(B09)- Nothing is permanent!

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In the previous episode we noted that the Buddhists rejected the concept of soul as well as God. These two were central to the philosophy of the Brahma supporters. Definitely there is a serious difference. Before we sort out the differences, let us first listen to what the Buddhists have to say.

 

One sect of Buddhists said: 

 

“Nothing in this world is permanent. Everything has only a moment of life time. Everything perishes the very next moment. Forget about Soul, God etc. even our bodies perish every moment. Nothing is permanent except impermanence! Listen to what our preceptor Buddha has said. 

 

There are only two categories of things in this world. One is matter and the other is mind. Bodies are made up of matter and mind is non material. But neither of these is permanent. A body gets formed by the combining of 4 basic elements namely Prthvi, Aap, Vayu, and Agni. But don’t take them as equivalent to your Panca Bhootas. These are not the objects that we know of normally. Prthvi merely means a property that occupies space and gives solid form to an object. It is not your earth element. Similarly, Aap just means something that has the fluid property or something that can flow. And the rest are similar. They are merely some properties and not physical substances. 

 

The mind acts as a repository of feelings, emotions etc. But the mind itself does not feel anything. Nor is there any sentient ‘being’ that undergoes these feelings. Feelings are just some changes in the contents of successive minds. So, there is no soul which experiences these feelings. 

 

What you view as a living being is merely a flux of series of bodies and minds. Due to Karmic force, these bodies and minds get produced one after the other all by themselves. So produced, they perish every moment, only to be replaced by another combination of body and mind. This sequence of bodies and minds that go on one after another, is what ‘appears’ like a living being. In reality, there is nothing like a living entity. The self or the soul is just an illusion created by this sequence of bodies and minds. 

 

As long as there are Karmic impressions left, this sequence goes on forever endlessly. For a limited time, this sequence goes on in one place and then it continues in an altogether new place. We recognize one sequence of associated bodies and minds as one life time of an individual. But this sequence will continue as another sequence in an altogether new place after the death of the individual. We call that as re-birth of that individual. But all along, there was no individual. It was only a sequence of bodies and minds associated with a certain set of Karmic impressions. We use the words such as ‘individual’ only for the sake of discussion.

 

Every time the body comes in contact with a material object through a sense organ, a long series of events take place. First there will be contact of the senses with the object. Next there will be craving in the mind for the pleasure associated with that object. This craving ends up in the body acquiring the object and finally enjoying it. This enjoyment leaves back Karmic impressions in the Mind. It also leads to further craving for more pleasure. And this process continues endlessly.

 

Karmic impressions ultimately lead to rebirth. And the cycle ‘births’ and ‘deaths’ keeps repeating without break. Since each cycle potentially produces unwholesome feelings and emotions in the respective minds, it is always advisable to break this cycle of births and deaths effortfully. The only way to stop this process is to have restraint over desires and stop the accumulation of Karmic impressions that are the driving force behind this sequence of births and deaths.

 

One can stop accumulation of the Karmic impressions by following the path enunciated by our preceptor Buddha. That path predominantly involves meditation to calm down the mind completely. Once the Karmic impressions cease to get accumulated, the ‘individual’ no longer undergoes rebirth and the sequence stops once for all. We call that as final liberation of the individual or Nirvana. Attaining this Nirvana is real aim of life. That will ensure complete freedom from all bondage. 

 

As you can clearly see, this entire process runs without needing any God. Nor there is any need to assume the concepts like soul etc. So, your ideas of eternality fall apart. Neither there is any eternal soul nor any God that controls our lives”

 

That is how one sect of Buddhists put forth their views about existence. Obviously, this is in contrast to what the Brahma supporters are trying to impress upon. They can’t take this lying down. They furiously blast this theory of the Buddhists and show them how illogical their theory is. We will discuss that in the next episode.

 

 

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A series on ancient Indian composition Brahma Sutra. © Dr. King, Swami Satyapriya 2020-21