[fruttomma]

dear sutta students

often, the term 'pubbenivasa' has been noted on this forum as meaning 'past dwellings' or 'past abodes', literally, 'past homes', rather than the commonly used 'past lives'

the term 'pubbenivasa' is found in the following stock phrases & discourses:

So evaṃ samāhite citte parisuddhe pariyodāte anaṅgaṇe vigatūpakkilese mudubhūte kammaniye ṭhite āneñjappatte pubbenivāsānussatiñāṇāya cittaṃ abhininnāmesiṃ. So anekavihitaṃ pubbenivāsaṃ anussarāmi, seyyathidaṃ – ekampi jātiṃ dvepi jātiyo tissopi jātiyo catassopi jātiyo pañcapi jātiyo dasapi jātiyo vīsampi jātiyo tiṃsampi jātiyo cattālīsampi jātiyo paññāsampi jātiyo jātisatampi jātisahassampi jātisatasahassampi

When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady & attained to imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of recollecting my past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two... five, ten... fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand

MN 4 Sāvatthinidānaṃ. ‘‘Ye hi keci, bhikkhave, samaṇā vā brāhmaṇā vā anekavihitaṃ pubbenivāsaṃ anussaramānā anussaranti sabbete pañcupādānakkhandhe anussaranti etesaṃ vā aññataraṃ. Katame pañca? ‘Evaṃrūpo ahosiṃ atītamaddhāna’nti – iti vā hi, bhikkhave, anussaramāno rūpaṃyeva anussarati. ‘Evaṃvedano ahosiṃ atītamaddhāna’nti – iti vā hi, bhikkhave, anussaramāno vedanaṃyeva anussarati. ‘Evaṃsañño ahosiṃ atītamaddhāna’nti… ‘evaṃsaṅkhāro ahosiṃ atītamaddhāna’nti… ‘evaṃviññāṇo ahosiṃ atītamaddhāna’nti – iti vā hi, bhikkhave, anussaramāno viññāṇameva anussarati’’.

At Savatthi. "Monks, any brahmans or contemplatives who recollect their manifold past lives all recollect the five clinging-aggregates, or one among them. Which five? When recollecting, 'I was one with such a form in the past,' one is recollecting just form. Or when recollecting, 'I was one with such a feeling in the past,' one is recollecting just feeling. Or when recollecting, 'I was one with such a perception in the past,' one is recollecting just perception. Or when recollecting, 'I was one with such mental fabrications in the past,' one is recollecting just mental fabrications. Or when recollecting, 'I was one with such a consciousness in the past,' one is recollecting just consciousness.

SN 22.79 the Haliddakani Sutta has been recently pointed out to me. it seems to possibly clear up the meaning of 'pubbenivasa'

regards

Kathañca, gahapati, anokasārī hoti? Rūpadhātuyā kho, gahapati, yo chando yo rāgo yā nandī yā taṇhā ye upayupādānā cetaso adhiṭṭhānābhinivesānusayā te tathāgatassa pahīnā ucchinnamūlā tālāvatthukatā anabhāvaṃkatā anabhāvaṃgatā āyatiṃ anuppādadhammā.

And how does one not live at home? Any desire, passion, delight, craving, any attachments, clingings, fixations of awareness, biases [Bhikkhu Bodhi: 'adherences'] or obsessions with regard to the property of form: these the Tathagata has abandoned, their root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future arising. Therefore the Tathagata is said to be not dwelling at home.

SN 22.3 Haliddakani Sutta Nivāsa [fr. nivasati2] stopping, dwelling, resting -- place, abode; living, sheltering J i.115 (˚ŋ kappeti to put up); ii.110; PvA 76, 78. Usually in phrase pubbe -- nivāsaŋ anussarati "to remember one's former abode or place of existence (in a former life)," characterising the faculty of remembering one's former birth D i.13, 15, 16, 81; S i.167, 175, 196; ii.122, 213; v.265, 305; A i.25, 164; ii.183; iii.323, 418 sq.; iv.141 sq.; v.211, 339. Also in pubbenivāsaŋ vedi It 100; Sn 647=Dh 423; p -- n -- paṭisaŋyuttā dhammikathā D ii.1; p -- n -- anussatiñāṇa D iii.110, 220, 275; A iv.177. Cp. nevāsika.

Nivesa [Vedic niveśa, fr. ni+viś] 1. entering, stopping, settling down; house, abode.

Nivesana (nt.) [Vedic niveśana, fr. nivesati, cp. niviṭṭha] 1. entering, entrance, settling; settlement, abode, house, home. -- 2. (fig.) (also nivesanā f.: Nd2 366) settling on, attachment, clinging to (in diṭṭhi˚ clinging to a view=dogmatism cp. nivissa -- vādin)

Abhinivesa [abhi + nivesa, see nivesa2 & cp. nivesana] "settling in", i. e. wishing for, tendency towards , inclination, adherence; as adj. liking, loving, being given or inclined to -- Often combd. with adhiṭṭhāna e. g. S ii.17; Nd2 176, and in phrase idaŋ -- saccɔ âbhinivesa adherence to one's dogmas, as one of the 4 Ties: see kāyagantha and cp. Cpd. 171 n. 5.

Adhiṭṭhāna (nt.) [fr. adhi + sthā] 1. decision, resolution, self -- determination, will. -- 2. mentioned in bad sense with abhinivesa and anusaya, obstinacy, prejudice and bias M i.136; iii.31, 240; S ii.17; iii.10, 135, 194. -- As adj. ( -- ˚) applying oneself to, bent on A iii.363. -- 3. looking after, management, direction, power Miln 309 (devānaŋ); PvA 141 (so read for adhitaṭṭhāna). [adiṭṭhāna as PvA 89, used as explanatory for āvāsa, should perhaps be read adhiṭṭhāna in the sense of fixed, permanent, abode].

Pali Dictionary

[Unergerah]

Hi Element,

Could you help clarify what the term jāti means in the Bhaya-bherava Sutta (MN 4), which you've quoted above? Usually, it is argued that jāti refers literally to birth, as in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11), where it is stated:

Idaṃ kho pana, bhikkhave, dukkhaṃ ariyasaccaṃ— jātipi dukkhā, jarāpi dukkhā, byādhipi dukkho, maraṇampi dukkhaṃ, appiyehi sampayogo dukkho, piyehi vippayogo dukkho, yampicchaṃ na labhati tampi dukkhaṃ— saṃkhittena pañcupādānakkhandhā dukkhā.

http://studies.worldtipitaka.org/tip...12/12.2/12.2.1

"Now this, monks, is the noble truth of stress:[1] Birth is stressful, aging is stressful, death is stressful; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stressful; association with the unbeloved is stressful, separation from the loved is stressful, not getting what is wanted is stressful. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stressful."

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....011.than.html
To understand what jāti means in connection with the term pubbenivāsā in the context of recalling "past lives" would be of great help in this line of inquiry.

Abhaya

[Podborodok]

thanks Abhaya

in Buddha-Dhamma, reliance is placed on both the teachings and our own experience. Buddha taught one of the salient characteristics of his dhamma was it is to be "verified/experienced by the wise for themselves: paccattaṃ veditabbo viññūhi".

Yo so svākkhāto bhagavatā dhammo,

The Dhamma well-expounded by the Blessed One,

Sandiṭṭhiko akāliko ehipassiko,

to be seen here & now, timeless, inviting all to come & see,

Opanayiko paccattaṃ veditabbo viññūhi:

leading inward, to be seen by the wise for themselves: as the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta was the 1st sermon, and thus an introductory & gradual teaching, i find it helpful to regard 'birth' here as exclusively physical birth, as follows:

'Good man did you not see the first divine messenger among humans?' He says `Sir I did not see,' Then the king of the under world would ask him. 'Good man didn't you see a todler who stands and lies with difficulty, mingled in his own urine and excreta while lying?'

MN 130 Then for nine or ten months the mother shelters the embryo in her womb with great anxiety, as a heavy burden. Then, at the end of nine or ten months, she gives birth with great anxiety, as a heavy burden.

MN 38 as a gradual & introductory teaching, i think it is prudent to consider that if we ask the ordinary man or woman in the street the question: "What is suffering?", they are likely to reply with a range of answers in the sphere of: "Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress & despair are suffering; association with the unbeloved is suffering, separation from the loved is suffering, not getting what is wanted is suffering."

however, at the end of the 1st Noble Truth, it is stated, unambiguously: "saṃkhittena pañcupādānakkhandhā dukkhā: In short, clinging to the five aggregates is suffering". For me, this means, in short, physical birth in itself is not suffering but, instead, clinging to physical birth as "my birth" is suffering, as follows:

'I am' is a construing. 'I am this' is a construing. 'I shall be' is a construing. 'I shall not be'... 'I shall be possessed of form'... 'I shall not be possessed of form'... 'I shall be percipient'... 'I shall not be percipient'... 'I shall be neither percipient nor non-percipient' is a construing.

Construing is a disease, construing is a cancer, construing is an arrow. By going beyond all construing, he is said to be a sage at peace.

Furthermore, a sage at peace is not born, does not age, does not die, is unagitated, and is free from longing. He has nothing whereby he would be born. Not being born, will he age? Not aging, will he die? Not dying, will he be agitated? Not being agitated, for what will he long?

It was in reference to this that it was said, 'He has been stilled where the currents of construing do not flow. And when the currents of construing do not flow, he is said to be a sage at peace.'

MN 140 so, as the teachings became established, the definition of 'jati' was expounded in the Dependent Origination, as occuring with attachment & becoming as its condition, and then reapplied to the Four Noble Truths, as follows:

And what is birth? Whatever birth, taking birth, descent, coming-to-be, coming-forth, appearance of aggregates & acquisition of [sense] media of the various beings in this or that group of beings, that is called birth.

Paticca-samuppada-vibhanga Sutta: Analysis of Dependent Co-arising And what is birth? Whatever birth, taking birth, descent, coming-to-be, coming-forth, appearance of aggregates & acquisition of [sense] spheres of the various beings in this or that group of beings, that is called birth.

Saccavibhanga Sutta: An Analysis of the Truths for me, these above translations by Thanissaro Bhikkhu are not clear and i would recommend reading my essay, at this link. Instead of "appearance", Bhikkhu Bodhi uses the translation: "manifestion". In brief, to me, this definition of jati describes the "acquisition" or "taking possession" of the relevent aggregrates & sense spheres, including objects of sense, which lead to the coming-to-be or "entering" (not "descent") of the various orders of beings, namely, human, ghost, animal, hell, godly, mother, father, wife, doctor, lawyer, plumber, merchant, John, Nick, Sally, Jane, etc. in short, self-identification

please note, the salient meaning of 'jati' in India has always been as follows, as explained in my essay:

Jāti (in Devanagari: जाति Tamil:சாதி) (the word literally means 'thus born') is the term used to denote the thousands of clans, tribes, communities and sub-communities in India. It is a term used across religions. Each jāti typically has an association with a traditional job function or tribe, although religious beliefs (e.g. Sri Vaishnavism or Veera Shaivism) or linguistic groupings may define some jatis. A person's surname typically reflects a community (jati) association: thus Gandhi = perfume seller, Dhobi = washerman, Srivastava = military scribe, etc. In any given location in India 500 or more jatis may co-exist, although the exact composition will differ from district to district.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia as to clarify what the term jāti means in the Bhaya-bherava Sutta (MN 4), we can simply refer to Achariya Buddhaghosa's explanation found in his Visuddhimagga. Achariya Buddhaghosa believed in rebirth but seemed to explain 'jati' here as 'becoming'.

Now, this word birth (játi) has many meanings.

For in the passage “[He recollects … ] one birth (játi), two births” (D I 81) it is becoming.

In the passage, “Visákhá, there is a kind (játi) of ascetics called Nigaóþhas (Jains)” (A I 206) it is a monastic order.

In the passage, “Birth (játi) is included in two aggregates” (Dhátuk 15) it is the characteristic of whatever is formed.

In the passage, “His birth is due to the first consciousness arisen, the first cognition manifested, in the mother’s womb” (Vin I 93) it is rebirth-linking.

In the passage “As soon as he was born (sampatijáta), Ánanda, the Bodhisatta …” (M III 123) it is parturition.

In the passage “One who is not rejected and despised on account of birth” (A III 152) it is clan.

In the passage “Sister, since I was born with the noble birth” (M II 103) it is the Noble One’s virtue.

Visuddhimagga Becoming, as we know, is defined in the suttas as one of three mental asava (outflows).


Regards