Chapter (6) Various types of kamma:(need to correction)
1. Kamma is classified in four ways , with four subdivisions in each group:
Kamma is classified according to the time in which resufts are produced. There is Kamma which ripens in the same life-time; it is called Dithadhamma Vedaniyn Kamma which is the first of the 7 impulsive moments of consciousness, that is javana Citta, producing its effect during the present life-time.
There is Kamma which ripens in the next life; it is called Upap4ja Vedaniya Kamma which is the 7th or last of the seven impulsive moments ofjavana citta producing its offect or resuft in the next birth or next existance.
We then have kamma which ripen in successive births or rebirths. These are the remaining kammas, namely 2nd, 3nd, 4th, 5th and 6th of the seven impulsive moments of javana citta, which are called Aprapriya Vedaniya Kamma producing their respective effects or resufts in successive births or existences
These three types of Kamma are as bound to produce resufts as a seed is to sprout. But for a seed to sprout, certain auxiliary causes such as soil, rain and sun are required. In the same way, for a kamma to produce an effect, several auxiliary causes such as suitable circumstsneces and surroundings are requireed. ft sometimes happens that for want of such auxiliary causes Kamma does not produce any resuft. In that case, it is called Ineffective Kamma or Ahosi Kamma.
2. Kamma is also classified according to its particular function;There is Reproductive Kamma (Zanaka kamma) which conditions the future birth.Then there is supportmg kamma (Upathambhaka kamma) which assists or maintains the results of kamma which afready exist.Then we have counter- active kamma (upapilaka kamma) which suppresses or modifies the resufts of reproductive kamma.Then there is Destructive kamma (Upagliataka kamma) which destroys the force of existing ykamma and substitutes its own results.
3. Kamma is classified according to the priority of resufts:There is serious or weight ykamma (Garuka kamma) which produces its resuft in the present life- time or the next When the kamma is moral, the highly refined mental states called ecstasies are weighty, because they produce resufts more speedily than the ordinary unrefined mental states.
When the kamma is immoral, the five kinds of immediately effective serious crimes are weighty. These serious crimes are matricide patricide, murder of an Arabat, wounding of a Buddha and creation of schism in the sangha.
Death Proxinate kamma (Marana sanna kamma) is the action which one does at the moment before death, either physically or mentally by thinking of one’s own previous good or bad action, by having good or bad thoughts. It is this kamma which, if there is no weighty kamma, determines the condition of the next birth.
Habitual kamma (Aciunakame or Bahula kamma) is the action which one constantly does. This kamma, in the absence of deathproximate kamma, or weighty kamma, produces and determines the nature of the next birth.
Reserved kamma or stored up kamma (Katatta kamma) is the unexpended kamma of a particular being and it conditions the next birth if there is no Habitual Kamma to operate.
4. Kamma is classified according to the plane in which the resufts are produced the plane of misery, the plane of sensory pleasure, the plane of the form and the plane of the formless:
Immoral kamma produces its effect or resuft in the plane of misery. ~lis kamma is rooted in greed, anger or hate and delusion and is expressed in 10 immoral actions nemely killing, stealing, unchastity, (These are caused by deed), lying, slandering, harsh language, frivolous taW, (These four are caused byword) covetouaneass, ill- will, false view (These three are cused by mind).
Moral or good kamma produces its effect in the plane of sensory pleasures.
Good kamma which produces its effect in the planes of form is purely mental and is created in the five stages of the process of meditation, vis., (1) The first stage of Thana (aestasy) the 2nd stage of Thana the 3rd stage of Thana; 4th stage of Thana and
the 5th stage, of jhana respectively.
Good kamma which produces its effect in the formless plane is of four types which are also purely mental and done in the process of meditation; moral conscicusness (1) dwelling in the infinity of space (2) dwelling in the hifinity of conscionaness (3) dwelling in the nothingness; (4) dwelling moral consciousness in which perception is so extremely substle that cannot be said
whether it is or is not.
Kamma, as has been stated above, is not fate; it is not nr~vocable destiny; it is not determinism, nor is it one bound to reap injust proportion all that one has sown. The actions of man are absol~ly irrevo~able; in fact only a few ofthem are. kamma.(action) operates in the broad stream oflife. Kamma of a later day may modif~~ the effects of kamma (effects of the action) of a foe~ylfthis ~ were not so, th6~o~1d be no possibility of an~~o~us getting free from all kamma; all our life would be a perpe~al self- containing energy which could never come to an
end.
Each of us, therefore, has a cartain amount of free will and there is every possibility to mould our life or to modif~~ our actions. Even the most vicious person can by his own free will and effort become a most virtuous person. Olle may at any moment change for the better or for the worse. But,everything in the world, including human being, is dependent on the conditions surrounding him, and without these conditions nothing whatsoever can arise or enter into existence. Each of us, therefore, has only a certain amount of free will and not absolute free will. According to Buddhist philosophy erything mental or physical arises and passes away in accordance with the laws governing the conditions of his existence. if that were
not so, there would be only chaos and blind chance. That this is not such a world of chaos and blind chance is shown by all the laws of nature which modern ~cience has discovered. The real essential nature of kamma (action) is mental. When a given thought has arisen in one smind a number of times, there is a definite tendency toward the recurrence of that thought. When a given act has been performed a number of times, there is a definite tendency toward the repetition of that act. Thus, e~ch act, whether mental or physical, tends consistently to produce its like and to be in turn produced. In this matter, the Buddha says in disoussing the Asevaua pacceya Dhamma of the ~ Pathana of Abbidharma (Rela
tion of Habitual Repetition) as follows:-
“Purima purima kusala dhamma paccunanam paccimanam kusalanam dhasma nam esevaena paccayena paccayo” The meaning is: A repeated moral action causes and conditions the next moral action by way of
the relation of habitual repetition.
“Thirima puiima akusala dhamma paccimanam p a cc imanam akusa- lanam dhammanan asevanas psoccayena pacayo” A repeated imoral action csuses and conditions the next moral action by way
of the relation of habitual repetition.
If a man thinks a good thor ght, speaks a good word does a
good deed, the enenciso good-upon him is to incrense the
ness present in him, to make him a better man. If; on the contrary, he ~ does a bad deed in thought or in speech or action, he has strengthened in himself his bad tendencies; he has made himself a worse man. Having become a worse man, be will gravitate to the company of worse man in the fliture and incur all the unhappiness of varying kinds that attend life in such a company. On the other hand, the man whose character is continually growing better will naturally last to the companionship of the good and enjoy all the pleasures and comforts and freedom from the ruder shocks of
human life which such society provides.
In the case of a mentally cukured man, even the effect of a greater evil may be minimised while the lesser evil of an uncuftured man may produce its effect to the maximum according to the favom able and unfavourable conditions ofhis existance. The
tions and answers between the Buddha and his discipl on this subject are very interesting: The Buddha says ~ ave pmiso lonaka pallam )akkhipeyya. ~udakam amun~ lonaka pallena lonam ~ ap eyyanti”
The meaning is Bhikkhus It is as ifa man were to put a lump of f~ait into a small cup of wat~ What do you think, Bhikkbus? Would now the small amount of water in this cup become>sitish and
Bhikkhus’ repi~vem dhant es, Bles~d (~~ne, it is solti and
undrinkable.
Buddha says “Tan kissahetu, blilkkh us? Why is it so?
Bhikkiius’ reply “Adum hi Bhante p(ttam udaka kapallake onaka pallena lonan assa apeyyanti Because, Blessedon~e. There w~~ery little water in the cup, and so it bec~mesalti~and4~n~i~ika~le.
Buddha again~ sks “Seyyatha pi bhikkhave puriso lonaka pallaka~ gangaya na iya pakkiiipeyya. ~ ~pjnus~½an~a nadi amuna lonake pallena lon e~i\¼ant1. The seaning is ‘~hikkhus Suppose a man were to put a lump of saft into the river Ganges, what do you think? Would now the river ganges become saftish and andrinkable?
Bhii~us~~y’~No hetam Bhsate. No, blessed one. It would not become saltish and undrinkable. Buddha: Tam kissahetu, bhikkhus? Why not, Bhikkhus? Bhikkhus: Asuhi Bhante Ganbaya Nadiya Maha udakakkhando so amuna Lonaka pallene lone na assa speyyoti Because, Blessad one! the mass of water in the river Ganges is great and so it would net become saftish and undrinkeble.
Buddha: Eva ne vs kho bhikkhave ime kiccassa puggalassa appamatta kampi papakaumam kstam tamexnam nirayam upaneti.
Idha bhikkhave ekiccassa puggalassa tadisam yeva appamattakam papakammsm katam dittha dhamma vedaniy am hoti senupi khayati
kimbehu deve.
In exactly the same way, Bhild~us! we may have the case of a person who does some slight evil deed which brings him to a state of misery, or again, Bhikkiius, we may have the case of another person who does the same trivial aisdeed and expistesit in the present life. Not even a small offect manifests itself
(after death), not to say of a gteat one.
The more we understnad the law of kamma, the more we see how careflil we must be of our acts and thoughts and how responsible we are for our fellow beings. Living in the light ofthis kuowladge, we learn certain lessons from the doctrine of kamma. From an underatanding of kamma we learn experience. kuowing that the law of kamma is our helper if we live by it and that no harm can come to us if we work with it, kuowing also that it blesses us just at the right time, we learn the grand lesson of patience, we learn not to get excited, and we learn that impatience is a check to progress. In suffering we know that we are paying a debt, and we learn, if we are wise, not to creste more suffering for the fliture. In rejoioing, we are thankflil for itssweethess, and we learn, if we are wise, to be strn better Patience brings forth peace, happiness and s~urit&. an understanding of kamma we learn confidence The law of kamma being just and perfect, it is not possible for an understanding person to be uneasy about it. lfwe are uneasy and have no confidence it showe clearly that we have not grasped the reality of the law of kamma. We are really quite safe b6neajh its wings, and there is nothing to fear in all the wide uvivnrse except our own nusdeed. The low of kamma makes a man stand on his own feet and arous his self- confidence~~ str~ngthans and deepens our peace and happiness and makes us comfortable and
courageous. Wherever we go kamma is our protectel;
We gain self- reliai~~ from an understanding of kamma. As we in the past have caused ourselves to be what we are now; so by what we do now will our filture be 4~eqi~~ed. A ki~~wledge of this fact and that the glory of the fliture is limitless, gives us great self-reliance and takes away that t~djncy to appeal for
external help which is really no help at all.
We also learn restraint when we understand kamma. Naturally, if we realise that the ~vil we do will return and strike us, we will be very careflil lest we do or say or think something that is not good, pure and true. Knowledge ofkamma will restrain us from doing wrong for our own sake or the i~e)~~f~others
The understanding of kamma gives us power. The more we make the doctrine of kamma a poyt of our life, the more power we gain, not only to direct our fliture but also to help our fellow beings more effectively The practice of good kamma, when flilly devel
oped, will enable us to overcome evil and li~tations and to de~i~y all the fettere. of life or Bhava such as ka4a-sav~ bias or cankers of sanses ) Bhavas~~ (biases or cankers of life or existence), Ditthasav~ (bias or cankere of view) ~ (bi~~~~r canker of ignorance), etc., etc., that keep us from the goal ofNibb~ha.~~
It may be noted that the role of the various types of kamma, as des~ribed above, ends here, that is, after destroying all the f~ters of life or lok~bayond which kamma connot play its role for bettet or for wo?~s~This we have stated already before. But before we concl~~~ this subject of kamma, we shall have to say something about rebirth which is a resuftant effect of kamma, which is the cause of rebirth or birth according to buddhist Abhidhamma. We have alr~~~discussed this kamma and Rebirth rather bri~;when dealing with the subjects of~s~a and uccheda Ditthi and Allatt~ectrine
above.
The principle of dependent ~rigination which we call
amuppada and the law of kamma provide the background for under-standing the nature of rebirth. According to buddhi~~death is the temporary and of a temporary phen~menoniIt is not the complete annihilation of the being. For, afthough the organic life has ceased, the force which hith actuated it is not destroyed. Our physical forms are only the outward manifestations of the invisible kammic force. This force canies with it all the characteristies which usually lie lateat(o1~r dormant) but may arise to the surface at any moment. When the present form perishes another form takes its place according to a good or bad volitional impulse- the kamma that was the most powerfill- at the moment before death. At death the kammic force remams entirely undisturbed by the disintegration ofthe physical body and the passing away of the present consciousness crestes the conditions for the coming into being of a fresh body in another birth. The stream of consciousness flows on like a river which is built up its tributaries and dispenses its water to the country side through which it passes. The continuity of flux at death is unbroken in point of time; there is no in the stream ofconseiousness, and, therefore, there is no room whatever for an im~d%i’~e stage between this life and the next. The only difference between the passing of one ordinary thought moment or one unit of consciousness to another and the passing of one dying thought moment to the rebirth consciouness is that in an ordinary thougth the change is invisible, and in the death-rabirth moment a percptibe death occurs aud reberth takes place i _ ii~ Y~ In the~hidhammatti~¾~nga~a, the arising of rebirth conseiousness is shown as follows: “Tasmim niuddhavas~n~~ass “anantaras” eva
sa~h~ukam tatha gahitam alambanam “arabbha avatthukam11 eva va
yathataham avijj anusaya-p anusay~muaena arikkhitte~ samkharena janiyamana a uttehi pariggay~amanam sahajatanama dhitthan-abhavena pubbangamabhutem bhavantare patieendhanavesena Pati sandhisankha tam manasam maussam uppajjamam eva patith~i “bhavantare.
The meaning in short is “At the and of the cessation (of cuti citta or death conociousaness), Immediately after which, based on the object thus obtained, whether with ~ base or not, r~birth con~~ciousness arises $nd~ is establisbed in the subsequent existence, ~nveloped accordingly by latent igi~rance, rooted in latent craving, produced by action (kamma), co~~ajoined with mental concomitants phas~~co such as vedana (feeling) etc., as fore-runner to the co-existing states, and linking the existenc~”.
In the pathana (law of~lations) ofthe abhidham~, it is stated that birth or rebirth consciousness is caused and conditioned by the past cuti citta (dying cons~iousness) by way of relation between mind and or consciousness and conscious ess:-
“A’i~~nji~ddha cittacetasi~ dhamma paccuppannanair~ cittacetasikanam anantar~a~flataranatthi- vigatavasena:~uriii~a~it javanani sahajata cittacetasika dhamma ann& tav~ei~&~~ chaddha namam namassa paccayo
The meaning is;In six ways mind is related to mind Consciouseness and m4~nta~ states that imediately ceased relate ~em~elves to present consciousn~ and m~ntal st~;s~ by way of continguity, h]]rnediscj; absence, and separation. Preceding javan~ are I elated to the subsequent javanas by way of repetition (or habitual recurrence).Co-existing consciousness and ~ntaI states are related to one another by way of association.lithe Kt Kusala hmapaccaya Niddes~~it’is stated; kusalam kamma vipakanan khandhanam katattsFca rupa~a~kannna Pac(~ayenaya~ccayo.Ca sampayttakanam dhammanam tan’ sa~an~i~~ca mp~nanika~ ~Kammap ajyamea~ good or bad volitional action that gives rise to nam~ruLp~khandha (pA;cphysical aggregates) by way of the relation of kamnia(volition). It the~89 types of cetana (Volition) i the 89 types of c~e tliat~gw~
r~se to cQ-alising mind and ~bntal factors as well as the ph
no~m~e&naQ ~ ~
In connection with this matte~ of kamma and ~ebirth, the~~ ~ extract from an article on the same subject by the late~
~~Nyanatiloka, the famous Gei~an 1:fBuddhi~st monk, already eerre to once above, is veiy interesving;According to Buddhiam, no organic ~ntity,cal, can come into existence without a previous cause, i. out a preceding congenial state out of which it has developed. Also never can any living organic ~ntity be produced by something akogath~ external to it . It can originate only out of itseif~ i.e., it must have already existed in the bud or germ, as it were. B~s¼des~i~is cause or, root condition, or seed there are still many minor conditions required for its actual arising and its development just as the mango tree besides its main cause, the seed, requires for its germination, growth and development flirther conditions such as earth, water, light and heat. Thus, the true the birth of a being together with its char,(~~ destiny, goes back to the kamma- volitions produced in a former bnth. There are tIu~ee factors necessary for the rebirth of
a human being, that is, for the formation of the embro~o in the mother 5 womb. They are the female overm, the male sperm and the kamm~ energy, called in pali kamma-v~~chin the sutta is metaphorically called Gandhabha i.~ost. This kamma-energy is sent forth by the dying individual at the moment ofhis death. Father and mother only p~~e the necessary phy~~m~aterial for the formation of the embr~yonic body With regard to the characteristic features the tenden~cies and facufties lyii~g 1a~nt in the embr~yo, the teach- (W ing ~ ~ the followin way~ The dying indi~ual wi!h his whole being conv~¾vely clinging to life at the very moment of PAll~s death, sends forth kammic energies which, like a flash of lighten,~ ing, hit at the new mother’s won~b, ready for conception.Thus,through the impinging ofthe kamma energies on ovum and speim,there arises,just as a precipitate,the so-called
primary cell.
The following is an important extract from an article on the same subject by the late Bhildw~usilacara of Ceylon, who was a well known on Buddhist Abhidhamma;”This new bring which is the present manifestation of the stream of kamma energy is not the same as, and has no identity with, the previous one, the aggregate that makes up its composition being dif~ ferent from, and having no identity with, those that make up the being of its pred~or~ And yet it is not an entrirely different being since it has the same stream of kamma energy, thought modified perchance just by having shown itseffin that lost manifestation, which is now making its presence known in the sense-perceptible world as the new being”.
were to obtain a quick motion pioture of any particular individual’s life from his birth to his death, the most striking fact that would attract our attention would be the would find ruiming right through the serise of pic(ures. The infant changes to the child, the child to the aduft, and the aduft to the decrepit old person who collapses in death. This change goes on in every part of the individual’s body, and not only in the body but in the mind also, so much so that any aduft who surveys his own existence will realise that the child that was is now no more. That child had a different body, in size as well as different likes and di~4ik~ drffer~nt aspirations, and was almost a straanger to the pres~ntaciuft. And yet the aduk is responsible for whatever he has done in his child-c hood because there is a continuity or identity in the process of life force from childhood to manhood. In exactly the same way, the new being has the same stream of karnir~c energy or life force as its predecessor 5, and thus it is responsible for whatever its predecessor has done. This new being has as much identity with the previous one as the aduft of to day has with the child that he was no moreand nothing less. This is well expressed in the questions of king g ~~da asked Arahat Nagasena “Bhante Nag~~so~u iati so eva so udahu ti~’ wheiner he whois reborn remains the same or becomes anther Nagasona replied “Na ca so na ca anno ti”Neither the same nor ~ passes away another comes into being and rebirth is, as it were, simuftansous.
The present being, present existence, is conditioned by the way one faced One’s circu~stances in the last, and in all pexisences present position in character and circu~c’es is the reauft of all that one has been up to the present but what onewill be in th~epends on what one does now in the present. The true Buddhist iegards death as a momentary incident between one life and its successor and views its approach with calmness. His only concern is that his fliture should be such that the conditions of that life may provide his with better opportunities for perfecting himself folding, as he does, the great doctrine of kamma he perceives that it is within his power to after or modif~~ the quality of the life force that ~ the next birth and that his fiit nvironment will depend entirely on what he does no how he has beha’~ed and in his previons lives. The following news from England about thout~~ves carried by the light of Dhamma v&l.vi.4.NO.4 of 6ctober 1959 published by the ~uddha~~sana ‘~ouncil of the ~nofBurma and the footnote thereon by the editor -oftli~Thght of Dhamma may be o~est on this subject of kamma and ~ebirth “Interesting experiments are being canied out at D4kwarr laboratories, ~xford, showing how thou-ght waves can affect a photographic emulsion. ft is possible that a new means of comunicatoion can be developed. By the skilled use of thought enetgy most fbr~of life can be affected in some way or other even at great distances. Human beings, animals plants and soils can be stimulated and
benefic~leffe~s observed. In view of the far-reaching implications of this, a ~~ii~and ~tter ti~iist has been formed for the purpose of flirtheiing the study of what is termed “The Physics of
the Primary State of Matter”
This embraces the study of thought wave effects. It
has been found that many acadamicallytrained persons are resistant to the evidence already obtained. Approximately 30 percent of humanity, for reasons unknown,are either to accept the evidence or are so directly antagonistic that they supply negative thought waves which counteract the positive results. Irrefutable evidence is available,however,that thought waves can be photographed. Experiments on blessing the soil and plant have been carried out at these laboratories and elsewhere that clearly show the effect obtained on plant growth. The evidence is being collatedand will be presented to an eminent scientist in due course. It is clear that such evidence of the power of mind over matter is at variance with the current atomic theory”.
(From Religious Digest July-Sept 1959).
(We hope that if the experiments meet with success, they will
be highly conducive to the~solution of the theory of kammic energy
rebirth”.~ditor, the ~ght of~i~n~a Vo.VL.. No.40 oct.1959).
I think the following ext~~om the article entitled “Modes of Births and Deaths” in Buddhism” by Sayadaw U Sobana of Burma published in the World of Buddhism Vol;XXIII, No.6 of January 1975 of Ceylon will throw more light on this subject of Kamma and Rebirth (or Patisandhi):”A thorough comprehension of Patisandhi Citta is absolutely essential for an understanding of the mechanism of rebirth. In the first instance, it must be understood that it is not the Cuti Citta, but the preceding Marana Sanna Javana Citta that gives rise to the Patisandhi Citta.Cuti Citta is an unconscious thought ofthe Bhavanga Citta, whereas the terminal Marana Sanna Javana Citta is a though~7 of the conscious vithi Citta. There is a belief that the Cuti Citta gives rise to the Patisandhi Citta. This is not correct since, as stated earlier, Cuti Cutta (death consciousness) is merely a register agent and performs no active flinction which can give rise to any resuft. Though it is the last though~ the dying man’s thought-process it is an unconscious thought. It merely registers the awareness of death. In conformity with the law of change, the law ofbecoming, the law ofcontinuit~ the law of action and re~ction, the law ofattraction, the t~inal marans sanna javana ciff a (death-proximate impulsive thought) receives one of the three powerfiil terminal thought objcets or death signs (kamma, kammic signs and signs of New Life) referred to earlier as its thought objcet and then, by reason of the operation of the same laws just mentioned gives rise to patisanchi ~itta-a thought of the unconscious type (Bhavanga) which forms the nucleus ofthe next life
When it is said that the marana sanna javana citta of the d~ing man gives rise to patisandhi (~itta. We must realise that the former mental state ~s the latter ~ental state to arise, it being the causative factor. For such a highly important r~t~o the causative factor must necessarily be Just aspoweIThl. Let us examin~source of its Dotency We know that there is creativ#ower in thought if the thought is sufficiently intense. The very first stan(a~Dhammapada refers to the supremi~ey of the mind (Manos~rtha) and to the fact that everything is mind ~ (Mano-maya). Ap~Co&m this inherent creative power ofthought the terminal thought is the terminal thoutht last active thought of the dying man. We can, therefore, justifi~bly expect the last thought to be the most powerfiil. The last spurt of a runner in a race often discloses his grestest strangth and the last fruit-bearing season of a dying tree is said to yield its l~s~~roduce and often the highest and greatest manifestation of any forcWor power is a type of awansong preceding its own disruption or dissolution. Since the desire for ex~~e~~e Tanha) is the predominating motive
undertlying well-nigh all the activities of men at the moment ofdeath, it grows so formidable that it adopts a grasping attitude (mentally). As the Buddha himself has said, at the dying moment this predominsting Tanha becomes a grasping force (Upadana) that attracts to itself another existence (Tanha paccaya Upadanam Upadana Paccaya Bhave). It is the lest thought process that carries with
it this grasping force.
Psychiogy tells us that the last thought prior to sleep is very powerfiil and influences the first thought in the morning at the time of swadening. It is a common cxpericnce that if one wisbes to catch an carly train and if he retires to bed suggesting to himself that he should awake in time for the train, then he is certain to awake in good time for the train, howevet much a late reser he may habitually be, Anything suggested to the mind at this time tends to procuce a powerfiil effect because the mind ishighly receptive to suggestion at this time. There is thue a roeeognition of the great creative value and poteney of the last thought priorto sleep, coming as tt does so close to the time of activity ofthe powerfill subeen-conscious mind, Hardly anything else intervenes between this last thought and the aricing of the subconnscious mind which sleep induces. Hence, since the last conscious thought prior to sleep becomes the first thought when one awakes from his sleep, by a parity of reasoning, is it too much to assume that one’s last conscious thought before the sleep of death the terminal marane sanna javana thought becomes the first thought, patisandhi citta of the next life to which one swakens? The terminal thought is all concintrated energy,and as such it cannot disown even though the man has died. Being crcative energy, it must manifest itself comewhere. So, according to Buddhiam,this potent terminel thought, receiving as its object one of the three powerfill thought objects referred to earlier, must be deemed to be possessed of great creative power. Its flinction is referred to as Abhinavskarana, that is, the preparing of a new existence. It is for this purpose that one ofthe powerfill thought objects appears before the mind of the dying man. When the terminal thought receices this special thought object and thereafter subaides, there will simuftaneously arise in the next life patisandhi citta carrying with it the same thought object as that of the terminal thought. This patisandhi citta being a thing mental it can normally ariso only in association with a physical counter. It, there fore,arises ina material womb not haphazardly in ony mother’s womb but in an appropriate, mother’s womb in an appropriate environment, appropriate to the type of Reproductive kamma which the dying man expericnced. Man beinga psycho-physical comvination (a name-rupa or mind and Body combination) the rebron man, too,is amind-body combination. There is, however, nothing to prevent a man from being reborn in the spirt world where he will have mind, but not body. There, too,
patisandhi Citta does arese.
Now that I have explained the order of a thought process and the order of a dying man’s thought proess at birth. In the light ofwhat has already been axplained about various mental states, the thought process at birth can be easily understood without much comment. The order of the process at birth which involves five stages, is as follows: (1) patisandhi Citta (Relinging Consciousness; (2) Bhavanga Citta (Unconscious Mind); (3) Manodveravajjana (Mind-door Advertance) (4) Javana (Thought Impulsion) (5) Bhavanga Citta (Unconscious Mind).
In the list of mental states enumerated above indicating the thought processes at adeath, the last mental state mentioned, vis., Patisandi Citta (Relinking Consciousness) is not really a state occurring in the mind of the dying man, but it was, nevertheless, mentioned in the list because the other mental state in that list along with this Relinking Consciousness form part of one continuous process. This patisandhi Citta occurs in the mind of the pre-netal being, viz., the embryo.In fact, it is this Patisandhi Citta type of mentel energy which along with the parental sperm cells and ovum cells combine to create an ambryo in an appropriate mother’s womb. Thus, it is this relinking consoiousness ( or rebirth consciousness) that starrs the nucleus of the next mind-body combination, a new Nam~Rupa, in an appropriate mother’s womb.
This embryo then is a mixture of mind and matter. The parental sperm and ovum cells provide material part of the embryo while Patisandhi Citta (Relinking Consciousness) provides the mental part. It is this Patisandhi Citta which links the dying life with the new life. It is a link because it is a resuft of the terminal manodvaravajjana thought ofthe dying man and takes the same thought object vis., One of the three death-signs. The process of one conscious thought giving rise to another never ends. The last conscious thought at the moment of death is no exception to this process. ft too gives rise to another thought, though not in the same body This other thought is the Patisandhi Ciff a, It lastsjust a moment to be followed by Bhavanga Citta (the unconscious mind).
The initial Patisandhi Citta is there afier followed succeeded by the Bhavage Citta which is said to last for 16 thought moments. In this pre-natal stage, the unborn being is still part of the body ofthe mother, and therefore does not normally contact the external world. The stream of Bhavange keeps on flowing smoothly without interruption in the pre-natal child-mind. As life has just commenced,this mental state is not flill grown.
When a being is conceived, a congenital mind arises simuftancously with the inception of a physical growth as the resuft of the past janaka kamma (Reproductive kamma). That mind at the moment of conception is but a bare state of sub-consciousness identical with the more aduft Bhavange (Unconsciousness) duiing dreamless-sleep.
As stated already, Bhavange Citta lasts 16 thought moments and then subsides. This is followed by the mental state known as mind-door advertence (Manodvarave-jiana). The Bhavanga nature of the mental state of the embryo gives way to the conscious mind (vithi Ciff a)on account of the desire that arises in the mind of the embryo for its new existence.
Immediately after the mental state known as Manodvaravajjana (Mind-door advertence) has subsided, the state of javana or impulshons arises. It carries thought that arises through the mind-door channel, viz., the desire for now existence. These javana thought impulaion develop this desire in the new being for its new existence (Bhava-nikanti javana). They run for seven thought moments. When the seven javana thought moments have arisen and aubsided, the smooth flow of the unconscious Bhavanga again arises. It will flow on smoothly until something occurs to interrup it, but this is hardly likely When the pre-natal embryo is born and assunes a separate axistance, it begins to contact the external world. The normal thought process vill then follow.
In the teachings ofthe Buddha there are five places to be rebren after death. They are (1) as a celestial being (Deva or Brahma called Devagati) (2) as a human being (Manussagati), (3) an a ghost or desmon (pata-gati),(4) as an animal (Tacchannagati), (5) as a being in hell (Nirayagati). There are two kinds of celestial being, those in the Bralima world and those in the Deva world. The case for rebirth by frencis story.
Most of us are not aware that the doctrine of reincarustion or what we call rebirth, i.e., ceaseless round ofbirth and death or samsara in Pall, is not, as many people imagine, confined to Buddhism and Hirnduism. It is found in some form or another in many religiens and philosophical systems and in many parts of the world. This subject has been deak with at length inan article called “The Case for Rebirth” by a Western correspondent, the late Mr. Francis Story, who was a very well known intearnational Buddhist schorlar and who had spent a number of years in Burma before his demise in Ceylon some years ago, in the light of Dhamma No.2 Vol: VII published by the Union of Burma Buddha Sasans Council in April 1960 in which he observes among many other things: “To understand how the Buddhist doctrine of rebirth differs from all of those that have been mentioned and why the term “rebirth” is preferable to “raincamation” or “transmigration”, it is necessary to glance at the main principles of Buddhist teaching. These are summed up in the Four Noble Truths:
(1) The Truth concerning suffering; (2) The Tiuth concerning the cause of suffering; (3) The Truth concerningthe cessation of suffering (4) The Truth concerning the way to the cessation of suffering”.
Then, citing authorities in support there of to prove the Buddhist concept of universal world suffering as all phenomenal existence is defined as being impermanent (anicca), fraught with suffering (dukidia) and devoid of selfessence (anatta) and that there is thus no “immortalsoul” that transmigrates or remcarnates, which, there-fore, means “anatta” or “soulessness”, bound up, of course,with impermanence (anicca) and suffering (dukkha), the therr characteristics ofwliich are the three aspects ofthe same central fact, the learned ~iithor dec1~re~ th~t “~ii~ ~te of Anatt~ (i e ~ i~ c~fl~ stimulated by the publicity given to several cases of people who have remembered previous lives. For a long time past it has been known that under deep hypnosis events in very early infancy, outside the normal range of memory, could be recovered, and this technique has been increasingly employed for the treatment of personmality disorders. It cannot be used with success on all patients because of the involuntary resis tance some subjects show to hypnotic suggestion, which inhibits the cooperation necessary to obtain deep trance. But where it can be applied it has definite advantages over the usual methods of deep psychoanalysis, one of them being the speed with which resuks are obtained. The technique is to induce a state of hypnosis and then cany the subject back in time to a particular point in childhood or infancy at which it is suspected that some event of importance in the psychic life may have occurred In this state, known as hypermnesia, the subject becomes in effeet once more the child he was, and relives experiences that have long been burried in the unconscious.Memories of earliest infancy, and in some cases prenatal memories, have been brought to the surface in this way.
“Some practitioners have carried experiments in regression even flirther, and have found that they were uncovering memories that did not belong to the current life ofthe subject at all but to some previous existence. In cases where nothing could be proved, the rabirth explanation has been contested, and various theories such as telepathy, flintasies of the uncanscious, and even clairvoyance, have been put forward to account for the phenomena.But, spart from the fact that many of the akernatives offered call for the acceptance of psychic facukis which, if what is claimed for them is true, themselves bring rebirth nearer to being a comprehensible reality, none ofthem alone covers all the phenomena which have been brought under obsenvation.W, for example exnoglossy, the ability shown guages unknown to them in their normal state, is to be explained by telepathy we are brought face to face with a supernormal facuky of the mind whichitself contributes to our understand of the manner in which mental energy may operate proceases of rebirth. But akhough telepathy has now been acknowledged as one of the unexplained phenomens of parapsychology along with clairvoyance, elekineses and paychometry, it cannot legitimately be expanded to include all the phenomena these experiments have disclosed. To account for all ofthem on these lines, it would be necessary to combine every oneof the known extra-sensory facukies into one concept, that of a freely-wandering, disembodied intelligonce, independent of spatial and temp oral hinitations. If we are to apply here the scientjiic law of paraimony, the more likely akernative is the obvious one that they are simply what they purport to be-memories of previous lives.
“As to the theorythat the memories are products of the unconscious mind, it cannot survive the proofto the contrary which comes from the revelation of facts that could not have been known to the subject in his present life. These are objective and circumstancial and they exist in abundance as any reading of the literature on the subject will confirm.
“The best know example of this kind is the case of Bridey Murphy in America which raised a h~cane of controversy when it broke into the news a few year ago. A girl remembered, under deep hypnosis, a previous life in freland, when her name had been Bridey Murphy. She gave dates names of places and people, and descriptions of the life of the period. This period was near enought to our own time to allow of veii4ication from parish registers,old maps and local history. The case, and the book written about it, aroused a storm
of controversy in America. One newspaper sent a representative to keland to check up on the facts, which in many particulars he was able to conffirm. It was followed sometime later by a similar case in England in which the subject Mrs. Naomi Henry, remembered under hypnosis two previous existences. The experiments were carried out under test conditions by Mr. Henry Blythe, a professional consuftant hypnotist. In the presence of several witnesses tape recordings were made of the sessions, which ~~re held under the supervision of a medical practitioner, Dr. VV~liliam C. Minifie, who testified that the hypontic trance was genuine. It has been said ofthese recordings that they provsde “what most surely be the most thought-provoking, absorbing and controversial angle ever offered” on the subject.
“What happened was this. Mrs Naomi Henry,a thirty-two-year-old Exeter housewife,the mother of four children, was cured of smoking habit by hypnotic treatment given by Mr. Henry Blythe of Torquay, Devon. He found her to be”an exceptionally receptive hypnotic subject” So much that without inforining her of the purpose of his experiment he began a series sessions in which he succeeded in taking her back beyond her present life.
“Mrs. Henry remembered two previous existences. In the first she gave her name as Mary Cohan, a girl of 17 living in Cork in thel79O. Among other circusmstances she told how she was married against her wishes to a man named Charles Goul by whom she had two children, Pat and will. Her busband ill-treated her, and fineally caused her death by a beating which broke her leg. Whilst describing these events in the trance she was evidently re-living the intense emotional experienecs of the past with the vividness of a present reality rather than of a more memory. Intervening time obliterate and she was once more the illiterate Irish girl she had been over a century and she was once more the illiterate Irish girl she had been over a centuly and a half before. Her marriage, she said, took place in St. John’s Church in a hamlet named Greener. Several of the facts she related were afterwards verified on the spot, but no village of the name of Greener could be raced. Eventually, however, some records dating back to the 17th century were found in the possession of a parish priest, and in them mention was mad of a church of St. John in a village named Greenhelgh. The name is pronounced locally just as Mary Cohan gave it-”Greener”.
“Next she rem~mbered a life in which she was Clarice Hellier, a nurse in charge oftwenty four children at Dawnham in 1902. After relating what she went on to describe her last illness, her death and her fimeral, which, it seems, she had been able to witness. She was even able to give the number of the grave, 207, in which she had been buried.
“When Mrs. Henry emerged from her trance she had no recolleetion of what had taken place and it was only when she heard the recoring that she learned the purpose of the experiments. The authencity ofthis case has been established beyond reasonable doubt.
“One ofthe most remarkable men ofrecent times, Edgar Cayce, obtained evidence of an even more striking nature. Born in Christian country, kentucky, in 1877, he suffered as a young man from psycho-somatic conscrition of the thrat which deprived him of his voice. Orthodpx medical treatments having failed, he was treated by hypnotic suggestion, which was not a recognised form of therapy in those days. In deep trace his voice raturned to normal and he diagnosed his own condition. Not only did he describe the physiological symptoms in terms of which he knew nothing in his waking state, but he also prescribed treatment. His self-cm-e was so remarkable that he was persuaded, rathe against his will, to try prescribing for others whose illness would not respond to medical treatment. This he did with great success, using technical terms and prescribing remedies which, as a man of only moderat education, he was quite unfamlliar with in his normal state. Sometimes the medicines he prescribed were conventional remedies in unusual combinations; some-times they were substances not found in the standard pharmacopeia. Cayce himesIf was pussled and since it was proving of benefit to an increasing number of sufferers he continued to use it, only reflising to take any payment for the help he rendered. He soon found that a hypnotist was unnecessary; his trances were really seif~induced, and he worked thereafter solely through auto-hypnosis.
“One day while Cayce was giving a consuftation a friend who was present asked him whether reincarnation was true. Still in the trance, Cayce immediately replied that it was In answer to flirther question he said that many of the patients who came to him for treatment were suffering from afflictions caused by bad kamma in previous lives. It was because ofthis that they resisted ordinary treatment. Asked whether he was able to see the past incarnations of his patients and describe them, he said that he could. When he was told what he had said in the trance, Cayce was more disturbed than before. The thing was gettmg decidedly out of hand. He had never heard the word “kamma” and his only ide$’~ofreincarnation was that it was a belief associated with some”heathen” religions.His first reaction was to give the whole thing up, as being something supernatural and possibly inimical to his chris tian faith.
“It was with great difficufty that he was presueded to continue. However, he consented to be questioned flirther under hypnosis, and after having given some readings and more successfiil treatments he became convinced that there was nothing ineligious or harmfiil in the strange ideas that were being revealed. From that time onwards he supplemented all his diagnosed by readings of past kamma of his patients. It was then all his diagnoses by reatings of past kamma of his patients. It was them found that he was able to give valuable moral and spiritual guidance to counteract bad kaimme tendencies, and his treatments became even more effective. He was now treating the minds as weli as v(~~Was the bodies ofthe patients who sought his help.
“When Cayce discovered that he was able to treat people living at great distances, whom he had never seen, the scope ofhis work broadened until it uftimateily extened all over the United States and beyond before he died in 1945 cayce, with the help of friends and supporter, had established an institution, the Cayce Foundation,at Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is now operating as a research institute under the direction of his associates. Cayce left a vast number of case-histories and other records accumulated ovet the years, and these are still being examined and correlated by the foundation. For flirther information on Edgar Cayce, his work and the light it throws on rebirth, the reader is referred to Many Mansions by Gina Germinara, “Edgar Cayce” Mystery Man of Miracles” by Joseph Millard. and numerous publications issued by the Cayce Foundation.
“There is a good deal in the evidence to suggest that Cayce in his hypnotised state had access to lost medical knowledge as well as the power to see the previous lives of others. In the Buddhist texts of a very date there are references to advanced medical knowledge and techniques of surgery in some ways comparable to our own. Jivaka,a renowned physician who was a contemporary of the Buddha is recorded as having Perfomed a brain poeration for the removae of a living organism of some kind. There were several other Egyptian and Greek physicians 3000 or more years before the Christian era who were genious and had such a medicine that some of them became legends.
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1. Kamma is classified in four ways , with four subdivisions in each group:
Kamma is classified according to the time in which resufts are produced. There is Kamma which ripens in the same life-time; it is called Dithadhamma Vedaniyn Kamma which is the first of the 7 impulsive moments of consciousness, that is javana Citta, producing its effect during the present life-time.
There is Kamma which ripens in the next life; it is called Upap4ja Vedaniya Kamma which is the 7th or last of the seven impulsive moments ofjavana citta producing its offect or resuft in the next birth or next existance.
We then have kamma which ripen in successive births or rebirths. These are the remaining kammas, namely 2nd, 3nd, 4th, 5th and 6th of the seven impulsive moments of javana citta, which are called Aprapriya Vedaniya Kamma producing their respective effects or resufts in successive births or existences
These three types of Kamma are as bound to produce resufts as a seed is to sprout. But for a seed to sprout, certain auxiliary causes such as soil, rain and sun are required. In the same way, for a kamma to produce an effect, several auxiliary causes such as suitable circumstsneces and surroundings are requireed. ft sometimes happens that for want of such auxiliary causes Kamma does not produce any resuft. In that case, it is called Ineffective Kamma or Ahosi Kamma.
2. Kamma is also classified according to its particular function;There is Reproductive Kamma (Zanaka kamma) which conditions the future birth.Then there is supportmg kamma (Upathambhaka kamma) which assists or maintains the results of kamma which afready exist.Then we have counter- active kamma (upapilaka kamma) which suppresses or modifies the resufts of reproductive kamma.Then there is Destructive kamma (Upagliataka kamma) which destroys the force of existing ykamma and substitutes its own results.
3. Kamma is classified according to the priority of resufts:There is serious or weight ykamma (Garuka kamma) which produces its resuft in the present life- time or the next When the kamma is moral, the highly refined mental states called ecstasies are weighty, because they produce resufts more speedily than the ordinary unrefined mental states.
When the kamma is immoral, the five kinds of immediately effective serious crimes are weighty. These serious crimes are matricide patricide, murder of an Arabat, wounding of a Buddha and creation of schism in the sangha.
Death Proxinate kamma (Marana sanna kamma) is the action which one does at the moment before death, either physically or mentally by thinking of one’s own previous good or bad action, by having good or bad thoughts. It is this kamma which, if there is no weighty kamma, determines the condition of the next birth.
Habitual kamma (Aciunakame or Bahula kamma) is the action which one constantly does. This kamma, in the absence of deathproximate kamma, or weighty kamma, produces and determines the nature of the next birth.
Reserved kamma or stored up kamma (Katatta kamma) is the unexpended kamma of a particular being and it conditions the next birth if there is no Habitual Kamma to operate.
4. Kamma is classified according to the plane in which the resufts are produced the plane of misery, the plane of sensory pleasure, the plane of the form and the plane of the formless:
Immoral kamma produces its effect or resuft in the plane of misery. ~lis kamma is rooted in greed, anger or hate and delusion and is expressed in 10 immoral actions nemely killing, stealing, unchastity, (These are caused by deed), lying, slandering, harsh language, frivolous taW, (These four are caused byword) covetouaneass, ill- will, false view (These three are cused by mind).
Moral or good kamma produces its effect in the plane of sensory pleasures.
Good kamma which produces its effect in the planes of form is purely mental and is created in the five stages of the process of meditation, vis., (1) The first stage of Thana (aestasy) the 2nd stage of Thana the 3rd stage of Thana; 4th stage of Thana and
the 5th stage, of jhana respectively.
Good kamma which produces its effect in the formless plane is of four types which are also purely mental and done in the process of meditation; moral conscicusness (1) dwelling in the infinity of space (2) dwelling in the hifinity of conscionaness (3) dwelling in the nothingness; (4) dwelling moral consciousness in which perception is so extremely substle that cannot be said
whether it is or is not.
Kamma, as has been stated above, is not fate; it is not nr~vocable destiny; it is not determinism, nor is it one bound to reap injust proportion all that one has sown. The actions of man are absol~ly irrevo~able; in fact only a few ofthem are. kamma.(action) operates in the broad stream oflife. Kamma of a later day may modif~~ the effects of kamma (effects of the action) of a foe~ylfthis ~ were not so, th6~o~1d be no possibility of an~~o~us getting free from all kamma; all our life would be a perpe~al self- containing energy which could never come to an
end.
Each of us, therefore, has a cartain amount of free will and there is every possibility to mould our life or to modif~~ our actions. Even the most vicious person can by his own free will and effort become a most virtuous person. Olle may at any moment change for the better or for the worse. But,everything in the world, including human being, is dependent on the conditions surrounding him, and without these conditions nothing whatsoever can arise or enter into existence. Each of us, therefore, has only a certain amount of free will and not absolute free will. According to Buddhist philosophy erything mental or physical arises and passes away in accordance with the laws governing the conditions of his existence. if that were
not so, there would be only chaos and blind chance. That this is not such a world of chaos and blind chance is shown by all the laws of nature which modern ~cience has discovered. The real essential nature of kamma (action) is mental. When a given thought has arisen in one smind a number of times, there is a definite tendency toward the recurrence of that thought. When a given act has been performed a number of times, there is a definite tendency toward the repetition of that act. Thus, e~ch act, whether mental or physical, tends consistently to produce its like and to be in turn produced. In this matter, the Buddha says in disoussing the Asevaua pacceya Dhamma of the ~ Pathana of Abbidharma (Rela
tion of Habitual Repetition) as follows:-
“Purima purima kusala dhamma paccunanam paccimanam kusalanam dhasma nam esevaena paccayena paccayo” The meaning is: A repeated moral action causes and conditions the next moral action by way of
the relation of habitual repetition.
“Thirima puiima akusala dhamma paccimanam p a cc imanam akusa- lanam dhammanan asevanas psoccayena pacayo” A repeated imoral action csuses and conditions the next moral action by way
of the relation of habitual repetition.
If a man thinks a good thor ght, speaks a good word does a
good deed, the enenciso good-upon him is to incrense the
ness present in him, to make him a better man. If; on the contrary, he ~ does a bad deed in thought or in speech or action, he has strengthened in himself his bad tendencies; he has made himself a worse man. Having become a worse man, be will gravitate to the company of worse man in the fliture and incur all the unhappiness of varying kinds that attend life in such a company. On the other hand, the man whose character is continually growing better will naturally last to the companionship of the good and enjoy all the pleasures and comforts and freedom from the ruder shocks of
human life which such society provides.
In the case of a mentally cukured man, even the effect of a greater evil may be minimised while the lesser evil of an uncuftured man may produce its effect to the maximum according to the favom able and unfavourable conditions ofhis existance. The
tions and answers between the Buddha and his discipl on this subject are very interesting: The Buddha says ~ ave pmiso lonaka pallam )akkhipeyya. ~udakam amun~ lonaka pallena lonam ~ ap eyyanti”
The meaning is Bhikkhus It is as ifa man were to put a lump of f~ait into a small cup of wat~ What do you think, Bhikkbus? Would now the small amount of water in this cup become>sitish and
Bhikkhus’ repi~vem dhant es, Bles~d (~~ne, it is solti and
undrinkable.
Buddha says “Tan kissahetu, blilkkh us? Why is it so?
Bhikkiius’ reply “Adum hi Bhante p(ttam udaka kapallake onaka pallena lonan assa apeyyanti Because, Blessedon~e. There w~~ery little water in the cup, and so it bec~mesalti~and4~n~i~ika~le.
Buddha again~ sks “Seyyatha pi bhikkhave puriso lonaka pallaka~ gangaya na iya pakkiiipeyya. ~ ~pjnus~½an~a nadi amuna lonake pallena lon e~i\¼ant1. The seaning is ‘~hikkhus Suppose a man were to put a lump of saft into the river Ganges, what do you think? Would now the river ganges become saftish and andrinkable?
Bhii~us~~y’~No hetam Bhsate. No, blessed one. It would not become saltish and undrinkable. Buddha: Tam kissahetu, bhikkhus? Why not, Bhikkhus? Bhikkhus: Asuhi Bhante Ganbaya Nadiya Maha udakakkhando so amuna Lonaka pallene lone na assa speyyoti Because, Blessad one! the mass of water in the river Ganges is great and so it would net become saftish and undrinkeble.
Buddha: Eva ne vs kho bhikkhave ime kiccassa puggalassa appamatta kampi papakaumam kstam tamexnam nirayam upaneti.
Idha bhikkhave ekiccassa puggalassa tadisam yeva appamattakam papakammsm katam dittha dhamma vedaniy am hoti senupi khayati
kimbehu deve.
In exactly the same way, Bhild~us! we may have the case of a person who does some slight evil deed which brings him to a state of misery, or again, Bhikkiius, we may have the case of another person who does the same trivial aisdeed and expistesit in the present life. Not even a small offect manifests itself
(after death), not to say of a gteat one.
The more we understnad the law of kamma, the more we see how careflil we must be of our acts and thoughts and how responsible we are for our fellow beings. Living in the light ofthis kuowladge, we learn certain lessons from the doctrine of kamma. From an underatanding of kamma we learn experience. kuowing that the law of kamma is our helper if we live by it and that no harm can come to us if we work with it, kuowing also that it blesses us just at the right time, we learn the grand lesson of patience, we learn not to get excited, and we learn that impatience is a check to progress. In suffering we know that we are paying a debt, and we learn, if we are wise, not to creste more suffering for the fliture. In rejoioing, we are thankflil for itssweethess, and we learn, if we are wise, to be strn better Patience brings forth peace, happiness and s~urit&. an understanding of kamma we learn confidence The law of kamma being just and perfect, it is not possible for an understanding person to be uneasy about it. lfwe are uneasy and have no confidence it showe clearly that we have not grasped the reality of the law of kamma. We are really quite safe b6neajh its wings, and there is nothing to fear in all the wide uvivnrse except our own nusdeed. The low of kamma makes a man stand on his own feet and arous his self- confidence~~ str~ngthans and deepens our peace and happiness and makes us comfortable and
courageous. Wherever we go kamma is our protectel;
We gain self- reliai~~ from an understanding of kamma. As we in the past have caused ourselves to be what we are now; so by what we do now will our filture be 4~eqi~~ed. A ki~~wledge of this fact and that the glory of the fliture is limitless, gives us great self-reliance and takes away that t~djncy to appeal for
external help which is really no help at all.
We also learn restraint when we understand kamma. Naturally, if we realise that the ~vil we do will return and strike us, we will be very careflil lest we do or say or think something that is not good, pure and true. Knowledge ofkamma will restrain us from doing wrong for our own sake or the i~e)~~f~others
The understanding of kamma gives us power. The more we make the doctrine of kamma a poyt of our life, the more power we gain, not only to direct our fliture but also to help our fellow beings more effectively The practice of good kamma, when flilly devel
oped, will enable us to overcome evil and li~tations and to de~i~y all the fettere. of life or Bhava such as ka4a-sav~ bias or cankers of sanses ) Bhavas~~ (biases or cankers of life or existence), Ditthasav~ (bias or cankere of view) ~ (bi~~~~r canker of ignorance), etc., etc., that keep us from the goal ofNibb~ha.~~
It may be noted that the role of the various types of kamma, as des~ribed above, ends here, that is, after destroying all the f~ters of life or lok~bayond which kamma connot play its role for bettet or for wo?~s~This we have stated already before. But before we concl~~~ this subject of kamma, we shall have to say something about rebirth which is a resuftant effect of kamma, which is the cause of rebirth or birth according to buddhist Abhidhamma. We have alr~~~discussed this kamma and Rebirth rather bri~;when dealing with the subjects of~s~a and uccheda Ditthi and Allatt~ectrine
above.
The principle of dependent ~rigination which we call
amuppada and the law of kamma provide the background for under-standing the nature of rebirth. According to buddhi~~death is the temporary and of a temporary phen~menoniIt is not the complete annihilation of the being. For, afthough the organic life has ceased, the force which hith actuated it is not destroyed. Our physical forms are only the outward manifestations of the invisible kammic force. This force canies with it all the characteristies which usually lie lateat(o1~r dormant) but may arise to the surface at any moment. When the present form perishes another form takes its place according to a good or bad volitional impulse- the kamma that was the most powerfill- at the moment before death. At death the kammic force remams entirely undisturbed by the disintegration ofthe physical body and the passing away of the present consciousness crestes the conditions for the coming into being of a fresh body in another birth. The stream of consciousness flows on like a river which is built up its tributaries and dispenses its water to the country side through which it passes. The continuity of flux at death is unbroken in point of time; there is no in the stream ofconseiousness, and, therefore, there is no room whatever for an im~d%i’~e stage between this life and the next. The only difference between the passing of one ordinary thought moment or one unit of consciousness to another and the passing of one dying thought moment to the rebirth consciouness is that in an ordinary thougth the change is invisible, and in the death-rabirth moment a percptibe death occurs aud reberth takes place i _ ii~ Y~ In the~hidhammatti~¾~nga~a, the arising of rebirth conseiousness is shown as follows: “Tasmim niuddhavas~n~~ass “anantaras” eva
sa~h~ukam tatha gahitam alambanam “arabbha avatthukam11 eva va
yathataham avijj anusaya-p anusay~muaena arikkhitte~ samkharena janiyamana a uttehi pariggay~amanam sahajatanama dhitthan-abhavena pubbangamabhutem bhavantare patieendhanavesena Pati sandhisankha tam manasam maussam uppajjamam eva patith~i “bhavantare.
The meaning in short is “At the and of the cessation (of cuti citta or death conociousaness), Immediately after which, based on the object thus obtained, whether with ~ base or not, r~birth con~~ciousness arises $nd~ is establisbed in the subsequent existence, ~nveloped accordingly by latent igi~rance, rooted in latent craving, produced by action (kamma), co~~ajoined with mental concomitants phas~~co such as vedana (feeling) etc., as fore-runner to the co-existing states, and linking the existenc~”.
In the pathana (law of~lations) ofthe abhidham~, it is stated that birth or rebirth consciousness is caused and conditioned by the past cuti citta (dying cons~iousness) by way of relation between mind and or consciousness and conscious ess:-
“A’i~~nji~ddha cittacetasi~ dhamma paccuppannanair~ cittacetasikanam anantar~a~flataranatthi- vigatavasena:~uriii~a~it javanani sahajata cittacetasika dhamma ann& tav~ei~&~~ chaddha namam namassa paccayo
The meaning is;In six ways mind is related to mind Consciouseness and m4~nta~ states that imediately ceased relate ~em~elves to present consciousn~ and m~ntal st~;s~ by way of continguity, h]]rnediscj; absence, and separation. Preceding javan~ are I elated to the subsequent javanas by way of repetition (or habitual recurrence).Co-existing consciousness and ~ntaI states are related to one another by way of association.lithe Kt Kusala hmapaccaya Niddes~~it’is stated; kusalam kamma vipakanan khandhanam katattsFca rupa~a~kannna Pac(~ayenaya~ccayo.Ca sampayttakanam dhammanam tan’ sa~an~i~~ca mp~nanika~ ~Kammap ajyamea~ good or bad volitional action that gives rise to nam~ruLp~khandha (pA;cphysical aggregates) by way of the relation of kamnia(volition). It the~89 types of cetana (Volition) i the 89 types of c~e tliat~gw~
r~se to cQ-alising mind and ~bntal factors as well as the ph
no~m~e&naQ ~ ~
In connection with this matte~ of kamma and ~ebirth, the~~ ~ extract from an article on the same subject by the late~
~~Nyanatiloka, the famous Gei~an 1:fBuddhi~st monk, already eerre to once above, is veiy interesving;According to Buddhiam, no organic ~ntity,cal, can come into existence without a previous cause, i. out a preceding congenial state out of which it has developed. Also never can any living organic ~ntity be produced by something akogath~ external to it . It can originate only out of itseif~ i.e., it must have already existed in the bud or germ, as it were. B~s¼des~i~is cause or, root condition, or seed there are still many minor conditions required for its actual arising and its development just as the mango tree besides its main cause, the seed, requires for its germination, growth and development flirther conditions such as earth, water, light and heat. Thus, the true the birth of a being together with its char,(~~ destiny, goes back to the kamma- volitions produced in a former bnth. There are tIu~ee factors necessary for the rebirth of
a human being, that is, for the formation of the embro~o in the mother 5 womb. They are the female overm, the male sperm and the kamm~ energy, called in pali kamma-v~~chin the sutta is metaphorically called Gandhabha i.~ost. This kamma-energy is sent forth by the dying individual at the moment ofhis death. Father and mother only p~~e the necessary phy~~m~aterial for the formation of the embr~yonic body With regard to the characteristic features the tenden~cies and facufties lyii~g 1a~nt in the embr~yo, the teach- (W ing ~ ~ the followin way~ The dying indi~ual wi!h his whole being conv~¾vely clinging to life at the very moment of PAll~s death, sends forth kammic energies which, like a flash of lighten,~ ing, hit at the new mother’s won~b, ready for conception.Thus,through the impinging ofthe kamma energies on ovum and speim,there arises,just as a precipitate,the so-called
primary cell.
The following is an important extract from an article on the same subject by the late Bhildw~usilacara of Ceylon, who was a well known on Buddhist Abhidhamma;”This new bring which is the present manifestation of the stream of kamma energy is not the same as, and has no identity with, the previous one, the aggregate that makes up its composition being dif~ ferent from, and having no identity with, those that make up the being of its pred~or~ And yet it is not an entrirely different being since it has the same stream of kamma energy, thought modified perchance just by having shown itseffin that lost manifestation, which is now making its presence known in the sense-perceptible world as the new being”.
were to obtain a quick motion pioture of any particular individual’s life from his birth to his death, the most striking fact that would attract our attention would be the would find ruiming right through the serise of pic(ures. The infant changes to the child, the child to the aduft, and the aduft to the decrepit old person who collapses in death. This change goes on in every part of the individual’s body, and not only in the body but in the mind also, so much so that any aduft who surveys his own existence will realise that the child that was is now no more. That child had a different body, in size as well as different likes and di~4ik~ drffer~nt aspirations, and was almost a straanger to the pres~ntaciuft. And yet the aduk is responsible for whatever he has done in his child-c hood because there is a continuity or identity in the process of life force from childhood to manhood. In exactly the same way, the new being has the same stream of karnir~c energy or life force as its predecessor 5, and thus it is responsible for whatever its predecessor has done. This new being has as much identity with the previous one as the aduft of to day has with the child that he was no moreand nothing less. This is well expressed in the questions of king g ~~da asked Arahat Nagasena “Bhante Nag~~so~u iati so eva so udahu ti~’ wheiner he whois reborn remains the same or becomes anther Nagasona replied “Na ca so na ca anno ti”Neither the same nor ~ passes away another comes into being and rebirth is, as it were, simuftansous.
The present being, present existence, is conditioned by the way one faced One’s circu~stances in the last, and in all pexisences present position in character and circu~c’es is the reauft of all that one has been up to the present but what onewill be in th~epends on what one does now in the present. The true Buddhist iegards death as a momentary incident between one life and its successor and views its approach with calmness. His only concern is that his fliture should be such that the conditions of that life may provide his with better opportunities for perfecting himself folding, as he does, the great doctrine of kamma he perceives that it is within his power to after or modif~~ the quality of the life force that ~ the next birth and that his fiit nvironment will depend entirely on what he does no how he has beha’~ed and in his previons lives. The following news from England about thout~~ves carried by the light of Dhamma v&l.vi.4.NO.4 of 6ctober 1959 published by the ~uddha~~sana ‘~ouncil of the ~nofBurma and the footnote thereon by the editor -oftli~Thght of Dhamma may be o~est on this subject of kamma and ~ebirth “Interesting experiments are being canied out at D4kwarr laboratories, ~xford, showing how thou-ght waves can affect a photographic emulsion. ft is possible that a new means of comunicatoion can be developed. By the skilled use of thought enetgy most fbr~of life can be affected in some way or other even at great distances. Human beings, animals plants and soils can be stimulated and
benefic~leffe~s observed. In view of the far-reaching implications of this, a ~~ii~and ~tter ti~iist has been formed for the purpose of flirtheiing the study of what is termed “The Physics of
the Primary State of Matter”
This embraces the study of thought wave effects. It
has been found that many acadamicallytrained persons are resistant to the evidence already obtained. Approximately 30 percent of humanity, for reasons unknown,are either to accept the evidence or are so directly antagonistic that they supply negative thought waves which counteract the positive results. Irrefutable evidence is available,however,that thought waves can be photographed. Experiments on blessing the soil and plant have been carried out at these laboratories and elsewhere that clearly show the effect obtained on plant growth. The evidence is being collatedand will be presented to an eminent scientist in due course. It is clear that such evidence of the power of mind over matter is at variance with the current atomic theory”.
(From Religious Digest July-Sept 1959).
(We hope that if the experiments meet with success, they will
be highly conducive to the~solution of the theory of kammic energy
rebirth”.~ditor, the ~ght of~i~n~a Vo.VL.. No.40 oct.1959).
I think the following ext~~om the article entitled “Modes of Births and Deaths” in Buddhism” by Sayadaw U Sobana of Burma published in the World of Buddhism Vol;XXIII, No.6 of January 1975 of Ceylon will throw more light on this subject of Kamma and Rebirth (or Patisandhi):”A thorough comprehension of Patisandhi Citta is absolutely essential for an understanding of the mechanism of rebirth. In the first instance, it must be understood that it is not the Cuti Citta, but the preceding Marana Sanna Javana Citta that gives rise to the Patisandhi Citta.Cuti Citta is an unconscious thought ofthe Bhavanga Citta, whereas the terminal Marana Sanna Javana Citta is a though~7 of the conscious vithi Citta. There is a belief that the Cuti Citta gives rise to the Patisandhi Citta. This is not correct since, as stated earlier, Cuti Cutta (death consciousness) is merely a register agent and performs no active flinction which can give rise to any resuft. Though it is the last though~ the dying man’s thought-process it is an unconscious thought. It merely registers the awareness of death. In conformity with the law of change, the law ofbecoming, the law ofcontinuit~ the law of action and re~ction, the law ofattraction, the t~inal marans sanna javana ciff a (death-proximate impulsive thought) receives one of the three powerfiil terminal thought objcets or death signs (kamma, kammic signs and signs of New Life) referred to earlier as its thought objcet and then, by reason of the operation of the same laws just mentioned gives rise to patisanchi ~itta-a thought of the unconscious type (Bhavanga) which forms the nucleus ofthe next life
When it is said that the marana sanna javana citta of the d~ing man gives rise to patisandhi (~itta. We must realise that the former mental state ~s the latter ~ental state to arise, it being the causative factor. For such a highly important r~t~o the causative factor must necessarily be Just aspoweIThl. Let us examin~source of its Dotency We know that there is creativ#ower in thought if the thought is sufficiently intense. The very first stan(a~Dhammapada refers to the supremi~ey of the mind (Manos~rtha) and to the fact that everything is mind ~ (Mano-maya). Ap~Co&m this inherent creative power ofthought the terminal thought is the terminal thoutht last active thought of the dying man. We can, therefore, justifi~bly expect the last thought to be the most powerfiil. The last spurt of a runner in a race often discloses his grestest strangth and the last fruit-bearing season of a dying tree is said to yield its l~s~~roduce and often the highest and greatest manifestation of any forcWor power is a type of awansong preceding its own disruption or dissolution. Since the desire for ex~~e~~e Tanha) is the predominating motive
undertlying well-nigh all the activities of men at the moment ofdeath, it grows so formidable that it adopts a grasping attitude (mentally). As the Buddha himself has said, at the dying moment this predominsting Tanha becomes a grasping force (Upadana) that attracts to itself another existence (Tanha paccaya Upadanam Upadana Paccaya Bhave). It is the lest thought process that carries with
it this grasping force.
Psychiogy tells us that the last thought prior to sleep is very powerfiil and influences the first thought in the morning at the time of swadening. It is a common cxpericnce that if one wisbes to catch an carly train and if he retires to bed suggesting to himself that he should awake in time for the train, then he is certain to awake in good time for the train, howevet much a late reser he may habitually be, Anything suggested to the mind at this time tends to procuce a powerfiil effect because the mind ishighly receptive to suggestion at this time. There is thue a roeeognition of the great creative value and poteney of the last thought priorto sleep, coming as tt does so close to the time of activity ofthe powerfill subeen-conscious mind, Hardly anything else intervenes between this last thought and the aricing of the subconnscious mind which sleep induces. Hence, since the last conscious thought prior to sleep becomes the first thought when one awakes from his sleep, by a parity of reasoning, is it too much to assume that one’s last conscious thought before the sleep of death the terminal marane sanna javana thought becomes the first thought, patisandhi citta of the next life to which one swakens? The terminal thought is all concintrated energy,and as such it cannot disown even though the man has died. Being crcative energy, it must manifest itself comewhere. So, according to Buddhiam,this potent terminel thought, receiving as its object one of the three powerfill thought objects referred to earlier, must be deemed to be possessed of great creative power. Its flinction is referred to as Abhinavskarana, that is, the preparing of a new existence. It is for this purpose that one ofthe powerfill thought objects appears before the mind of the dying man. When the terminal thought receices this special thought object and thereafter subaides, there will simuftaneously arise in the next life patisandhi citta carrying with it the same thought object as that of the terminal thought. This patisandhi citta being a thing mental it can normally ariso only in association with a physical counter. It, there fore,arises ina material womb not haphazardly in ony mother’s womb but in an appropriate, mother’s womb in an appropriate environment, appropriate to the type of Reproductive kamma which the dying man expericnced. Man beinga psycho-physical comvination (a name-rupa or mind and Body combination) the rebron man, too,is amind-body combination. There is, however, nothing to prevent a man from being reborn in the spirt world where he will have mind, but not body. There, too,
patisandhi Citta does arese.
Now that I have explained the order of a thought process and the order of a dying man’s thought proess at birth. In the light ofwhat has already been axplained about various mental states, the thought process at birth can be easily understood without much comment. The order of the process at birth which involves five stages, is as follows: (1) patisandhi Citta (Relinging Consciousness; (2) Bhavanga Citta (Unconscious Mind); (3) Manodveravajjana (Mind-door Advertance) (4) Javana (Thought Impulsion) (5) Bhavanga Citta (Unconscious Mind).
In the list of mental states enumerated above indicating the thought processes at adeath, the last mental state mentioned, vis., Patisandi Citta (Relinking Consciousness) is not really a state occurring in the mind of the dying man, but it was, nevertheless, mentioned in the list because the other mental state in that list along with this Relinking Consciousness form part of one continuous process. This patisandhi Citta occurs in the mind of the pre-netal being, viz., the embryo.In fact, it is this Patisandhi Citta type of mentel energy which along with the parental sperm cells and ovum cells combine to create an ambryo in an appropriate mother’s womb. Thus, it is this relinking consoiousness ( or rebirth consciousness) that starrs the nucleus of the next mind-body combination, a new Nam~Rupa, in an appropriate mother’s womb.
This embryo then is a mixture of mind and matter. The parental sperm and ovum cells provide material part of the embryo while Patisandhi Citta (Relinking Consciousness) provides the mental part. It is this Patisandhi Citta which links the dying life with the new life. It is a link because it is a resuft of the terminal manodvaravajjana thought ofthe dying man and takes the same thought object vis., One of the three death-signs. The process of one conscious thought giving rise to another never ends. The last conscious thought at the moment of death is no exception to this process. ft too gives rise to another thought, though not in the same body This other thought is the Patisandhi Ciff a, It lastsjust a moment to be followed by Bhavanga Citta (the unconscious mind).
The initial Patisandhi Citta is there afier followed succeeded by the Bhavage Citta which is said to last for 16 thought moments. In this pre-natal stage, the unborn being is still part of the body ofthe mother, and therefore does not normally contact the external world. The stream of Bhavange keeps on flowing smoothly without interruption in the pre-natal child-mind. As life has just commenced,this mental state is not flill grown.
When a being is conceived, a congenital mind arises simuftancously with the inception of a physical growth as the resuft of the past janaka kamma (Reproductive kamma). That mind at the moment of conception is but a bare state of sub-consciousness identical with the more aduft Bhavange (Unconsciousness) duiing dreamless-sleep.
As stated already, Bhavange Citta lasts 16 thought moments and then subsides. This is followed by the mental state known as mind-door advertence (Manodvarave-jiana). The Bhavanga nature of the mental state of the embryo gives way to the conscious mind (vithi Ciff a)on account of the desire that arises in the mind of the embryo for its new existence.
Immediately after the mental state known as Manodvaravajjana (Mind-door advertence) has subsided, the state of javana or impulshons arises. It carries thought that arises through the mind-door channel, viz., the desire for now existence. These javana thought impulaion develop this desire in the new being for its new existence (Bhava-nikanti javana). They run for seven thought moments. When the seven javana thought moments have arisen and aubsided, the smooth flow of the unconscious Bhavanga again arises. It will flow on smoothly until something occurs to interrup it, but this is hardly likely When the pre-natal embryo is born and assunes a separate axistance, it begins to contact the external world. The normal thought process vill then follow.
In the teachings ofthe Buddha there are five places to be rebren after death. They are (1) as a celestial being (Deva or Brahma called Devagati) (2) as a human being (Manussagati), (3) an a ghost or desmon (pata-gati),(4) as an animal (Tacchannagati), (5) as a being in hell (Nirayagati). There are two kinds of celestial being, those in the Bralima world and those in the Deva world. The case for rebirth by frencis story.
Most of us are not aware that the doctrine of reincarustion or what we call rebirth, i.e., ceaseless round ofbirth and death or samsara in Pall, is not, as many people imagine, confined to Buddhism and Hirnduism. It is found in some form or another in many religiens and philosophical systems and in many parts of the world. This subject has been deak with at length inan article called “The Case for Rebirth” by a Western correspondent, the late Mr. Francis Story, who was a very well known intearnational Buddhist schorlar and who had spent a number of years in Burma before his demise in Ceylon some years ago, in the light of Dhamma No.2 Vol: VII published by the Union of Burma Buddha Sasans Council in April 1960 in which he observes among many other things: “To understand how the Buddhist doctrine of rebirth differs from all of those that have been mentioned and why the term “rebirth” is preferable to “raincamation” or “transmigration”, it is necessary to glance at the main principles of Buddhist teaching. These are summed up in the Four Noble Truths:
(1) The Truth concerning suffering; (2) The Tiuth concerning the cause of suffering; (3) The Truth concerningthe cessation of suffering (4) The Truth concerning the way to the cessation of suffering”.
Then, citing authorities in support there of to prove the Buddhist concept of universal world suffering as all phenomenal existence is defined as being impermanent (anicca), fraught with suffering (dukidia) and devoid of selfessence (anatta) and that there is thus no “immortalsoul” that transmigrates or remcarnates, which, there-fore, means “anatta” or “soulessness”, bound up, of course,with impermanence (anicca) and suffering (dukkha), the therr characteristics ofwliich are the three aspects ofthe same central fact, the learned ~iithor dec1~re~ th~t “~ii~ ~te of Anatt~ (i e ~ i~ c~fl~ stimulated by the publicity given to several cases of people who have remembered previous lives. For a long time past it has been known that under deep hypnosis events in very early infancy, outside the normal range of memory, could be recovered, and this technique has been increasingly employed for the treatment of personmality disorders. It cannot be used with success on all patients because of the involuntary resis tance some subjects show to hypnotic suggestion, which inhibits the cooperation necessary to obtain deep trance. But where it can be applied it has definite advantages over the usual methods of deep psychoanalysis, one of them being the speed with which resuks are obtained. The technique is to induce a state of hypnosis and then cany the subject back in time to a particular point in childhood or infancy at which it is suspected that some event of importance in the psychic life may have occurred In this state, known as hypermnesia, the subject becomes in effeet once more the child he was, and relives experiences that have long been burried in the unconscious.Memories of earliest infancy, and in some cases prenatal memories, have been brought to the surface in this way.
“Some practitioners have carried experiments in regression even flirther, and have found that they were uncovering memories that did not belong to the current life ofthe subject at all but to some previous existence. In cases where nothing could be proved, the rabirth explanation has been contested, and various theories such as telepathy, flintasies of the uncanscious, and even clairvoyance, have been put forward to account for the phenomena.But, spart from the fact that many of the akernatives offered call for the acceptance of psychic facukis which, if what is claimed for them is true, themselves bring rebirth nearer to being a comprehensible reality, none ofthem alone covers all the phenomena which have been brought under obsenvation.W, for example exnoglossy, the ability shown guages unknown to them in their normal state, is to be explained by telepathy we are brought face to face with a supernormal facuky of the mind whichitself contributes to our understand of the manner in which mental energy may operate proceases of rebirth. But akhough telepathy has now been acknowledged as one of the unexplained phenomens of parapsychology along with clairvoyance, elekineses and paychometry, it cannot legitimately be expanded to include all the phenomena these experiments have disclosed. To account for all ofthem on these lines, it would be necessary to combine every oneof the known extra-sensory facukies into one concept, that of a freely-wandering, disembodied intelligonce, independent of spatial and temp oral hinitations. If we are to apply here the scientjiic law of paraimony, the more likely akernative is the obvious one that they are simply what they purport to be-memories of previous lives.
“As to the theorythat the memories are products of the unconscious mind, it cannot survive the proofto the contrary which comes from the revelation of facts that could not have been known to the subject in his present life. These are objective and circumstancial and they exist in abundance as any reading of the literature on the subject will confirm.
“The best know example of this kind is the case of Bridey Murphy in America which raised a h~cane of controversy when it broke into the news a few year ago. A girl remembered, under deep hypnosis, a previous life in freland, when her name had been Bridey Murphy. She gave dates names of places and people, and descriptions of the life of the period. This period was near enought to our own time to allow of veii4ication from parish registers,old maps and local history. The case, and the book written about it, aroused a storm
of controversy in America. One newspaper sent a representative to keland to check up on the facts, which in many particulars he was able to conffirm. It was followed sometime later by a similar case in England in which the subject Mrs. Naomi Henry, remembered under hypnosis two previous existences. The experiments were carried out under test conditions by Mr. Henry Blythe, a professional consuftant hypnotist. In the presence of several witnesses tape recordings were made of the sessions, which ~~re held under the supervision of a medical practitioner, Dr. VV~liliam C. Minifie, who testified that the hypontic trance was genuine. It has been said ofthese recordings that they provsde “what most surely be the most thought-provoking, absorbing and controversial angle ever offered” on the subject.
“What happened was this. Mrs Naomi Henry,a thirty-two-year-old Exeter housewife,the mother of four children, was cured of smoking habit by hypnotic treatment given by Mr. Henry Blythe of Torquay, Devon. He found her to be”an exceptionally receptive hypnotic subject” So much that without inforining her of the purpose of his experiment he began a series sessions in which he succeeded in taking her back beyond her present life.
“Mrs. Henry remembered two previous existences. In the first she gave her name as Mary Cohan, a girl of 17 living in Cork in thel79O. Among other circusmstances she told how she was married against her wishes to a man named Charles Goul by whom she had two children, Pat and will. Her busband ill-treated her, and fineally caused her death by a beating which broke her leg. Whilst describing these events in the trance she was evidently re-living the intense emotional experienecs of the past with the vividness of a present reality rather than of a more memory. Intervening time obliterate and she was once more the illiterate Irish girl she had been over a century and she was once more the illiterate Irish girl she had been over a centuly and a half before. Her marriage, she said, took place in St. John’s Church in a hamlet named Greener. Several of the facts she related were afterwards verified on the spot, but no village of the name of Greener could be raced. Eventually, however, some records dating back to the 17th century were found in the possession of a parish priest, and in them mention was mad of a church of St. John in a village named Greenhelgh. The name is pronounced locally just as Mary Cohan gave it-”Greener”.
“Next she rem~mbered a life in which she was Clarice Hellier, a nurse in charge oftwenty four children at Dawnham in 1902. After relating what she went on to describe her last illness, her death and her fimeral, which, it seems, she had been able to witness. She was even able to give the number of the grave, 207, in which she had been buried.
“When Mrs. Henry emerged from her trance she had no recolleetion of what had taken place and it was only when she heard the recoring that she learned the purpose of the experiments. The authencity ofthis case has been established beyond reasonable doubt.
“One ofthe most remarkable men ofrecent times, Edgar Cayce, obtained evidence of an even more striking nature. Born in Christian country, kentucky, in 1877, he suffered as a young man from psycho-somatic conscrition of the thrat which deprived him of his voice. Orthodpx medical treatments having failed, he was treated by hypnotic suggestion, which was not a recognised form of therapy in those days. In deep trace his voice raturned to normal and he diagnosed his own condition. Not only did he describe the physiological symptoms in terms of which he knew nothing in his waking state, but he also prescribed treatment. His self-cm-e was so remarkable that he was persuaded, rathe against his will, to try prescribing for others whose illness would not respond to medical treatment. This he did with great success, using technical terms and prescribing remedies which, as a man of only moderat education, he was quite unfamlliar with in his normal state. Sometimes the medicines he prescribed were conventional remedies in unusual combinations; some-times they were substances not found in the standard pharmacopeia. Cayce himesIf was pussled and since it was proving of benefit to an increasing number of sufferers he continued to use it, only reflising to take any payment for the help he rendered. He soon found that a hypnotist was unnecessary; his trances were really seif~induced, and he worked thereafter solely through auto-hypnosis.
“One day while Cayce was giving a consuftation a friend who was present asked him whether reincarnation was true. Still in the trance, Cayce immediately replied that it was In answer to flirther question he said that many of the patients who came to him for treatment were suffering from afflictions caused by bad kamma in previous lives. It was because ofthis that they resisted ordinary treatment. Asked whether he was able to see the past incarnations of his patients and describe them, he said that he could. When he was told what he had said in the trance, Cayce was more disturbed than before. The thing was gettmg decidedly out of hand. He had never heard the word “kamma” and his only ide$’~ofreincarnation was that it was a belief associated with some”heathen” religions.His first reaction was to give the whole thing up, as being something supernatural and possibly inimical to his chris tian faith.
“It was with great difficufty that he was presueded to continue. However, he consented to be questioned flirther under hypnosis, and after having given some readings and more successfiil treatments he became convinced that there was nothing ineligious or harmfiil in the strange ideas that were being revealed. From that time onwards he supplemented all his diagnosed by readings of past kamma of his patients. It was then all his diagnoses by reatings of past kamma of his patients. It was them found that he was able to give valuable moral and spiritual guidance to counteract bad kaimme tendencies, and his treatments became even more effective. He was now treating the minds as weli as v(~~Was the bodies ofthe patients who sought his help.
“When Cayce discovered that he was able to treat people living at great distances, whom he had never seen, the scope ofhis work broadened until it uftimateily extened all over the United States and beyond before he died in 1945 cayce, with the help of friends and supporter, had established an institution, the Cayce Foundation,at Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is now operating as a research institute under the direction of his associates. Cayce left a vast number of case-histories and other records accumulated ovet the years, and these are still being examined and correlated by the foundation. For flirther information on Edgar Cayce, his work and the light it throws on rebirth, the reader is referred to Many Mansions by Gina Germinara, “Edgar Cayce” Mystery Man of Miracles” by Joseph Millard. and numerous publications issued by the Cayce Foundation.
“There is a good deal in the evidence to suggest that Cayce in his hypnotised state had access to lost medical knowledge as well as the power to see the previous lives of others. In the Buddhist texts of a very date there are references to advanced medical knowledge and techniques of surgery in some ways comparable to our own. Jivaka,a renowned physician who was a contemporary of the Buddha is recorded as having Perfomed a brain poeration for the removae of a living organism of some kind. There were several other Egyptian and Greek physicians 3000 or more years before the Christian era who were genious and had such a medicine that some of them became legends.
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