Lecture 1: the concept of birth and death
BUDDHISM IN OUR DAILY LIFE
China Academic Lectures
Sponsored by
China Institute in America, N.Y. USA
By Dr. C. T. Shen
LECTURE 1: THE CONCEPT OF BIRTH AND DEATH
In the Christian Bible, in the Book of John, Chapter XVI, Verse 12, Jesus Christ tells his disciples, "I have yet many things to say unto ye, but ye cannot bear them now." That is to say, what Christ did teach his disciples was only a small part of what he knew, because the level of understanding of his disciples at that time was such that they could only absorb so much. Unfortunately, Jesus died at the age of 33. Time did not allow him to give his disciples a complete course of teaching. What Christ knew and did not say remains an unanswerable question.
On the other hand, Buddha lived for 80 years. He had 45 full years from the time of his enlightenment to teach his disciples: long enough to gradually lead his disciples to learn and practice various stages of teaching, from a self-centered liberation from human suffering to the most profound supramundane doctrine.
If we assume that these founders of two of the greatest religions on earth were both persons possessed of profound wisdom, then many teachings expounded by Buddha could be those which Christ knew but did not have time to teach.
With this view in mind, it seems to me that the study of Buddhism by Christians can have a special significance, that is, the search for what Christ knew but did not say.
The Buddhist concept of birth and death could be a good example of just such an area of thought. That is why I have said these few words first.
Now, let me go to the mysterious question which has hung over the human mind for thousands of years. The question is, "What happens to one after death?" Practically all systems of political thought and philosophical ideas, such as Confucianism, deal in their teaching only with the living. Confucius said, "eve do not even know the living, how can we know the dead?" From a practical point of view, it is true that problems concerning the living are more important and intimate to us, but such an approach evades the search for a real answer to the question. The fact of death, and the question as to what happens afterward, remain. Furthermore, it could very well be that the attitude toward the living could be very much changed if we knew what happen ed to one after death.
It should be noted that Confucius did not say that death is extinctions nor did he say that there is no future life after death. He meant that to live as a decent person on earth is more important than to search for the answer to life after death.
Most religions, however, have a teaching about life after death. Two teachings predominate among world religions: one is the one-life theory and the other is the multi-life theory. The one-life theory says that birth begins the life of a physical body, wherein a spiritual entity called the "soul" abides, and death is the destruction of that body, but of the soul. After death, the soul, depending upon the judgment of the creator, will ascend to heaven or descend to hell. Christianity represents this theory. This teaching ends here, somehow,- and goes no further. The implication is that each person has only this one life on earth and will thereafter remain eternally either in heaven, in bliss, or suffering in hell with no chance of ever leaving. Whether or not this implication represents a complete understanding of Christ's teaching is unclear. It could be that Christ had much more to teach about birth and death, but, in his time, even this limited concept of birth and death was not easy for people to understand. He did not have time to teach them more and to bring them to a higher level understanding.
The multi-life theory says that the birth and death of a being is only one segment of a chain of infinite lives of a being, who wanders among five major kinds of existence. The five existences are: heaven- dweller, human being, animal, ghost, and hell-dweller. After death a human being is reborn into another existence. He or she could again be a human being or perhaps would be a heaven-dweller, or an animal, or a ghost, or a hell-dwelIer. by extension, a dweller in hell can also be reborn as an animal, a human beings etc., and a heaven-dweller can also die and be reborn as a human being, hell dweller, and so forth. This change of life form, or existence, goes on indefinitely until and unless the chain breaks, which occurs when this concept of birth and death becomes no longer significant to a being.
Hinduism and Buddhism hold this multi-life theory, but with a major difference in their views, Hinduism sustains the belief that the concept of birth and death becomes insignificant when the being is merged with the Brahman--Almighty God. Buddhism says that it becomes insignificant upon enlightenment, because the concept of birth and death is no longer applicable. To understand this Buddhist concept, we must first understand that Buddhism explains world phenomena at two levels: one is called the enlightened level, that is, realization of the ultimate truth by the enlightened ones, and the other is called the mundane level. which can be further divided into the intellectual level, where most of us here find ourselves, and the common level, to which the majority of the people on earth belong.
At the enlightened level, the concept of birth and death is no longer applicable. I shall explain this later. At the mundane level, however, Buddhism holds the multi-life theory and recognizes the individuality of a being, which can then be compared with the "soul" as taught in Christianity and Hinduism. The soul can therefore maintain its individuality and appear in the form of a human being, or heaven-dweller, some kind of animal, a ghost, or a hell-dweller in consecutive lives.
I should point out, however, that the continuation of individuality does not mean that a physical body will be transported into the next life, or that everything stored in one's brain, which is a part of the physical body, will pass into the next life. As a matter of fact, the physical body changes from moment to moment. Just look at photographs taken some time ago and you will agree with me. What do pass into the next life or future lives, and constitute the continuation of individuality, are the effects of what one's actions in this present life. This is called, in Buddhism and Hinduism, the law of karma, which I shall explain in my next talk.
At this point you might like to say, "That is fine, but
- please show me the heaven and hell where dwellers in those existences may be found, and
- please prove to me that I existed before my birth and will still be in existence after my death."
To answer the first question, may I ask, "Do you believe that your own eyes are capable of seeing heaven or hell?" If someone did show us heaven or hell, would we not say that it was just an hallucination, or magic, and therefore not believe it? If you have studied the electromagnetic spectrum, you may agree with me that our human eyes can only see an infinitesimal part of the universe. and that there are so many things our eyes cannot see. A few hundred years ago, no one could see the whole bone structure of a living human body, but now we can see it by means of x-rays. We are advancing very rapidly in the investigation into the microscopic universe and also into outer space. Who knows? Maybe a number of years from now, some new detective instrument will be invented that will enable human beings to see a different wave length from the presently visible light wave, and human beings may discover that the so-called hell is right here on earth; or, space instruments will send back some picture of outer space that could turn out to be one of the heavens or worlds postulated by Buddha.
With respect to the second question, sporadic records all over the world have reported that someone, an ordinary person, remembered his past life, or that others. like certain Tibetan high lamas. could tell where they would be reborn. But all of these reports do not have enough scientific proof to convince us conclusively that rebirth does exist.
I am, therefore, using another approach to see if there are some phenomena in the universe in which we live that can explain the concept of birth and death and that may give some clues to this mysterious question. The ample reason that convinced me that this approach has merit is that we human beings are no more than a product of nature and are entirely governed by all the natural laws such as gravitational force. Therefore, the phenomena that apply to other natural creations may very well be applicable to human beings.
As I studied the question, interestingly enough, I found a number of phenomena in the universe which provide good analogies to the multi-life theory of human existence. The simplest and easiest for us to comprehend is the multi-form of H2O.
Do we all know. H2O? Yes.
H2O is the chemical formula for water, signifying two parts of hydrogen to one part of oxygen. The chemical formula H2O does not change when water turns into vapor - at the boiling point or into ice - at the freezing point. Nor is H2O different when it appears in a beautiful, white, crystallized form, which people give the name of snow, or in minute liquid particles suspended in the air, called fog.
Now a very interesting concept arises. When water disappears and is changed into vapor or ice, would you not say that at that very moment, when the concept of birth and death is applied, that water is dead and vapor or ice is born? Or when snow or ice melts and becomes water, would you not say that at that instant, snow or ice is dead and water is born? This is not only true from your point of view, as an outside observer; it is also true from the point of view of water, if water is identified only as water. However, if water is not identified only as water, but also as H2O, then the concept of birth and death does not apply. H2O remains unchanged when its appearance changes from water to vapor or ice or vice versa. H2O has not really undergone "death and rebirth," although its appearance and physical characteristics may have changed an infinite number of times and people may have given it many different names. H2O will not undergo death and rebirth in the future, although its appearance and physical characteristics will change numerous times until H2O disintegrates into hydrogen and oxygen, which phenomenon I will explain later.
From this analogy we can see that the multi-life theory as suggested by Hinduism and Buddhism makes more sense and could be closer to the truth than might have been apparent at first. I therefore draw the following conclusions:
- Equivalent to H2O and its manifestations, such as water, vapor, snow, fog, or ice, there is something in the universe, which I refer to as "X', which is manifested in the five forms of heaven-dweller, human being, animal, ghost, and hell-dweller. In Christianity and Hinduism, "X" is called the soul. In Buddhism, at the mundane level, "X" can also be called the soul.
- The five forms of existence are interchangeable. Thus, a human being can be reborn as a heaven-dweller, or a ghost, or a hell-dweller. A heaven dweller can also be reborn as a human being, or an animal, or a ghost, or a hell-dweller. By the same token, a hell-dweller can also be reborn into other forms, --including that of a human being.
- According to Buddhism, one cannot live in heaven eternally, nor will one stay in hell indefinitely. Life goes on, with its form changing continuously. This phenomenon of the continuous flow of death and rebirth among the five existences is called 'samsara'.
- The concept of birth and death is only meaningful if one refers to a specific object. If the reference is shifted to a more fundamental nature of that object, the concept of birth and death is not applicable. Water and H2O are an example: water is the specific object, H2O the more fundamental nature. A golden ring, which is a specific object, and the raw gold, which is a more basic material, constitute another good example.
- This is important: If one identifies oneself as a human being, then one does undergo death and rebirth. The same applies to water if water is identified as water or a golden ring if it is identified as a golden ring. But, if one identifies oneself as "X", then here is no death, even when the form of "X" appearing as a human being is destroyed. From the point of view of "X", there is only a continuous change of form, while "X' remains unchanged. Again, the same applies if water is identified as H2O or a golden ring as gold. Therefore, if we wish to be rid of death; or samsara, the first thing we should avoid is to identify ourselves as human beings. Unfortunately, this goes entirely against our will. We are strongly attached to our identity as human beings, and that is why we are in samsara.
Now the basic purpose of Buddhist teaching is to enable one to remove oneself from samsara. Therefore, the essence of Buddhism is to teach how one can identify oneself with "X'. Furthermore, Buddhism does not teach us to treat "X" as the soul. because the soul is not the ultimate and is still subject to death and rebirth, just as H2O is subject to disintegration into hydrogen and oxygen and reintegration. Buddhism teaches us to identify ourselves with "X" as interpreted at the enlightened level. At the enlightened level we are told that "X" is something incomprehensible to the human mind and that it can only be realized and recognized by the enlightened ones. If that is so, then how can we comprehend and explain it? Luckily, in modern science I do find something that can probably help us immensely to understand the interpretation of "X" at the enlightened level. This is energy.
In modern science we learn that everything in the universe is a manifested form of energy. Electricity. heat, light, fire, sound, chemical reaction, matter, all are different manifested forms of energy. Energy itself cannot be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched, but all over the universe its manifested forms, infinite in number, can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, touched, or otherwise detected by human organs. Energy, therefore, can be considered as the ultimate existence of the universe. It should be noted, however, that energy is only a name arbitrarily chosen by human beings. The definition of energy has, in fact, been modified since the word was first used. So please do not adhere strictly to the dictionary definition of the word. I may interpret the word differently than do some scientists. The word energy, as I use it here, is given to something in the universe that comprises the entire universe and that cannot be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched by human organs, but that can manifest itself in numerous forms that can be detected by the senses. Since it fully comprises the entire universe. it cannot be increased or decreased, it has no motion. In short, energy is the universe and the universe is energy.
If you are able to comprehend what I have described above as energy, then you should have less difficulty in understanding "X" as explained in Buddhism at the enlightened level. Upon enlightenment, according to Buddhism, one realizes that one's "X", and only that "X", comprises the entire universe; that "X" is the universe and the universe is "X"; that "X" cannot be increased or decreased; that "X" has no motion, and that "X" can be neither defiled nor purified. Because "X" is so difficult to explain and to comprehend, Buddhists, for over 2500 years, have given it many different names, in the attempt to clarify the concept. The simplest term, in my opinion, is Original Nature. The word "original" signifies that all world phenomena are derived from Original Nature, rather than being separate from it. Unlike the concept of "soul", Original Nature implies no isolation of the individual. There can be no other entity. This "X" therefore, is I, myself, is you, is everyone, and is everything. If "X" is like that, then how can "X" die? How can the concept of death and rebirth be applicable to "X"? This Original Nature, therefore, is what one should identify with.
On the other hand, Buddhism males it clear that unless one is enlightened and becomes Original Nature, one is always subject to the chain of multi-life and undergoes the endless death and rebirth that is samsara. Buddhism, therefore, is a teaching that we should look into seriously because it provides ways and means for us as human beings to realize and recognize our Original Nature, whereby we can rid ourselves of the endless and uncontrollable death and rebirth, which in most cases is the source of suffering.
At the same time I wish to emphasize that in our daily life the multi-life theory is even more important than the enlightened vision of "X", because we are not all enlightened and are still subject to samsara. It can be a terrible mistake if we neglect this multi-life theory and simply think, "I am the universe and there is no death," for when death comes, one will still be horrified.
As a conclusion to today's talk, I wish to introduce the following views of two of the most important sociological phenomena in our daily lives. They are:
- Killing does not mean the elimination of an opponent or enemy, and the achievement of victory, as one usually thinks. On the contrary, since only the physical human form is destroyed, the victim still exists. It is therefore not one's victory, and it could be the beginning of one's troubles.
- Suicide does not mean the end of suffering. The physical human form may be destroyed, but life goes on. The problem could become much more complicated and serious as a result of this self-killing.
That is why I said in the beginning of this talk that the attitude of the living could be very much changed if we knew what happened after the so-called death that we observe. Political scientists, politicians, and philosophers who ignore this important question could be making a serious error out of shortsightedness. We look into this subject more penetratingly in my second talk, The Truth of Karma.
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This lecture converted from printed to digital format and included in the MOUNT KAILAS BBS TEACHING Library with permission from Dr. C. T. Shen
Copyright and all rights reserved by Dr. C. T. Shen
