent self in the first place to be annihilated as all things are impermanent, dukkha and not-self and are dependent on conditions?

Precisely so... yet people often falsely accuse others of being annihilationists, simply because they deny literal rebirth


Are you suggesting these "others" you refer to are sotapanna? Remember, the Buddha teaches it is only with the attainment of sotapanna that one no longer takes the five aggregates as self. I would argue that just because one intellectually assents to the teaching of anatta does not mean they do not actually hold a view of self, even if they themselves may not be aware of it. I would bet that most rebirth-deniers you and I encounter do in fact hold a view of self.
Does anyone really "hold" a view? I would say that Buddhas dont see beings "holding views". All they see is stressful delusion heaped upon stressful delusion. If we think we are holding a view then we are not being mindful. If we think that others are holding a view we are not being mindful. We should all learn what papunna means. I think if we really learned what it meant we would be sotapanna.


Metta

Gabriel
"Beautifully taught is the Lord's Dhamma, immediately apparent, timeless, of the nature of a personal invitation, progressive, to be attained by the wise, each for himself." Anguttara Nikaya V.332
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by stuka »

Peter wrote:Trying to knock down a strawman with another strawman, retro? ;)
It is good that you acknowledge your straw man of trying to stick an "annihilationist" label on those of us who -- like the Buddha -- find the arguments "re-birth" vs. "no-rebirth" irrelevant.
I would bet that most rebirth-deniers you and I encounter do in fact hold a view of self.
There are "rebirth"-believers, there are "rebirth"-deniers, and there are those who, like the Buddha, see and know that both positions are speculative views and irrelevant to the business of the eradication of suffering. It's just not that hard to figure out.
Last edited by stuka on Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Peter,
Peter wrote: Are you suggesting these "others" you refer to are sotapanna? Remember, the Buddha teaches it is only with the attainment of sotapanna that one no longer takes the five aggregates as self.
The fetter that has to be broken for stream-entry is the speculative view of self (either annihilationist or eternalist). I agree there's more to it than just having a think about it and saying, "OK, that makes sense"... but it certainly doesn't require the tendency to never think in terms of a self. Such habitual tendencies are only totally eradicated at arahantship when mana is eradicated.
Peter wrote: I would argue that just because one intellectually assents to the teaching of anatta does not mean they do not actually hold a view of self, even if they themselves may not be aware of it. I would bet that most rebirth-deniers you and I encounter do in fact hold a view of self.
Views of self may be explicit or implicit. I agree that eradication of explicit views on self, does not also count as eradication of implicit views.

Nonetheless, I can assure you my example was not a straw man, even if it's not one that you personally align yourself to.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by stuka »

Individual wrote:while for people who are beyond such views, it's really not that big of a deal, not that important of an argument.
People who are beyond such views nonetheless are sick to death of being accused by crusading fatuous dilletanti of being annihiliationists.
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,
stuka wrote:People who are beyond such views nonetheless are sick to death of being accused by crusading fatuous dilletanti of being annihiliationists.
Yes, hence my reasons for starting this topic and keeping it distinct from the melee of the Great Rebirth Debate. Even myself, I've been accused of denying rebirth in the past simply because I find non-time-delineated models of dependent origination (a la Buddhadasa) more practical than the three-lives commentarial version. :shrug:

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by stuka »

retrofuturist wrote:Greetings,
stuka wrote:People who are beyond such views nonetheless are sick to death of being accused by crusading fatuous dilletanti of being annihiliationists.
Yes, hence my reasons for starting this topic and keeping it distinct from the melee of the Great Rebirth Debate. Even myself, I've been accused of denying rebirth in the past simply because I find non-time-delineated models of dependent origination (a la Buddhadasa) more practical than the three-lives commentarial version. :shrug:

Metta,
Retro. :)
All the more bizarre because the Buddha himself never once taught or alluded to the later "three-lives" eisegesis [EDIT: Please refer from the guidelines to this forum - "Feel free to attack the ideas of others, but never attack them personally, either directly or by inference. This need for interpersonal decency extends also to those who may have originally conceived the ideas being debated (e.g. the Buddha, commentators, bhikkhus, scholars). Thanks, Retro.]

We appreciate very much your efforts to clarify matters in the most peaceful ways, friend Retro. :toast:
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by Ceisiwr »

not sure if this ties in but where does the three tires come from? is it pali canon or commentary
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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Re: Ucchedavada (annihilationism) - what does it actually mean?

Post by Dhammanando »

Hi Craig,
clw_uk wrote:not sure if this ties in but where does the three tires come from? is it pali canon or commentary
The three tires come from Tireland.
tire.jpg
tire.jpg (39.51 KiB) Viewed 5486 times
If it was the three lives that you meant, then this doctrine is expounded in brief in the canonical Paṭisambhidāmagga and in detail in the commentarial Visuddhimagga.

From the Paṭisambhidāmagga:
  • In kamma-process becoming before this life there is delusion, which is ignorance; there is accumulation, which is formations; there is attachment, which is craving; there is adoption, which is grasping; there is volition, which is being; thus these five dhammas in kamma-process becoming before this life are conditions for rebirth-linking here in the present life.

    Here in the present life there is rebirth-linking, which is consciousness; there is precipitation in the womb, which is mentality-materiality; there is sensitivity, which is sense-base; there is what is touched, which is contact; there is what is felt, which is feeling; thus these five dhammas in rebirth-process becoming here have their condition in kamma done in the past.

    Here in the present life with the maturing of the bases there is delusion, which is ignorance; there is accumulation, which is formations; there is attachment, which is craving; there is adoption, which is grasping; there is volition, which is being; thus these five dhammas in kamma-process becoming here are conditions for rebirth-linking in the future.

    In the future there is rebirth-linking, which is consciousness; there is precipitation in the womb, which is mentality-materiality; there is sensitivity, which is sense-base; there is what is touched, which is contact; there is what is felt, which is feeling; thus these five dhammas in rebirth-process becoming in the future have their conditions in kamma done here in the present life.
    (Path of Discrimination 52)
Best wishes,
Dhammanando Bhikkhu
Yena yena hi maññanti,
tato taṃ hoti aññathā.


In whatever way they conceive it,
It turns out otherwise.
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