Rebirth, Craving

In the old Pali Canon, the wanderer Vacchagotta was a frequent visitor of the Buddha, but he was often uncertain of the teachings, so he would ask a lot of good questions. The kinds of questions you and I might ask. So sutras featuring conversations between the Buddha and Vacchagotta are among the most interesting in my opinion.

Another random one I found recently is the Kutuhalasala Sutta (SN 44.9). Vacchagotta asks why the Buddha can declare that some will not be reborn again (i.e. parinirvana), while other famous “gurus” at the time can make no such claim. This confuses Vacchagotta:

Vacchagotta: “So I was simply befuddled. I was uncertain: How is the teaching of Gotama the contemplative to be understood?”

The Buddha: “Of course you are befuddled, Vaccha. Of course you are uncertain. When there is a reason for befuddlement in you, uncertainty arises. I designate the rebirth of one who has sustenance, Vaccha, and not of one without sustenance. Just as a fire burns with sustenance and not without sustenance, even so I designate the rebirth of one who has sustenance and not of one without sustenance.”

Fire is a common analogy in early Buddhism for craving and passion. Vacchagotta then asks:

Vacchagotta: “But, Master Gotama, at the moment a flame is being swept on by the wind and goes a far distance, what do you designate as its sustenance then?”

The Buddha: “Vaccha, when a flame is being swept on by the wind and goes a far distance, I designate it as wind-sustained, for the wind is its sustenance at that time.”

Vacchagotta: “And at the moment when a being sets this body aside and is not yet reborn in another body, what do you designate as its sustenance then?“

The Buddha: “Vaccha, when a being sets this body aside and is not yet reborn in another body, I designate it as craving-sustained, for craving is its sustenance at that time.”

This last two sentences are an important key to Buddhism. Why do we keep coming back over and over? Because we crave it. We crave existence, we crave thought, we crave stimulation of the senses and so on. That’s what it really boils down to. That’s why we must carry a body, why we must undergo birth, old age, sickness, and death. It’s the price we pay to continue being, to continue sensing and thinking.

One who reads this might first react thinking that Buddhism is nihilistic, but as posted not too long ago, Nirvana is something utterly, entirely different from comprehension,* but it is freedom from this notion of repeated existence.

Namuamidabu

* – Another Vacchagotta special.