Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research

Bhikkhu Analayo

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781614294467
• eBook ISBN: 9781614294627
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Buddhism

Join a rigorous scholar and Buddhist monk on a brisk tour of rebirth from ancient doctrine to contemporary debates.

German Buddhist monk and university professor Bhikkhu Analayo had not given much attention to the topic of rebirth before some friends asked him to explore the treatment of the issue in early Buddhist texts. This succinct volume presents his findings, approaching the topic from four directions. The first chapter examines the doctrine of rebirth as it is presented in the earliest Buddhist sources and the way it relates to core doctrinal principles. The second chapter reviews debates about rebirth throughout Buddhist history and up to modern times, noting the role of confirmation bias in evaluation of evidence. Chapter 3 reviews the merits of current research on rebirth, including near-death experience, past-life regression, and children who recall previous lives. The chapter concludes with an examination of xenoglossy, the ability to speak languages one has not learned previously, and chapter 4 examines the particular case of Dhammaruwan, a Sri Lankan boy who chants Pali texts that he does not appear to have learned in his present life. Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research brings together the many strands of the debate on rebirth in one place, making it both comprehensive and compact. It is not a polemic but an interrogation of the evidence, and it leaves readers to come to their own conclusions. 

Transcriptions

INTRODUCTION

IN WHAT FOLLOWS I present transcripts of the Pāli chants by Dhammaruwan selected for study in this book, arranged in sequence according to their placing in the Pāli canon. Words in the transcripts that differ from any of the main editions consulted are underlined; an underlined ellipsis marks a place where one or more of the editions has additional material. In the footnotes to these underlined occurrences I first refer to the recordings, combining an abbreviation for the text with the count of minutes and seconds of the approximate time when this particular phrase occurs in the recording.⁴⁵² This is followed by the variants in the four Pāli editions consulted (B^e: Burmese, C^e: Ceylonese, E^e: Pali Text Society, and S^e: Siamese), from which I only note those that make a clearly audible difference.⁴⁵³ The same goes for the annotation in these editions, from which I only record variants mentioned in the edition’s notes if these correspond to the reading in question. The footnotes appended to the titles of the texts give information about the location of the discourse in the Pali Text Society edition and the parts of the discourse covered by the recording.⁴⁵⁴

DN 15 Mahānidāna-sutta⁴⁵⁵

evaṃ me sutaṃ. ekaṃ samayaṃ bhagavā kurūsu viharati kammāsadhammaṃ nāma kurūnaṃ nigamo.

atha kho āyasmā ānando yena bhagavā ten’ upasaṅkami. upasaṅkamitvā bhagavantaṃ abhivādetvā ekamantaṃ nisīdi. ekamantaṃ nisinno kho āyasmā ānando bhagavantaṃ etad avoca:

acchariyaṃ bhante abbhutaṃ bhante yāva gambhīro cāyaṃ bhante paṭiccasamuppādo gambhīrāvabhāso ca, atha ca pana me uttānakuttānako viya khāyatī ti.

mā h’ evaṃ ānanda avaca, mā h’ evaṃ ānanda avaca. gambhīro cāyaṃ, ānanda,⁴⁵⁶ paṭiccasamuppādo gambhīrāvabhāso ca. etassa ānanda dhammassa ananubodhā appaṭivedhā evam ayaṃ pajā tantākulakajātā guṇagaṇṭhikajātā⁴⁵⁷ muñjapabbajabhūtā apāyaṃ duggatiṃ vinipātaṃ saṃsāraṃ nātivattati.

atthi idappaccayā jarāmaraṇan ti iti puṭṭhena satā ānanda atthi’ ssa⁴⁵⁸ vacanīyaṃ. kim paccayā jarāmaraṇan ti iti ce vadeyya, jātipaccayā jarāmaraṇan ti icc’ assa vacanīyaṃ.

atthi idappaccayā jātī ti iti puṭṭhena satā ānanda atthi ’ssa⁴⁵⁹ vacanīyaṃ. kim paccayā jātī ti iti ce vadeyya, bhavapaccayā jātī ti icc’ assa vacanīyaṃ.

atthi idappaccayā bhavo ti iti puṭṭhena satā ānanda atthi ’ssa⁴⁶⁰ vacanīyaṃ. kim paccayā bhavo ti iti ce vadeyya, upādānapaccayā bhavo ti icc’ assa vacanīyaṃ.

atthi idappaccayā upādānan ti iti puṭṭhena satā ānanda atthi ’ssa⁴⁶¹ vacanīyaṃ. kim paccayā upādānan ti iti ce vadeyya, taṇhāpaccayā upādānan ti icc’ assa vacanīyaṃ.

atthi idappaccayā taṇhā ti iti puṭṭhena satā ānanda atthi ’ssa⁴⁶² vacanīyaṃ. kim paccayā taṇhā ti iti ce vadeyya, vedanāpaccayā taṇhā ti icc’ assa vacanīyaṃ.

atthi idappaccayā vedanā ti iti puṭṭhena satā ānanda atthi ’ssa⁴⁶³ vacanīyaṃ. kim paccayā vedanā ti iti ce vadeyya, phassapaccayā vedanā ti icc’ assa vacanīyaṃ.

atthi idappaccayā phasso ti iti puṭṭhena satā ānanda atthi ’ssa⁴⁶⁴ vacanīyaṃ. kim paccayā phasso ti iti ce vadeyya, nāmarūpapaccayā phasso ti icc’ assa vacanīyaṃ.

atthi idappaccayā nāmarūpan ti iti puṭṭhena satā ānanda atthi ’ssa⁴⁶⁵ vacanīyaṃ. kim paccayā nāmarūpan ti iti ce vadeyya, viññāṇapaccayā nāmarūpan ti icc’ assa vacanīyaṃ.

atthi idappaccayā viññāṇan ti iti puṭṭhen...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• Foreword by Bhante Gunaratana
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• I. The Early Buddhist Doctrine of Rebirth
• II. Debates on Rebirth
• III. Evidence Considered Supportive of Rebirth
• IV. Case Study in Pāli Xenoglossy
• Conclusion
• Transcriptions
• References
• Index
• About the Author
• Copyright