[Rjvpicux]

Bodhi says:

"And what, monks, is birth? The birth of beings into the various orders of beings, their coming to birth, descent (into a womb), production, manifestation of the aggregates, obtaining the bases for contact -- this is called birth."


The above definitions, with their strings of synonyms and concrete imagery, clearly indicate that 'birth' refers to biological birth and 'aging-and-death' to biological aging and biological death -- not to the puthujjana's notions "I was born; I will age and die," or "My self was born; my self ages and dies."

The textual definitions are perfectly staightforward and unambiguous in meaning, and give no hint that the Buddha had some other idea to convey about the significance of these terms.


So, the Buddha is sitting around with his company of monks one full-moon night, and one of the monks asks him questions about the terms used in his teaching of paticcasamuppada, and one of the questions this monks directly asks the Buddha about paticcasamuppada is "What is the cause and condition, venerable sir, for the manifestation of the material form agregate? ...the manifestation of the feeling aggregate? ..the manifestation of the perception aggregate?...the manifestation of the formations (sankhara) aggregate? ...the manifestation of the consciousness aggregate?"

The Buddha's answer is that the Four Great Elements are the cause and condition for the manifestation of the material form aggregate, Contact is the cause and condition for the manifestation of the feeling (sensation) aggregate, Contact is the cause and condition for the manifestation of the perception aggregate, Contact is the cause and condition for the manifestation of the formations (sankhara) aggregate), and Nama-Rupa is the cause and condition for the manifestation of the consciousness aggregate.

This occurs in the Discourse on the Full Moon Night, MN 109 (9).


So here we have the Buddha describing the manifestation of the aggregates within the context and framework of paticcasamuppada as a function of contact, and as a function of of the already-existent body-mind, and as a function of the Four Great Elements. None of this has anything to do with "birth" as "biological birth of a child".

Element has pointed out in another post that the parenthetical "(into a womb)" that Bodhi constantly adds to this sequence is not to be found in the Pali. The "birth of beings into the various orders of beings" is, for example, when one feels an urge to steal, and the mind of a thief arises (bhava/becoming). Acting upon this, he is "born" (comes to birth) as a thief. This is being born into mental states as asuras or hungry ghosts, etc. We see other references, for example in the Mahatanhasankhaya Sutta MN 38, in which the Buddha talks about various nidanas "arising, taking birth, and develop[ing]", which is clearly not a reference to biological birth of a child.

Bodhi's claim that "The above definitions, with their strings of synonyms and concrete imagery, clearly indicate that 'birth' refers to biological birth and 'aging-and-death' to biological aging and biological death -- not to the puthujjana's notions 'I was born; I will age and die,' or 'My self was born; my self ages and dies.'" is without merit.


More to come...