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....Between Death and Rebirth....
Between Death and Rebirth
Part One: Across the Barrier of Death
Explanations from the Kusha Ron
This article, by SGI VP Yoichi Kawata first appeared under the title “Buppo to igaku: shiseikan no kakuritsu no tame ni” (Buddhism and Medical Science: Toward Establishing a Correct View of Death and Rebirth) in the journal Kyogaku Kenkyu Koza, vol. 6 (Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Philosophy, 1985)
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What does the subjective “self” experience, what sort of images unfold before it, as it approaches the barrier between life and death? In the West, in addition to the approximately one hundred fifty cases studied by Dr. Raymond A. Moody, many similar accounts of near-death experiences have already been reported.
Among Dr. Moody’s*1 cases, we find the following accounts:
The first thing that happened --- it was real quick --- was that I went through
this dark, black vacuum at super speed. You could compare it to a tunnel, I
guess. I felt like I was riding on a roller coaster train at an amusement park,
going through this tunnel at a tremendous speed.
I was in an utterly black, dark void. It is very difficult to explain, but I felt
as if I were moving in a vacuum, just through blackness. Yet, I was quite
conscious.
… I entered head first into a narrow and very, very dark passageway. I seemed
to fit just inside of it. I began to slide down, down, down.
Dr. Kenneth Ring*2 has termed such impressions “entering the darkness,” a stage which he describes as “a transitional one between this world and whatever may be said to lie beyond.”
Among the records of Dr. Ring’s clinical cases, we read, for example the following description: “it was like night. It was dark. It was dark. But it was like, like (pause) like in the dark sky. Space. Dark. And it was --- there weren’t any things around. No stars or objects around.”
Recently, such experiences have begun to be reported in Japan, and their content appears to be quite similar. The following quotations are taken from “Shi no isogaku” (The Phases of Death), by Yoshimoto Takaaki.
“Although I was already in darkness, I had a feeling as though I were falling into
a hole that was darker still.”
“I felt as though I were flying through space in which there was nothing, only
utter blackness.”
“I was left in total darkness. And I had a feeling of being drawn into even
deeper darkness, as though I were riding on an elevator.”
“It was a chilly feeling. I was in a cold place, like an underground passage
or tunnel.”
The experience of nearing the barrier, literally “the point of no return,” in the transition from life to death or from sentience to insentience, means in scientific terms that, through the death of the brain stem or total brain death, life is approaching the state of biological death or cell death. The images that arise at this point may depict the interior landscape of a life descending from conscious to unconscious levels. Perhaps we can say they are expressions of the process whereby the psychosomatic energy hitherto manifested in the five components*3 of form, perception, conception, volition and consciousness shifts towards latency, moving from the domain of the sixth consciousness and the mano-consciousness toward the realm of the alaya-consciousness.*4
The images described in near-death experiences seem to correspond to the beginning of what Buddhism terms “the journey through intermediate existence, (Jap. Chu-u)”*5 that is, the interval between this life and the next. Although those who have revived from a near-death experience to tell about it did not in the end cross over the barrier between life and death, the journey through intermediate existence continues beyond the point of death deep into the world after death. This process may well involve an expedition into the inner realm of life, that is, the universe of the psyche.
Volume 8 of the Kusha Ron (Skt. Abhidharma-koshashastra), a treatise by the fourth- or fifth-century Buddhist scholar Vasubandhu, discusses intermediate existence as follows:
The five components, as they exist between the two stages of death and rebirth,
are called “intermediate existence.” It has not yet arrived where it is destined to
arrive; therefore, one cannot say that it is born.
After the stage of death and before the stage of birth --- that is, in the interim
between the two --- there arises an existence, manifesting a body in order to
move toward where it will be reborn.
“Intermediate existence” thus indicates the interval of time between death and rebirth. Life as it exists during this interval is called the “interim body,” which is said to be formed of the five components. The “existence” referred to in this passage from the Kusha Ron indicates the five components.
However, the five components of the interim body differ from those which formed the individual while he was alive. As the term is used here, they seem to indicate the latent energy of the five components which will manifest themselves in the next existence. From a Mahayana standpoint, we would say that they indicate the “seeds” of the five components stored in the alaya-consciousness.
The component of form possessed by life in the intermediate-existence phase is referred to as a “subtle body,” and is said to possess eyes and other sense organs.
The Kusha Ron and the Daibibasha Ron, a treatise of the second century, describe the “interim body” or life in the intermediate-existence phase in some detail. Here I would like to focus on nine aspects of intermediate existence discussed in the Kusha Ron.
1. Visibility. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron states, “The interim body is visible only to other intermediate existences of the same class. If one has through strenuous endeavors obtained the most pure heavenly eye, he will be able to see it. But the eye with which one is endowed by nature cannot discern it, because of its extreme subtlety.”
2. Power of motion. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron says, “Intermediate existence is endowed with the supernatural power, deriving from its karma, of traveling with the utmost swiftness. Not even the World-Honored Ones can restrain it, for it is invested with the force of karma.”
This passage explains that, for the force of its karma, the interim body can freely move through space, and not even a Buddha would be able to stop it.
3. Possession of sense organs. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron states, “Intermediate existence is in all cases endowed with the five sense organs.” These sense organs are those possessed by the “subtle body.”
4. Non-hindrance. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron states, “The interim body is coextensive… Not even a diamond is impenetrable to the interim body. Therefore, it is called coextensive.” Because the movement of the interim body cannot be blocked even by something as hard as a diamond, it is said to be unobstructible. That is to say, it can pass freely through the densest matter.
5. Fixity of destination. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron states, “Once the interim body, destined for a certain rebirth, has arisen, no power whatsoever can divert it from that destination. An intermediate human existence will not cease to be such and become an intermediate existence of any other kind. And the same is true with intermediate existences of the other paths as well. The interim body arises for the purpose of moving toward its destination, and can only move in that direction, never in any other.”
This passage indicates that the circumstances in which the intermediate existence will be reborn are already determined by its deeds in former lives. For example, if while alive one has created the karma to be reborn a human being, that intermediate existence will find rebirth only in the human world, and not in hell or any other realm. After death, no power can alter its karmic destiny. (The exception is the power of prayers offered for the deceased, which will be discussed later.)
6. Feeding on odors. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron states, “Do intermediate existences in the world of desire*6 eat, or not? … They do, but they eat only odors … Those of little good fortune eat only foul odors, while those with good fortune make pleasant odors their food.”
According to this passage, beings in the stage of intermediate existence subsist upon odors. Moreover, because the sense organs (in this case, the faculty of smell), are very subtle, so are the odors on which they feed. That is to say, the faculty of smell possessed by the interim body detects odors of a very subtle dimension.
Moreover, the text says that those who have good fortune are able to eat pleasant odors, while those with little good fortune --- that is, who have accumulated bad karma --- can eat only unpleasant odors.
7. Duration. There are various opinions concerning the duration of intermediate existence. Here I would like to quote four explanations found in volume 17 of the Daibibasha Ron.
(1) “Question: How long does an intermediate existence dwell in that state? Answer: Only a short time, because it quickly seeks rebirth.”
According to this first explanation, intermediate existence last but a short time. Because the external conditions necessary for rebirth are brought into harmony by the karmic energy of the life in the interim state, its sojourn in that state is very brief.
(2) “The Venerable Shamadatta states, ‘Intermediate existence last but seven
periods of seven days. Within forty-nine days, rebirth is definitely secured.’”
This opinion estimates the duration of intermediate existence at seven weeks,
With rebirth definitely secured by that time.
(3) “The Venerable Vasumitra states as follows: ‘Intermediate existence last but
seven days at most, because the interim body is extremely subtle, and
cannot endure for long.’” This third explanation estimates the duration of
intermediate existence at a week, because the fragility of the interim body
will not allow it to persist for a longer period.
(4) “The Buddha, the Man of Great Virtue, has stated, ‘There is no fixed duration
[to interim existence]. That is to say, when the conditions for rebirth are
quickly realized, the interim body will endure only a short time. But if after
a long while, the conditions for rebirth are not yet complete, that interim
body will persist for a considerable time.’” According to this fourth opinion,
the interval between death and rebirth is not fixed. For some, the conditions
necessary for rebirth manifest quickly, while for others, these conditions take
a longer time to materialize.
8. Securing rebirth. (This subject will be discussed further on.)
9. Manner of locomotion. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron states, “Intermediate
Existences destined for the realm of heaven move upward head first, as one rises
from a seat. Those destined for the realms of men (humans), hungry spirits or
animals move forward horizontally, as human beings do. Those destined for hell
have their heads down and their feet in the air, and so tumble into its depths.”
This description reflects the notion of a heaven located above the human world and a hell located below. Those destined for heaven move upward head first, while those destined for hell fall into it head over heels. The interim bodies of those destined for the human or animal realms or the realm of hungry spirits have their heads on top and their feet below, carrying themselves as living human beings do.
In reading these passages, we must bear in mind that the Kusha Ron and Daibibasha Ron are both Hinayana treatises, and as such, were heavily influenced by the Hinayana philosophical position that the dharmas, or basic constituents of all things, actually exist. Thus they speak of the interim body as something having real, substantial existence. Nevertheless, when we revise our understanding of them in the light of Mahayana Buddhism, they offer important insights into the mode in which life exists after death.
From the standpoint of Mahayana Buddhism, we may say that life after death exists in the state of Emptiness or non-substantiality (ku), dissolving back into the great cosmos and flowing together with the cosmic life. To employ the terminology of the Consciousness-Only school, the “interim body” is in fact nothing other that the alaya-consciousness, the framework of individual existence which transmigrates from one lifetime to the next, containing within itself the potential for all physical and mental functions in the form of “seeds.”
The so-called “interim body” exists in the state of Emptiness or non-substantiality in which it is merged into the great life of the cosmos, while at the same time maintaining in a latent state --- that is, as seeds in the alaya-consciousness --- the workings that cause the five components to take form and unite.
The passages from volume 9 of the Kusha Ron which we have quoted above may well be understood as a description of how the seeds of the five components exist latently in the alaya-consciousness, itself in the state of Emptiness --- depicting this as though it were something that had manifest, substantial existence.
However, even though life in the non-substantial state of Emptiness or “ku” has dissolved back into the cosmos itself, this does not mean that it loses its individual character or personality. In other words, even while becoming one with the great cosmos, it simultaneously maintains its identity as an individual. This mode of being is the state of ku, which can be understood neither as existence nor as non-existence.
The factors which determine this individuality are impressed on the alaya-consciousness, being contained within it in the form of “seeds.” The karma-seeds play a particularly important role in this respect.*7
In the after-death process, the subjective “self” of each individual existence is acted upon by the seeds, especially the karma-seeds, contained in its alaya-consciousness. In other words, while being merged with the cosmic life, the “interim body” or subjective self experiences the latent force of its karma- and other seeds, and, while receiving suffering or pleasure, perceives a variety of images.
The actual sensations or images which an individual life receives in the intermediate-existence stage form the “interior landscape” of that life after death and correspond to the descriptions in many Buddhist scriptures of “the journey through intermediate existence.” Nichiren Daishonin himself describes this journey in minute detail in an early writing called the “Juo Santan Sho” (In praise of the Ten Kings). Here I would like to consider what life experiences after death as depicted in this Gosho.
Notes:
1. Raymond A. Moddy, Jr., Life after Life: The investigation of a Phenomenon --- Survival of Bodily Death (Covington, Georgia: Mockingbird Books, 1975; reprint ed., New York: Bantam Books, 1976)
2. Kenneth Ring, Life at Death: a Scientific Investigation of the Near-Death Experience (New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1980; reprint ed., New York: Quill, 1982), p.53
3. The five components, also called the five aggregates or five skandhas, are the categories of physical and psychic elements which unite temporarily to form an individual living being. Form is the physical aspect of life, possessing color and shape, and includes the five sense organs. Perception is the information received through the six sense organs (the five sense organs plus “mind,” which integrates the impressions received by the five senses. Conception means the ideas or notions formed about what has been perceived. Volition is the will or impulse to take some action toward what the individual has perceived and formed a concept of. Consciousness is the discerning function of life which can make value judgements, distinguish between good and evil, etc. It also integrates the other four components.
4. The sixth consciousness integrates the impressions received by the five senses and makes judgments about the external world. The mano-consciousness is the function of mind that engages in abstract thought and discerns the inner world. It bridges the conscious and subconscious realms. Awareness of self and self-attachment are said to be functions of the mano-consciousness. The alaya- or storehouse consciousness, also called the karma repository, lies beneath the level of conscious awareness and stores the impressions of all mental, verbal and physical actions as latent causes having the potential to manifest corresponding effects in the future. The alaya-consciousness is regarded as that which undergoes the cycle of rebirth. The mano- and alaya- consciousnesses are, respectively, the seventh and eighth of the eight consciousnesses postulated by the Consciousness-Only school, and of the nine consciousnesses postulated by the T’ien-t’ai and Hua-yen (Kegon) schools.
5. Intermediate existence is one of four repeated phases in the cycle of rebirth: birth, continued existence (up to the moment of death) death, and intermediate existence (between death and rebirth).
6. The world of desire is the first division of the threefold world, the realm in which unenlightened beings transmigrate. It comprises the realms of hell, hungry spirits, animals, asura demons, human beings, and the first six divisions of heaven. It is so called because its inhabitants are governed by various desires.
7. “Seeds” refer to the latent causes or impressions stored in the alaya-consciousness, which have the potential to manifest corresponding effects. Consciousness-Only thought distinguishes between “karma-seeds,” which are either good or evil, and seeds which are of a neutral nature.
(End of part One)…
Part One: Across the Barrier of Death
Explanations from the Kusha Ron
This article, by SGI VP Yoichi Kawata first appeared under the title “Buppo to igaku: shiseikan no kakuritsu no tame ni” (Buddhism and Medical Science: Toward Establishing a Correct View of Death and Rebirth) in the journal Kyogaku Kenkyu Koza, vol. 6 (Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Philosophy, 1985)
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What does the subjective “self” experience, what sort of images unfold before it, as it approaches the barrier between life and death? In the West, in addition to the approximately one hundred fifty cases studied by Dr. Raymond A. Moody, many similar accounts of near-death experiences have already been reported.
Among Dr. Moody’s*1 cases, we find the following accounts:
The first thing that happened --- it was real quick --- was that I went through
this dark, black vacuum at super speed. You could compare it to a tunnel, I
guess. I felt like I was riding on a roller coaster train at an amusement park,
going through this tunnel at a tremendous speed.
I was in an utterly black, dark void. It is very difficult to explain, but I felt
as if I were moving in a vacuum, just through blackness. Yet, I was quite
conscious.
… I entered head first into a narrow and very, very dark passageway. I seemed
to fit just inside of it. I began to slide down, down, down.
Dr. Kenneth Ring*2 has termed such impressions “entering the darkness,” a stage which he describes as “a transitional one between this world and whatever may be said to lie beyond.”
Among the records of Dr. Ring’s clinical cases, we read, for example the following description: “it was like night. It was dark. It was dark. But it was like, like (pause) like in the dark sky. Space. Dark. And it was --- there weren’t any things around. No stars or objects around.”
Recently, such experiences have begun to be reported in Japan, and their content appears to be quite similar. The following quotations are taken from “Shi no isogaku” (The Phases of Death), by Yoshimoto Takaaki.
“Although I was already in darkness, I had a feeling as though I were falling into
a hole that was darker still.”
“I felt as though I were flying through space in which there was nothing, only
utter blackness.”
“I was left in total darkness. And I had a feeling of being drawn into even
deeper darkness, as though I were riding on an elevator.”
“It was a chilly feeling. I was in a cold place, like an underground passage
or tunnel.”
The experience of nearing the barrier, literally “the point of no return,” in the transition from life to death or from sentience to insentience, means in scientific terms that, through the death of the brain stem or total brain death, life is approaching the state of biological death or cell death. The images that arise at this point may depict the interior landscape of a life descending from conscious to unconscious levels. Perhaps we can say they are expressions of the process whereby the psychosomatic energy hitherto manifested in the five components*3 of form, perception, conception, volition and consciousness shifts towards latency, moving from the domain of the sixth consciousness and the mano-consciousness toward the realm of the alaya-consciousness.*4
The images described in near-death experiences seem to correspond to the beginning of what Buddhism terms “the journey through intermediate existence, (Jap. Chu-u)”*5 that is, the interval between this life and the next. Although those who have revived from a near-death experience to tell about it did not in the end cross over the barrier between life and death, the journey through intermediate existence continues beyond the point of death deep into the world after death. This process may well involve an expedition into the inner realm of life, that is, the universe of the psyche.
Volume 8 of the Kusha Ron (Skt. Abhidharma-koshashastra), a treatise by the fourth- or fifth-century Buddhist scholar Vasubandhu, discusses intermediate existence as follows:
The five components, as they exist between the two stages of death and rebirth,
are called “intermediate existence.” It has not yet arrived where it is destined to
arrive; therefore, one cannot say that it is born.
After the stage of death and before the stage of birth --- that is, in the interim
between the two --- there arises an existence, manifesting a body in order to
move toward where it will be reborn.
“Intermediate existence” thus indicates the interval of time between death and rebirth. Life as it exists during this interval is called the “interim body,” which is said to be formed of the five components. The “existence” referred to in this passage from the Kusha Ron indicates the five components.
However, the five components of the interim body differ from those which formed the individual while he was alive. As the term is used here, they seem to indicate the latent energy of the five components which will manifest themselves in the next existence. From a Mahayana standpoint, we would say that they indicate the “seeds” of the five components stored in the alaya-consciousness.
The component of form possessed by life in the intermediate-existence phase is referred to as a “subtle body,” and is said to possess eyes and other sense organs.
The Kusha Ron and the Daibibasha Ron, a treatise of the second century, describe the “interim body” or life in the intermediate-existence phase in some detail. Here I would like to focus on nine aspects of intermediate existence discussed in the Kusha Ron.
1. Visibility. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron states, “The interim body is visible only to other intermediate existences of the same class. If one has through strenuous endeavors obtained the most pure heavenly eye, he will be able to see it. But the eye with which one is endowed by nature cannot discern it, because of its extreme subtlety.”
2. Power of motion. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron says, “Intermediate existence is endowed with the supernatural power, deriving from its karma, of traveling with the utmost swiftness. Not even the World-Honored Ones can restrain it, for it is invested with the force of karma.”
This passage explains that, for the force of its karma, the interim body can freely move through space, and not even a Buddha would be able to stop it.
3. Possession of sense organs. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron states, “Intermediate existence is in all cases endowed with the five sense organs.” These sense organs are those possessed by the “subtle body.”
4. Non-hindrance. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron states, “The interim body is coextensive… Not even a diamond is impenetrable to the interim body. Therefore, it is called coextensive.” Because the movement of the interim body cannot be blocked even by something as hard as a diamond, it is said to be unobstructible. That is to say, it can pass freely through the densest matter.
5. Fixity of destination. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron states, “Once the interim body, destined for a certain rebirth, has arisen, no power whatsoever can divert it from that destination. An intermediate human existence will not cease to be such and become an intermediate existence of any other kind. And the same is true with intermediate existences of the other paths as well. The interim body arises for the purpose of moving toward its destination, and can only move in that direction, never in any other.”
This passage indicates that the circumstances in which the intermediate existence will be reborn are already determined by its deeds in former lives. For example, if while alive one has created the karma to be reborn a human being, that intermediate existence will find rebirth only in the human world, and not in hell or any other realm. After death, no power can alter its karmic destiny. (The exception is the power of prayers offered for the deceased, which will be discussed later.)
6. Feeding on odors. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron states, “Do intermediate existences in the world of desire*6 eat, or not? … They do, but they eat only odors … Those of little good fortune eat only foul odors, while those with good fortune make pleasant odors their food.”
According to this passage, beings in the stage of intermediate existence subsist upon odors. Moreover, because the sense organs (in this case, the faculty of smell), are very subtle, so are the odors on which they feed. That is to say, the faculty of smell possessed by the interim body detects odors of a very subtle dimension.
Moreover, the text says that those who have good fortune are able to eat pleasant odors, while those with little good fortune --- that is, who have accumulated bad karma --- can eat only unpleasant odors.
7. Duration. There are various opinions concerning the duration of intermediate existence. Here I would like to quote four explanations found in volume 17 of the Daibibasha Ron.
(1) “Question: How long does an intermediate existence dwell in that state? Answer: Only a short time, because it quickly seeks rebirth.”
According to this first explanation, intermediate existence last but a short time. Because the external conditions necessary for rebirth are brought into harmony by the karmic energy of the life in the interim state, its sojourn in that state is very brief.
(2) “The Venerable Shamadatta states, ‘Intermediate existence last but seven
periods of seven days. Within forty-nine days, rebirth is definitely secured.’”
This opinion estimates the duration of intermediate existence at seven weeks,
With rebirth definitely secured by that time.
(3) “The Venerable Vasumitra states as follows: ‘Intermediate existence last but
seven days at most, because the interim body is extremely subtle, and
cannot endure for long.’” This third explanation estimates the duration of
intermediate existence at a week, because the fragility of the interim body
will not allow it to persist for a longer period.
(4) “The Buddha, the Man of Great Virtue, has stated, ‘There is no fixed duration
[to interim existence]. That is to say, when the conditions for rebirth are
quickly realized, the interim body will endure only a short time. But if after
a long while, the conditions for rebirth are not yet complete, that interim
body will persist for a considerable time.’” According to this fourth opinion,
the interval between death and rebirth is not fixed. For some, the conditions
necessary for rebirth manifest quickly, while for others, these conditions take
a longer time to materialize.
8. Securing rebirth. (This subject will be discussed further on.)
9. Manner of locomotion. Volume 9 of the Kusha Ron states, “Intermediate
Existences destined for the realm of heaven move upward head first, as one rises
from a seat. Those destined for the realms of men (humans), hungry spirits or
animals move forward horizontally, as human beings do. Those destined for hell
have their heads down and their feet in the air, and so tumble into its depths.”
This description reflects the notion of a heaven located above the human world and a hell located below. Those destined for heaven move upward head first, while those destined for hell fall into it head over heels. The interim bodies of those destined for the human or animal realms or the realm of hungry spirits have their heads on top and their feet below, carrying themselves as living human beings do.
In reading these passages, we must bear in mind that the Kusha Ron and Daibibasha Ron are both Hinayana treatises, and as such, were heavily influenced by the Hinayana philosophical position that the dharmas, or basic constituents of all things, actually exist. Thus they speak of the interim body as something having real, substantial existence. Nevertheless, when we revise our understanding of them in the light of Mahayana Buddhism, they offer important insights into the mode in which life exists after death.
From the standpoint of Mahayana Buddhism, we may say that life after death exists in the state of Emptiness or non-substantiality (ku), dissolving back into the great cosmos and flowing together with the cosmic life. To employ the terminology of the Consciousness-Only school, the “interim body” is in fact nothing other that the alaya-consciousness, the framework of individual existence which transmigrates from one lifetime to the next, containing within itself the potential for all physical and mental functions in the form of “seeds.”
The so-called “interim body” exists in the state of Emptiness or non-substantiality in which it is merged into the great life of the cosmos, while at the same time maintaining in a latent state --- that is, as seeds in the alaya-consciousness --- the workings that cause the five components to take form and unite.
The passages from volume 9 of the Kusha Ron which we have quoted above may well be understood as a description of how the seeds of the five components exist latently in the alaya-consciousness, itself in the state of Emptiness --- depicting this as though it were something that had manifest, substantial existence.
However, even though life in the non-substantial state of Emptiness or “ku” has dissolved back into the cosmos itself, this does not mean that it loses its individual character or personality. In other words, even while becoming one with the great cosmos, it simultaneously maintains its identity as an individual. This mode of being is the state of ku, which can be understood neither as existence nor as non-existence.
The factors which determine this individuality are impressed on the alaya-consciousness, being contained within it in the form of “seeds.” The karma-seeds play a particularly important role in this respect.*7
In the after-death process, the subjective “self” of each individual existence is acted upon by the seeds, especially the karma-seeds, contained in its alaya-consciousness. In other words, while being merged with the cosmic life, the “interim body” or subjective self experiences the latent force of its karma- and other seeds, and, while receiving suffering or pleasure, perceives a variety of images.
The actual sensations or images which an individual life receives in the intermediate-existence stage form the “interior landscape” of that life after death and correspond to the descriptions in many Buddhist scriptures of “the journey through intermediate existence.” Nichiren Daishonin himself describes this journey in minute detail in an early writing called the “Juo Santan Sho” (In praise of the Ten Kings). Here I would like to consider what life experiences after death as depicted in this Gosho.
Notes:
1. Raymond A. Moddy, Jr., Life after Life: The investigation of a Phenomenon --- Survival of Bodily Death (Covington, Georgia: Mockingbird Books, 1975; reprint ed., New York: Bantam Books, 1976)
2. Kenneth Ring, Life at Death: a Scientific Investigation of the Near-Death Experience (New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, 1980; reprint ed., New York: Quill, 1982), p.53
3. The five components, also called the five aggregates or five skandhas, are the categories of physical and psychic elements which unite temporarily to form an individual living being. Form is the physical aspect of life, possessing color and shape, and includes the five sense organs. Perception is the information received through the six sense organs (the five sense organs plus “mind,” which integrates the impressions received by the five senses. Conception means the ideas or notions formed about what has been perceived. Volition is the will or impulse to take some action toward what the individual has perceived and formed a concept of. Consciousness is the discerning function of life which can make value judgements, distinguish between good and evil, etc. It also integrates the other four components.
4. The sixth consciousness integrates the impressions received by the five senses and makes judgments about the external world. The mano-consciousness is the function of mind that engages in abstract thought and discerns the inner world. It bridges the conscious and subconscious realms. Awareness of self and self-attachment are said to be functions of the mano-consciousness. The alaya- or storehouse consciousness, also called the karma repository, lies beneath the level of conscious awareness and stores the impressions of all mental, verbal and physical actions as latent causes having the potential to manifest corresponding effects in the future. The alaya-consciousness is regarded as that which undergoes the cycle of rebirth. The mano- and alaya- consciousnesses are, respectively, the seventh and eighth of the eight consciousnesses postulated by the Consciousness-Only school, and of the nine consciousnesses postulated by the T’ien-t’ai and Hua-yen (Kegon) schools.
5. Intermediate existence is one of four repeated phases in the cycle of rebirth: birth, continued existence (up to the moment of death) death, and intermediate existence (between death and rebirth).
6. The world of desire is the first division of the threefold world, the realm in which unenlightened beings transmigrate. It comprises the realms of hell, hungry spirits, animals, asura demons, human beings, and the first six divisions of heaven. It is so called because its inhabitants are governed by various desires.
7. “Seeds” refer to the latent causes or impressions stored in the alaya-consciousness, which have the potential to manifest corresponding effects. Consciousness-Only thought distinguishes between “karma-seeds,” which are either good or evil, and seeds which are of a neutral nature.
(End of part One)…
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Between Death and Rebirth
Part Two: The Journey Through Intermediate Existence
Descriptions from the “Juo Santan Sho”
The “Juo Santan Sho” (In praise of the Ten Kings), an early writing of Nichiren Daishonin, describes the journey through intermediate existence --- that is, through the interval between death and rebirth --- with reference to contemporary popular belief, probably of Chinese origin, in ten kings of the other world who were said to pass judgment on the dead. The description begins with the scene of a deceased person walking alone through a vast and dark plain.
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When one dies, he wanders all alone through a vast plain. This is called the journey through intermediate existence. If he tries to proceed along the road, he can find no provisions to take with him; if he attempts to stop midway, he can find no place to remain. Though he may wish to go forward, no supplies are to be had; though he may wish to halt, there is no place to stay. Moreover, the darkness is said to be like the dead of night. He sees only the light of the stars, and because his journey lies in darkness, before and behind, to the right and the left, all is obscured. Not a single person can bear him company, and there is no one to inquire after his welfare. When we imagine how it is for him at that time, we feel sad and forlorn. Though he sees his beloved wife and children in the saha world, there is no road by which to return, and he moves farther and farther away from them. Because he does not know where he is bound, there is no path that he can discern. Whatever he may do, his only company is his own tears of grief.
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Trudging alone over a vast plain, the dead person gradually approaches the mountains of death. They are described as high and treacherous, with crags as sharp as swords. Nichiren Daishonin also refers to these mountains in a letter to Lord Yagenta, which states, “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will be your unbreakable staff to take you safely over the mountains of death” (MW-1, 124).
Having crossed these steep mountains, on the seventh day following his death, the dead person is said to reach the dwelling of the first of the ten kings, who is called King Shinko. Although he undergoes judgment at the court of this king, the relative weight of his good and evil deeds is not yet determined, and before the place of his next rebirth --- that is, into which of the six paths he will be reborn – is decided, he is sent on to the second of the ten kings, King Shoko. En route, he arrives at the famous “river of three crossings.” Concerning the reason for this name, the “Juo Santan Sho” reads: “On the road to see this king, the deceased arrives at a great river, called the river of three crossings, whose width is forty yojana. It is also called the river of hell. This river can be traversed at three places; therefore it is called the river of three crossings.”
One yojana is about seven kilometers, so with a breadth of forty yojana, this river would measure about two hundred eight kilometers across (175 miles). There are said to be three places where the deceased can cross it. The first is in the upper reaches of the river where the water is shallow. Those who while alive committed only minor offenses cross here. The second is in the lower reaches of the river. Here the current runs as swiftly as an arrow shot by an archer, and the waves tower as high as tall mountains. Moreover, the water is said to be infested with poisonous serpents. Those who committed great evil cross here. The third crossing is in the middle reaches of the river; here there is a bridge adorned with gold, silver and seven kinds of jewels. Only those who performed good deeds cross here.
On the far bank of the river stands a large tree, in whose shade waits a pair of demons, male and female. They strip the dead of their clothing, down to the last robe, and hang it from the branches of the tree. The branches are said to bend down according to the weight of the offenses that the deceased have committed.
In this connection, Nichiren Daishonin writes in the “Letter to Jakunichi-bo”: “Advance on the Lotus Sutra’s path to enlightenment, bearing in mind the time when devils, demons and the guards of hell will strip you of your clothing on the bank of the river of three crossings. The Lotus Sutra is the robe which will keep you from disgrace after this life"”(MW-1, 237). And he encourages Lady Nanjo following the death of her son (a younger brother of Tokimitsu) by writing, “When the late Nanjo Goro crosses the mountains of death and the river of three crossings, the soldiers who will accompany him and subdue to mountain bandits of delusions and the pirates of karmic offenses, enabling him to reach in safety the Pure Land of Eagle Peak, are the words from the Muryogi Sutra, ‘In these more than forty years, I have not yet revealed the truth.’” (Gosho Zenshu, p. 1569) [Meaning is that Nanjo Goro will be protected in death because, while alive, he embraced the Lotus Sutra, forsaking provisional teachings].
Having traversed the river of three crossings, the dead person is said to present himself at the court of King Shoko on the fourteenth day following his death. Here, too, an inquiry is conducted into the good and evil deeds he performed while he was alive, but before a verdict is reached, he is sent on to the next king. In this manner, he is said to go in turn to the ten kings.
In this connection, the Gosho “Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life” says of one who commits slander, “The ten kings of hell will then pass judgment on him, and the heavenly messengers who have been with him since his birth will berate him for his evil deeds” (MW-1, 23).
The ten kings are said to judge the good and evil deeds of the deceased from the seventh day following his death until its second anniversary. They perform the role of deciding the circumstances of his rebirth, in accordance with his past good and evil deeds.
The ten kings are all really Buddhas and bodhisattvas. However, in order to awaken the deceased to the wrong he committed while alive and enable him to repent of it, they conceal their great compassion and outwardly manifest a fierce and wrathful aspect.
The true identity of the ten kings as set forth in the “Juo Santan Sho,” as well as the day following one’s death on which they are said to judge his deeds, are as follows:
7th day King Shinko (the Buddhist deity Fudo)
14th day King Shoko (Shakyamuni Buddha)
21st day King Shutei (Bodhisattva Monjushiri)
28th day King Gokan (Bodhisattva Fugen)
35th day King Emma (Bodhisattva Jizo)
42nd day King Henjo (Bodhisattva Miroku)
49th day King Taisan (Yakushi Buddha)
100th day King Byodo (Bodhisattva Kanzeon)
1st anniversary King Tocho (Bodhisattva Seishi)
2nd anniversary King Godotenrin (Shakyamuni Buddha)
Accounts of the ten kings differ slightly according to the text. For example, in some versions, the eighth king is King Toshi, whose real identity is Ashuku Buddha, and the tenth king Godorinten, is said to be a manifestation of Amida Buddha.
On the thirty-fifth day following his death, the deceased person arrives at the palace of King Emma. In China, Emma was called King His-cheng (“stilling protest”), meaning that he silences the dead person’s objections about unfair treatment.
King Emma’s palace is said to have four gates, to the north, south, east and west, respectively. To the right and left of each gate is a pole, as though for a banner, on top of which perches a god with the form of a human head. These gods are sometimes called the “heavenly messengers,” and are generally equated with Dosho (“same birth”) and Domyo (“same name”), gods said to accompany a person from the time of his birth and keep track of his good and evil deeds. When King Emma pronounces judgment, he informs the deceased: “these heavenly messengers were born at the same time as yourself, and since then they have accompanied you as a shadow follows the body, never separating themselves from your person even for a single moment. Since they have noted down all your deeds on their tablets, there cannot be even a hair’s breadth of error.”
Moreover, when the deceased reaches the court of King Shoko on the fourteenth day following his death, there are said to be poles there, too, to the left and to the right, each one similarly surmounted by a deity in the form of a human head. The one on the left is male; the one on the right, female. The “Juo Santan Sho” reads, “The god to the left records all evil deeds, not overlooking the slightest offense. The god to the right records all virtuous acts, not overlooking the minutest good. Together, they are called the paired deities of the banner-poles. With their human heads, they behold all human affairs as clearly as one can see the palm of his hand.”
Moreover, in King Emma’s court, there is a separate hall, called the Hall of Light-Brilliance. In this hall hangs the “johari mirror,” also known as the mirror of karma.
When an offender has been sent along to Emma’s court, the king interrogates him. He points out that while in the saha world, the deceased behaved with licentiousness and cruelty, lacking compassion. Has the wealth he hoarded so greedily helped to provide for him on the journey of death? Emma demands. Will the children he loved so fondly while alive change places with him in his present state? And he continues to grill the deceased in this fashion.
This description means that the wealth, authority, position, and love of spouse and children that one enjoys in this world will be of no help to one whatsoever during intermediate existence.
Similarly, the image of the dead being stripped of their clothing by the two demons on the river of three crossings shows that even those who have accumulated countless wealth in the world, owning many elegant clothes to wear according to the season and being waited upon by numerous servants and retainers, will in the end be stripped of all they have and wander alone through the journey of intermediate existence.
Then King Emma reads to the deceased the content of the iron tablets on which the heavenly messengers have recorded his deeds. On hearing it, the deceased protests that, while he may recall a few of the wrongs that have just been read to him, the rest are surely an error on the part of the heavenly messengers.
“Even here in the afterworld, will you still compound your offenses by telling lies?” Emma demands. “We have added not a single sin to your record. You are simply receiving the effect of your own actions.” In this way, he reproaches the deceased person. Moreover, in order to show the person that the record kept by the heavenly messengers contains no error, he has that person look into the johari mirror, where all the actions of his lifetime are reflected. In modern terms, it might be something like watching a video replay.
At this, the deceased person ceases to expostulate with King Emma. All he hopes for then, it is said, is the prayers of his surviving wife, children and retainers for his enlightenment. The “Juo Santan Sho” states:
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In the end, what determines whether the deceased person shall rise or fall is whether or not prayers are offered for his sake. Contemplating these principles urges one to deepen faith himself and to offer prayers for his six kinds of relatives. Of particular importance are memorial prayers offered on the thirty-fifth day, when the deceased undergoes great suffering at the court of King Emma. If one performs the virtue [of offering memorial prayers] at this juncture, then when everything is reflected in the mirror, King Emma and all his officials will rejoice. And the joy of the offender, on receiving these prayers, will know no bounds.
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That is to say, even if the deceased should otherwise be destined to fall into hell, if memorial prayers are offered for his sake, then, according to the amount and depth of the benefit accruing from those prayers, he may either attain Buddhahood at once, be reborn in the human or heavenly realms, or be sent on to the next king with his sentence deferred.
As is shown symbolically in the “Juo Santan Sho” by the images of King Emma and his court, the circumstances of the deceased person’s rebirth are determined solely by the good and evil actions he himself performed while alive.
That is to say, the deceased person in effect chooses for himself a rebirth corresponding to the karmic seeds in his alaya-consciousness, in accordance with the law of karmic causality, the principle that one reaps the rewards of his own actions. The symbolic role of the ten kings is to judge whether the deceased person has genuinely acknowledged his misdeeds, and whether or not the law of karmic causality is being correctly carried out.
In other words, the judgment of the ten kings described in the “Juo Santan Sho” and other texts appears to be an image received by a life in the intermediate-existence phase, symbolizing the strictness of the causal law which can admit of no exception.
The implements which King Emma uses in passing sentence are the iron tablets on which the heavenly messengers record the deceased’s good and evil deeds, and the johari mirror, also called the mirror of karma. The heavenly messengers symbolize the function by which all one’s thoughts, words and deeds are without exception registered in the alaya-consciousness. The johari mirror may be said to be an accurate reflection of the karma stored in the alaya-consciousness during intermediate existence.
According to the description in the “Juo Santan Sho,” the forty-ninth day marks almost the last opportunity for the “self” in the intermediate-existence phase to choose its rebirth in accordance with the karmic causes residing in the alaya-consciousness. On this day, the deceased is said to appear before King Taisan. The Gosho states, “When they appear before this king, all offenders have their place of rebirth determined.”
In exceptional cases, the deceased may be sent on to the next king with the circumstances of his rebirth still undecided, but in the vast majority of cases, the place where the dead will be reborn is determined at this point. Therefore, this juncture is called “the fulfillment of the five components of intermediate existence.”
In front of the court of King Taisan are six gateways, each leading to one of the six paths. According to his karmic causes, that is to say, his life-tendency, the deceased passes through one or another of these six gates.
When the deceased person passes through the gate that corresponds to his next rebirth, at that moment, the journey of intermediate existence comes to an end, and he is born in one or another of the six paths. It appears that among the four opinions mentioned previously concerning the length of the intermediate-existence phase as set forth in the Kusha Ron and Daibibasha Ron, the “Juo Santan Sho” generally follows the second opinion, which hold that the five components of intermediate existence persist for seven weeks.
However, the Kusha Ron maintains that no power whatsoever can alter the karma of the deceased formed in his previous existence. And indeed, it is certainly true that the karma of a life in the intermediate-existence phase cannot be altered by any power such as authority, status, wealth, or the affection and concern of the dead person’s surviving relatives. The “Juo Santan Sho” makes clear that even the compassion of the ten kings themselves cannot alter the karma of the deceased or change his destined place of rebirth.
However, according to this Gosho, the transfer of blessings from the living --- that is, their prayers for the deceased --- are the sole power that can affect a change in the dead person’s karma and even alter his destined circumstances of rebirth.
In other words, the supreme good fortune inherent in the state of Buddhahood, offered by the living through their prayers, penetrates the deceased person’s alaya-consciousness, and effects a change in that life at a very fundamental level. For example, even though a life may be undergoing the suffering of the three evil paths in the intermediate-existence phase, if the great good fortune of the state of Buddhahood is sent to that life by the living, its suffering will at once change to pleasure, and it can embark upon a happier rebirth based on a life-condition filled with good fortune.
For this reason, Nichiren Daishonin repeatedly indicates the importance of offering prayers for the deceased in the “Juo Santan Sho.” For example, in describing what transpires at the court of King Shoko, this Gosho states:
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The offender hopes from moment to moment that his wife and children will send him memorial prayers, but this is exactly what they do not do. Rather, his surviving children quarrel over the wealth he left behind, committing various evils, and the deceased person suffers all the more …. Observing this , the king says, “Your children are unfilial. Now there is no help for it,” and the deceased will fall into hell. However, if the living offer memorial prayers and for his sake chant the Mystic Law which reverses slander and provides salvation, the deceased can attain Buddhahood. Then the king rejoices, and the delight of the offender knows no bounds.
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Moreover, in describing what occurs on the forty-second day at the court of King Henjo, the Gosho refers to three kinds of filial behavior. To provide one’s parents with food and clothing constitutes filial behavior of a lesser kind. To serve them, abiding by their will, constitutes filial behavior of an intermediate kind. And the superior form of filial conduct, it says, is to transfer to one’s parents the merit gained through Buddhist practice. It further states that since sending the blessings of one’s daimoku to parents who are alive constitutes a superior form of filial piety, the very highest form of filial piety is to send daimoku to parents who have passed away.
Thus daimoku (Nam-myoho-renge-kyo) sent to the deceased constitutes the supreme offering of benefit for their sake, and possesses the power to enable a life wandering through intermediate existence to attain Buddhahood. The magnificent workings of the daimoku can remove the suffering and effect the enlightenment even of a life that has fallen into the hell of incessant suffering.
In this connection, the Daishonin’s “Ongi Kuden” (Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings) states:
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Now when Nichiren and his followers offer prayers for the deceased, reciting the Lotus Sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the light of our daimoku reaches to the hell of incessant suffering and enables them to attain Buddhahood in their present form. Hence the idea of “transfer of blessings.” Even though one disbelieves in the Lotus Sutra and falls into the hell of incessant suffering, when the filial child sends the light of the daimoku, offering memorial prayers as a votary of the Lotus Sutra, then how can the deceased person fail to reach enlightenment? (Gosho Zenshu, p. 712)
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Here our discussion of intermediate existence ends, but before moving on to the subject of rebirth, we must note one additional passage of importance in the “Juo Santan Sho,” concerning those who, after death, do not pass through the intermediate-existence phase. The passage in question states, “Apart from these, those who have performed either ultimate evil or ultimate good do not experience intermediate existence. Those who have performed supreme good immediately attain Buddhahood, while those who have committed supreme evil fall at once into the evil paths. Thus in cases of extreme good or evil, there is no intermediate existence.”
Those who commit the supreme evil of slandering the Lotus Sutra, after passing through the agonies of death, cannot help but fall immediately into the hell of incessant suffering. Because the evil nature of their deeds is all too clear, there is no need for them to await the judgment of the ten kings.
On the other hand, those who have performed the supreme good --- that is, who, while alive, have chanted the daimoku and established the life-state of Buddhahood --- having passed through the moment of death, are at once welcomed by Buddhas, bodhisattvas and benevolent deities, and can go immediately to the Pure Land of Eagle Peak.
In a number of his writings, Nichiren Daishonin describes the “Interior landscape” after death of one who, while alive, continually brought forth the state of Buddhahood by faith in the Mystic Law.
For example, “Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life” reads:
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For one who summons up his faith and chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the profound insight that now is the last moment of his life, the sutra proclaims: “after his death, a thousand Buddhas will extend their hands to free him from all fear and keep him from falling into the evil paths.” How can we possibly hold back our tears at the inexpressible joy of knowing that not just one or two, nor only one or two hundred, but as many as a thousand Buddhas will come to greet us with open arms! (MW-1, 22)
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Similarly, “On practicing the Buddha’s Teachings” reads:
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Even if someone were to cut off our heads with a saw, impale us with lances, or shackle our feet and bore them through with a gimlet, as long as we are alive, we must keep chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Then, if we chant until the very moment of death, Shakyamuni, Taho, and all other Buddhas in the universe will come to us instantly, exactly as they promised during the ceremony at Eagle Peak. Taking our hands and bearing us upon their shoulders, they will carry us to Eagle Peak. The two saints, the two heavenly gods and the Ten Goddesses will guard us, while all the Buddhist gods raise a canopy over our heads and unfurl banners on high. They will escort us under their protection to the Buddha land (MW-1, 106-7)
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And in the Gosho called “The Fourteen Slanders,” Nichiren Daishonin described to Lord Matsuno the Pure Land of Eagle Peak to be experienced after death, in this way encouraging him to maintain strong faith until the last moment of his life:
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Continue your practice without wavering up until the final moment of our life, and when that time comes, look carefully! When you climb the mountain of wondrous enlightenment and gaze around you in all directions, then to your amazement you will see that the entire universe is the Land of Tranquil Light. The ground will be of lapis lazuli, and the eight paths will be set apart by golden ropes. Four kinds of flowers will fall from the heavens, and music will resound in the air. All Buddhas and bodhisattvas will be present in complete joy, caressed by the breezes of eternity, happiness, true self and purity. The time is fast approaching when we too will count ourselves among their number. But if we are weak in faith, we will never reach that wonderful place (MW-3, 216-17).
(End of part Two) ….
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Between Death and Rebirth
Part Three: Conditions for Rebirth
A Buddhist View of Conception
From the viewpoint of modern Western medicine, the union of sperm and egg alone is sufficient condition for pregnancy to occur: when the ovum is fertilized by the sperm, conception takes place. From the Buddhist viewpoint, however, in addition to the union of sperm and egg, the emergence of the alaya-consciousness --- that is, the emergence of life from the latent or intermediate-existence phase --- is also regarded as an essential condition. Buddhism accordingly sums up the conditions necessary for rebirth as “the union of the three factors.”
Concerning the “union of the three factors,” the fifty-fifth volume of the Daihoseki Sutra reads, “How then, O Ananda, does life obtain entrance into the mother’s womb? The father and mother arouse a mind of desire, the time of the month must be right, and the interim body must manifest. And if in addition there are none of the many disorders and ailments such as those mentioned above, and if karmic connections are present, then life will obtain entrance into the womb.”
Here the “three factors” are defined as the sexual union of the parents, the proper functioning of the monthly cycle, and the emergence of the interim body from the intermediate-existence phase. Moreover, in order for these three factors to unite, there must be no physical disorder that would interfere with pregnancy, and an affinity must exist between the karma of the parents and the karma stored in the alaya-consciousness of the life in intermediate existence.
The seventeenth volume of the Daibibasha Ron states, “The union of the three factors means the coming together of the father, the mother and the interim body,” and the fifty-fifth volume of the Daihoseki Sutra refers to “the union of the male and female fluids.”
Nichiren Daishonin, too, in the “Letter from Sado,” says that his spirit dwells in a body “conceived of the male and female fluids” (MW-1 p.37), and in “On First Hearing the Meaning of the Buddha Vehicle,” he writes, “When we inquire exhaustively into our origins, we find that our bodies were formed from the union of the red and white fluids, our parents’ sperm and blood” (Gosho Zenshu, p.983)
In modern medical terminology, the red or female fluid refers to the ovum, and the white or male fluid, to sperm. Thus the “union of the three factors” refers to the coming together of the sperm, the egg, and the interim body. The leading role in the birth of human life is played by the interim body. The functions of sperm and egg, carrying their genetic information, can be regarded as external or auxiliary causes that help the interim body to manifest, shifting from the latent phase of intermediate existence to the manifest phase of birth.
In the same vein, SGI President Ikeda remarked in a recent dialogue with physician Koji Yakabi, “When a child is conceived and born, the child’s own karma from the past is regarded as ‘cause,’ while the parents it chooses in accordance with that karma are ‘condition.’ In the union of cause and condition, a human being is born.” He continued, “Thus, from the viewpoint of Buddhism, the birth of a human being occurs through the union of internal causes, those existing within life, with appropriate external conditions” (Ushio, April 1986).
Modern medical science cannot clarify the reason why, from among the combined genetic information of both parents, certain specific information should be selected and passed on to a particular child. It is because of this selection process that even children born to the same parents differ both physically and mentally, for example, in their personality, abilities, temperament, and physical constitution.
Why is it that, among the hundreds of thousands, or rather, millions of data that the genes are said to carry, some, rather than others, should be allocated to a particular child? From the standpoint of medical science, this can only be regarded as a matter of chance.
However, from the standpoint of Buddhism, the life in the intermediate-existence phase not only chooses parents in accordance with the karma stored in its alaya-consciousness, but furthermore, receives from them those particular genes corresponding to its own karma. Therefore, because the life coming through from the intermediate-existence phase selects its own genetic information in accordance with its karma, even though the parents are the same, their genetic information will be differently distributed to their children. Thus, although siblings may genetically differ both physically and mentally, we must seek the fundamental cause of those differences in the differences of karma they carried with them while still in the intermediate-existence phase.
A passage from the “Oko Kikigaki,” a record of Nichiren Daishonin’s lectures on the Lotus Sutra made by Mimbu Ajari Niko, reads, “Among the children a woman bears, there may be good children and wicked children, handsome children and children who are ill-favored, children of small stature and children who are large, male children and female children, and so on” (Gosho Zenshu, p.841).
As President Ikeda explained, the karma stored in the Alaya-consciousness of the life in intermediate existence acts as “cause,” while the genetic information from both parents carried by the egg and the sperm acts as “condition.” We may say that through the union of cause and condition, a human life emerges.
Therefore, when we inquire from a Buddhist perspective into the causes of infertility, in addition to irregularities of the sperm or egg, or physical or mechanical obstructions to fertilization, we find the much graver problem of the karma of the life in intermediate existence.
Volume one of the Yugashiji Ron (Skt. Yogacharabhumi-shastra) cites the following three causes for failure to conceive: (1) the workings of disorders and afflictions of the womb; (2) the workings of disorders and afflictions of the seed; and (3) the workings of disorders and afflictions of karma. Concerning the third cause, it states, “What is meant by ‘disorders and afflictions of karma’? It means that either the father or the mother has not created or fostered the karma to have children. Or again, it can mean that both father and mother lack the karma to draw children toward themselves. Or, it can mean that the intermediate existence has not created or fostered the karma to draw parents toward itself.”
In other words, “disorders and afflictions of karma” refers to those cases where either father, mother, or both do not possess the karma to have children, or where the life in the intermediate-existence phase does not possess the karma to connect with parents. In such cases, even when no physical cause for infertility exists from the medical perspective, the couple will nevertheless be unable to conceive.
In order to cure “disorders and afflictions of karma,” the parents must transform their own karma, so that a karmic connection can be established between their own lives and the life in intermediate existence. At the same time, in order to have a fortunate child, the parents themselves must build up an alaya-consciousness filled with good fortune.
The fifty-fifth volume of the Daihoseki Sutra reads, “If father and mother are lofty and noble, possessing great fortune and merit, while the intermediate existence is base and lowly; or if the intermediate existence is lofty and noble, possessing great fortune and merit, while the father and mother are base and lowly; or even when both sides possess fortune and merit, if they have no corresponding karma, then in cases such as these, life will not enter the womb.”
Then, in cases where an attraction or affinity does exist between the karma of the parents and that of the child, how does the intermediate existence respond to the parents’ karma and emerge from the latent state of non-substantiality (ku), manifesting itself in the phenomenal world, the realm of temporary existence (ke)? This question sums up the problem of how life shifts from the intermediate-existence phase to the phase of birth.
Earlier we discussed the nine aspects of intermediate existence as described in the Kusha Ron. On the subject of “securing rebirth,” it states, “An intermediate existence of this [unenlightened] kind, in order to reach the place where it is to be born, first arouses a deluded mind and hastens toward its desired realm. By means of the organs of sight that it possesses due to the power of its karma, it discerns its father and mother joined in intercourse in its destined place of birth, even though they may dwell far away, and arouses perverted thoughts. If it is to be male, it is seized with the desire of the male with respect to the mother, and if it is to be female, it is seized with the desire of the female with respect to the father. In this way, if feels lust toward one parent and hatred toward the other.”
The Gosho “Ichinen Sanzen as Principle and Actuality” also refers to this passage from the Kusha Ron, stating,” ‘Ignorance’ refers to the arising of sexual passion in the past. A male feels hatred toward his father and arouses desire for his mother. A female feels hatred toward her mother and arouses desire for her father --- so we read in the ninth volume of the Kusha Ron” (Gosho Zenshu, p.406).
The interim body is described in the Kusha Ron and other Hinayana treatises as possessing subtle organs of sight. It is said that no material object can obstruct its vision. Moreover, this subtle interim body can pass through any sort of solid matter and can travel freely through the air. Therefore, it is said to be able to travel immediately to the place of its karmically destined parents, no matter how great the distance may be.
As we have said before, Mahayana Buddhism teaches that life after death exists in the state of “ku” or non-substantiality, in which it has merged back into the life of the cosmos. In this state, the “interim body,” or more properly, the alaya-consciousness, has become one with the great cosmos itself.
Ku here designates a mode of existence transcending the time-space boundaries of the phenomenal world. The union of parents appropriate to the karmic causes stored in one’s alaya-consciousness acts as an auxiliary cause or condition, and when cause and condition are thus harmonized, the interim body, which up until now has not been bound by the space-time framework of the phenomenal world, can suddenly manifest itself, entering upon the phase of “birth.”
The reference in the Kusha Ron to the “organs of sight that it possesses due to the power of its karma” expresses the function by which the karmic seeds of a life in the intermediate-existence phase use the alaya-consciousness of the parents as a auxiliary cause or condition for its reappearance.
The karmic seeds or latent energies in the alaya-consciousness of the life in intermediate existence take the parents’ DNA as their field in which to manifest. According to the Kusha Ron, when that life shifts from the intermediate-existence phase to manifest existence, if it is a male, then at that moment, the seeds of the passions of desire for the mother and hatred for the father find expression. On the other hand, if it is a female, love towards the father and hatred toward the mother are manifested. This interpretation would suggest that the roots of the Oedipus complex and the Electra complex postulate by Freud can be traced back to the very moment of conception.
However, such entry into the womb by the power of lust and hatred applies only to beings in the six paths. It is different with those of the two vehicles and with bodhisattvas.
Volume seventeen of the Daibibasha Ron reads, “The commentator states, ‘Because the merit and wisdom of bodhisattvas is so highly developed, when they wish to enter the womb, they have no perverted thoughts, and are not seized by licentious desires. Wheel-turning kings and “pratyekabuddhas” have merit and wisdom, but it is not developed to the highest extend. Therefore, when they enter the womb, though they have no perverted thoughts, they are nevertheless seized by licentious desires.’”
The pratyekabuddha, representing the two vehicles, and also the wheel-turning king, possess merit and wisdom, and can correctly recognize as appropriate to themselves the father and mother selected by virtue of their karma while still in the intermediate-existence phase. Nevertheless, at that moment, they are still seized by sexual passion.
When we come to bodhisattvas, however, because their merit and wisdom are of the most superior kind, they can not only correctly discern with their wisdom the father and mother most suitable to them, but because of their outstanding good fortune, unlike those of the six paths or the two vehicles, they do not experience passions of lust or hatred toward their parents. Rather, they feel love and affection toward their mother, and by the power of this love, are able to enter her womb.
What then of someone who has died after establishing the state of Buddhahood as his or her fundamental life-condition? In what way does such a life remanifest in the world? Concerning this, Nichiren Daishonin states in his Gosho, “The Teachings Affirmed by All Buddhas throughout Time”:
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According with the true intent of all Buddhas of the three existences, he [the deceased] receives the protection of the two sages, the two heavenly deities, and the ten demon daughters, and without hindrance obtains rebirth of the highest kind in the Land of Tranquil Light. Then in the space of an instant he returns to the dream of birth and death in the nine worlds, filling the worlds of the ten directions with his body and pervading the bodies of all sentient beings with his mind. Urged from within and drawn from without, in the correspondence of internal and external, causes and conditions unite, [and he is born again into the world,] making free use of the mystic powers deriving from his compassion to widely benefit the beings (Gosho Zenshu, p.574).
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As we have said before, for one who chants the daimoku and establishes the state of Buddhahood in this lifetime, after death, there is no wandering through intermediate existence. Past the moment of death, that person is immediately welcomed by all Buddhas, bodhisattvas and benevolent deities, and escorted by them to the Pure Land of Eagle Peak. “The Teachings Affirmed by All Buddhas throughout Time” expresses this with the phrase, “They attain rebirth of the highest kind in the Land of Tranquil Light.”
Moreover, a life that has accumulated the utmost good returns “in the space of an instant to “the dream of birth and death in the nine worlds,” that is, to the nine worlds of phenomenal reality.
People who commit supreme evil are said to “fall for a thousand kalpas into the Avichi Hell,” undergoing hellish torments for an immensely long period of time. And those who experience the intermediate-existence phase are said to journey through this interim state for a varying length of time, such as forty-nine days. In contrast, a life that has accumulated the supreme good of Buddhahood manifests itself back in the world instantaneously from the Pure Land of Eagle Peak.
The above-quoted passage further states, “filling the worlds of the ten directions with his body and pervading the bodies of all sentient beings with his mind.” As this passage indicates, human existence manifests both physically and spiritually in the realm of the environment of the great universe. The matter that composes the human body was formed through the evolution of the universe over the span of twenty billion years. Truly, we can say that within the human body are contained the worlds of the ten directions and the universe itself.
Moreover, the genetic information that shapes the development of the human body includes the history of the evolution of life-forms on earth over at last three billion years. Encompassing a twenty-billion-year history of matter and a three-billion-year history of living things, human beings enter the manifest phase of existence as the most intelligent and highly developed of sentient beings.
The Gosho passage also refers to the union of “causes and conditions.” Here, “causes” refers to the karmic causes based on the state of Buddhahood that have been established in the life of one who, at death, makes his way immediately to the Pure Land of Tranquil Light, while “conditions” indicates the union of parents who will be suitable to act as an auxiliary cause in enabling that life to manifest the reward of those karmic causes.
When a life based upon Buddhahood has in death merged back into the “worlds of the ten directions,” that is, the interior realm of the universe, or the state of ku, it is prompted internally toward reemergence by its own karmic causes, while from the exterior realm of the universe, or the phenomenal world, it is drawn by the union of its parents, which works as an external condition, or auxiliary cause. Through this coming together of “causes and conditions,” a human life replete with good fortune and wisdom manifests itself in the world.
Moreover, the Gosho says that this life emerging into the manifest realm overflows with the power of compassion that seeks to freely benefit all living beings. In other words, a life of supreme good, a life undergoing the cycle of rebirth with the state of Buddhahood as its foundation, will, by the power of its compassion to save all beings, select as its auxiliary cause those parents best suited to allow the completion of its mission, thus returning to the realm of birth from the Pure Land of Eagle Peak.
For a life of this kind, passions such as lust, anger and perversity are not operative at the moment of conception. With superlative wisdom, it correctly recognizes its mother and father, and embraces boundless affection for them as it makes its entry into the world.
As we have said, the life of someone who, while alive, has based himself or herself on the state of Buddhahood, at death goes immediately to the Pure Land of Eagle Peak, and no sooner has it beheld with reverence the faces of Shakyamuni, Taho and all other Buddhas than “in the space of an instant” it remanifests itself in the phenomenal world. The important point here is that whether or not one can go at death to the Pure Land of Eagle Peak, and whether or not one can be reborn as an individual possessing good fortune and wisdom, all rest on one’s Buddhist practice in this present existence.
For those who revere the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin throughout life and strive for the widespread propagation of his teachings, carrying out their faith valiantly and without retreating, their cycle of rebirth will not be determined by karma created in the six paths. Rather they can repeat the cycle of birth and death filled with wisdom and good fortune, with the power of compassion and their sense of mission as its propelling force. These are the workings of birth and death inherent to the state of Buddhahood, based on the eternal nature of the Law.
(end of part three, finished)
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Permalink Reply by Dan (site assistant) on -
I remember when I was watching that movie by Robin Williams, "What Dreams May Come", at the end there's a surprisingly buddhistic view of how in the afterlife, the moment of our death is so important, that if we have regrets or in a low-life condition that we pass away, our belief & attitude in ourselves could affect us fundamentally. For instance, his wife 'created' her own hellish experience. Anbyody see that movie?
best,
Dan
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Permalink Reply by Charu Arun on -
Thanks Bob!
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Permalink Reply by Bob Mann on
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Hi All,
Thanks for reading and responding to this post, Charu.
I hope as we read this thesis you'll will find it as fascinating as I have over the years.
It was revealing to find out that I had chosen my parents. That they were my fit in life. Many of the Daishonin’s Gosho speak of debts of gratitude that we should have for our parents and of filial piety. No wonder.
The “transfer of blessings” is so very meaningful. Being able to bring about a change in a persons destination, possibly to Buddhahood, by chanting for them on the thirty-fifth day of their passing. And of changing our families karma in this life and for generations to come.
The benefits of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are unfathomable. Both in life and death. The wonders of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will never cease.
I hope you understand, and agree, that we should never cease chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.... for these reasons and more....
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The views and ideas expressed by members here may or may not be representative of the Soka Gakkai organization. .
SGI members participating here agree to conduct themselves with a respecful and warm attitude towards others in the same way we strive to conduct our discussion meetings and activities within the SGI community.
Your participation is appreciated.
Peace,
Chris Tinney
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