DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - The Questions of King Milinda and rebirth

**fiettariaps** · 11-01-2011, 10:57 PM

"Of course you are befuddled, Vaccha. Of course you are uncertain. When there is a reason for befuddlement in you, uncertainty arises. I designate the rebirth of one who has sustenance, Vaccha, and not of one without sustenance. Just as a fire burns with sustenance and not without sustenance, even so I designate the rebirth of one who has sustenance and not of one without sustenance."

SN 44.9

Discuss.

The sustenance is the illusion born of ignorance, as is the "being":

"And at the moment when a being sets this body aside and is not yet reborn in another body, what do you designate as its sustenance then?"

"Vaccha, when a being sets this body aside and is not yet reborn in another body, I designate it as craving-sustained, for craving is its sustenance at that time."

Craving leads to the illusion of being a discrete, enduring entity. Craving is not a substance, but a behavior. As long as one craves future existences, one is caught up in the illusion of transmigration and cannot/will not understand that rebirth is not reincarnation. Once one is rid of attachment to being and becoming, one stops craving for future being and can see rebirth for what it is. It is not the continuation of the self, for there was never a self to begin with, only arising and ceasing phenomena.

11-01-2011, 10:57 PM	#20
fiettariaps Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 419 Senior Member	"Of course you are befuddled, Vaccha. Of course you are uncertain. When there is a reason for befuddlement in you, uncertainty arises. I designate the rebirth of one who has sustenance, Vaccha, and not of one without sustenance. Just as a fire burns with sustenance and not without sustenance, even so I designate the rebirth of one who has sustenance and not of one without sustenance." SN 44.9 Discuss. The sustenance is the illusion born of ignorance, as is the "being": "And at the moment when a being sets this body aside and is not yet reborn in another body, what do you designate as its sustenance then?" "Vaccha, when a being sets this body aside and is not yet reborn in another body, I designate it as craving-sustained, for craving is its sustenance at that time." Craving leads to the illusion of being a discrete, enduring entity. Craving is not a substance, but a behavior. As long as one craves future existences, one is caught up in the illusion of transmigration and cannot/will not understand that rebirth is not reincarnation. Once one is rid of attachment to being and becoming, one stops craving for future being and can see rebirth for what it is. It is not the continuation of the self, for there was never a self to begin with, only arising and ceasing phenomena.
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