Part 11 (1/2)

A. To the ripened Karma of the individual in his preceding births.

238. Q. _What is the force of energy that is at work, under the guidance of Karma, to produce the new being?_

A. Tanha--the will to _live_.[12]

239. Q. _Upon what is the doctrine of rebirths founded?_

A. Upon the perception that perfect justice, equilibrium and adjustment are inherent in the universal system of Nature. Buddhists do not believe that one life--even though it were extended to one hundred or five hundred years--is long enough for the reward or punishment of a man's deeds. The great circle of rebirths will be more or less quickly run through according to the preponderating purity or impurity of the several lives of the individual.

240. Q. _Is this new aggregation of Skandhas--this new personality--the same being as that in the previous birth, whose Tanha has brought it into existence?_

A. In one sense it is a new being; in another it is not. In Pali it is--”_nacha so nacha anno_” which means not the same nor yet another. During this life the _Skandhas_ are constantly changing;[13] and while the man A. B., of forty, is identical, as regards personality, with the youth A. B., of eighteen, yet, by the continual waste and reparation of his body, and change of mind and character, he is a different being. Nevertheless, the man in his old age justly reaps the reward of suffering consequent upon his thoughts and actions at every previous stage of his life. So the new being of a rebirth, being the same individuality as before, but with a changed form, or new aggregation of _Skandhas_, justly reaps the consequences of his actions and thoughts in the previous existence.

241. Q. _But the aged man remembers the incidents of his youth, despite his being physically and mentally changed. Why, then, is not the recollection of past lives brought over by us from our last birth, into the present birth?_

A. Because memory is included within the _Skandhas_; and the _Skandhas_ having changed with the new reincarnation, a new memory, the record of of that particular existence, develops. Yet the record or reflection of all the past earth-lives must survive; for, when Prince Siddhartha became Buddha, the full sequence of his previous births was seen by him. If their several incidents had left no trace behind, this could not have been so, as there would have been nothing for him to see. And any one who attains to the fourth state of _Dhyana_ (psychical insight) can thus retrospectively trace the line of his lives.

242. Q. _What is the ultimate point towards which tend all these series of changes in form?_

A. Nirvana.

243. Q. _Does Buddhism teach that we should do good with the view of reaching Nirvana?_

A. No; that would be as absolute selfishness as though the reward hoped for had been money, a throne, or any other sensual enjoyment.

Nirvana cannot be so reached, and the unwise speculator is foredoomed to disappointment.

244. Q. _Please make it a little clearer?_

A. Nirvana is the synonym of unselfishness, the entire surrender of selfhood to truth. The ignorant man aspires to nirvanic happiness without the least idea of its nature. Absence of selfishness is Nirvana. Doing good with the view to getting results, or leading the holy life with the object of gaining heavenly happiness, is not the n.o.ble Life that the Buddha enjoined. Without hope of reward the n.o.ble Life should be lived, and that is the highest life. The nirvanic state can be attained while one is living on this earth.

245. Q. _Name the ten great obstacles to advancement, called Sanyojanas, the Fetters?_

A. Delusion of self (_Sakkaya-ditthi_); Doubt (_Vicikiccha_); Dependence on superst.i.tious rites (_Silabbata-paramasa_); Sensuality, bodily pa.s.sions (_Kama_); Hatred, ill-feeling (_Patigha_); Love of life on earth (_Ruparaga_); Desire for life in a heaven (_Aruparaga_); Pride (_Mana_); Self-righteousness (Uddhacca); Ignorance (_Avijja_).

246. Q. _To become an Arhat, how many of these fetters must be broken?_

A. All.

247. Q. _What are the five Nirwaranas or Hindrances?_

A. Greed, Malice, Sloth, Pride, and Doubt.

248. Q. _Why do we see this minute division of feelings, impulses, workings of the mind, obstacles and aids to advancement so much used in the Buddha's teachings? It is very confusing to a beginner._

A. It is to help us to obtain knowledge of ourselves, by training our minds to think out every subject in detail. By following out this system of self-examination, we come finally to acquire knowledge and see truth as it is. This is the course taken by every wise teacher to help his pupil's mind to develop.

249. Q. _How many of the Buddha's disciples were specially renowned for their superior qualities?_

A. There are eighty so distinguished. They are called the Asiti Maha Savakas.

250. Q. _What did the Buddha's wisdom embrace?_