The Buddha's teaching and the origin of life

Daya Sirisena, President, Board of Trustees, Sirisena Dharma Mandiraya, Meditation Centre, Moratuwa Pepiliyana Sunethradevi Pirivena. Pic. Janaka Wettasinghe The Gautama Buddha did not give any specific teaching regarding the origin of the universe or of life, the question was said to be unanswerable from the level of ordinary mundane, intelligence.

The Buddha explains "The origin of beings revolving in Samsara (Life Cycle) being cloaked by Avijja (ignorance) is undiscoverable.

At the same time it is laid down as a natural consequence of the law of Dependant Origination, (paticca-samuppada) that in the ceaseless cycle of cause and effect there cannot be any link in the sequence that can be designated a first cause.

Each effect in its turn becomes a cause and beginning is nowhere apparent, it is a closed circle of related conditions, each factor being dependant on the presiding ones.

When it is said the world cycles or world periods known in Buddhism as Kappas are of immeasurable duration, it must be remembered that all time concepts are relative, we measure them from our own stand point in an immeasurably, vaster space context, the time context is correspondingly enlarged, so that events covering millions of years by our calculations can be measurable in terms of seconds.

The brain may reel at the concept of an infinity of space time constructions fitting into impregnating one another endlessly in all directions. But it is not entirely outside the scope of human imagination.

It figures quite largely in Buddhist thought these are infinite number (conventionally expressed as "ten thousand" or "in calculable") of world-systems and thirty one planes of existence having vast differences in time measurement, what is unthinkable is a state of non causality where neither space, time nor events have any existence.

This has to be understood by direct perception, which means bursting the bonds of relativity, and its concepts and processes.

"Na Hethu deva Brahma va

Samsara Atathikarako

Suddhamma pavanthanthi

Hethu sambhara appaccayati"

"There is no God or Brahma

Who is the Creator of this world

Empty Phenomena roll on all

Subject to causality"

When we understand the truth there could never have been a beginning an origin out of nothingness of the universe or the life process.

It is true that the universe as we know it evolved out of the dispersed matter of previous universe, and when it passes away it remains in the form of active forces will in time give rise to another universe in exactly the same way.

The process is cyclic and continuous. This is why it is said in Buddhist-texts the origin of Phenomena is not discoverable and the beginning of beings obstructed by ignorance and enslave by craving is not to be found.

The same one universe gives rise to another through the residual energy which is continuously renewing itself that is through the principal of the indestructibility of matter.

So the life of a being gives rise to another being which is not the same in identity and without involving an unchanging permanent self that which links them is called in Buddhism "Kamma" or volitioned activity; the continuation of the causal process is called "Samsara" or the cycles of rebirths: the actuality of rebirth and existence without any unchanging principal of identity or self is called "anatta".

"Nasacho Nassa Anno" from the craddle to the grave man's personality changes. Infant, child, young person, old then the death. All link, same but not the same in actual sense, but accumulated tendencies or habit formations continue with the new life and continue, that is why the Buddha explains that the Samsara is long and hazardous.

2551 years ago Gauthama Sammaasambuddha discovered a incomparable doctrine to mankind all who could benefit by his teachings for 45 years from the re-sermon in Migadaya Baranesa to the five ascetic to the last exoration before the parinirvana it is one them, them of liberation to mankind. Today signifies the Birth, Enlightenment, Parinirvana of Gauthama Sammasambuddha.

His voice speaks to us clearly today as ever did 2551 years ago not only through his teachings preserved over centuries, but through the discoveries of Modern Science. May all living beings be happy and content.!