Past, Present & Future Lives and Navigating the Bardo State (Part 2)

Geshe la continues this season of Dharma talks  on Saturday 11 December 2021 on past, present and future lives and the bardo (which is the intermediate state between any two lives).

Topic: Past, Present & Future Lives and Navigating the Bardo State (Part 2)

Time: Dec 11, 2021 10:00 AM Singapore

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OPENING TEACHING

Geshe la began the teaching by reminding the class that the suggestion of there being a past, present and future lives, may be heavy going or esoteric to many. It is therefore important not only to know the source of these teachings, namely the relevant sutras which recorded the Buddha’s teachings, the subsequent commentaries and compendiums etc so as to inspire faith, but also to be able to test the validity of this working hypothesis with logic.

The exercise of testing these correctness of this working hypothesis are guided by the four different types of logic, and which have been extensively analysed and articulated by the great pandits (scholars) of Nalanda University.

Geshe la acknowledged, however, that these are not easy topics to understand. He relayed that even at his alma mater, Sera Jey Monastic University, where monastics are studying for their Geshe degrees, this topic would take at least a year to teach and master. For our purposes, Geshe la has kindly decided to simplify the teaching so that we can simply have sufficient working knowledge to understand “what is it” that reincarnates from one life to the other.

That lesson must start with the 5 Aggregates.

We all live our day to day lives having a certain identity that we call the “self”. But like all things (or shall we say “matter”, to borrow the term from Physics), things can be broken into its smaller constituent parts.

In the context of “matter”, it can be broke down into molecules and atoms, and within atoms, there are protons, electrons and neutrons, and if one goes to even smaller units of denomination, quarks.

Leaving Physics aside for the time being, the “I” or the “self” is also a thing that is made out of constituent parts, and this is where we must understand the 5 Aggregates and the 5 Senses (or the 5 Sense Consciousnesses).

The 5 Senses are easy to understand: (i) sight, (ii) sound, (iii) taste, (iv) smell, (v) touch. They are mediums through which the “self” perceives the world. There are sometimes added to the list of 5, 3 more consciousnesses, namely those of (vi) mental consciousness, (vii) store consciousness (Chi: 阿拉耶， Skt: alayavijnana) and (viii) deluded mind consciousness (Skt: klishthamanovijnana), to make up a total of 8.

But on a more subtle level, the self actually has 5 aggregates or constituent parts which are closely related to the 5 Senses, they are:-

(i) Form – this refers to the physical matter(s) that we can perceive with our senses. E.g. a flower that the eyes “see”, e.g. a cake that emits an aroma, e,g, a silk cloth that one can touch.

(ii) Sensation – this refers to the sensory experience once the sense is applied. E.g. sight (of the flower), e.g. the scent (of the cake), e.g. the touch of a piece of silk cloth.

(iii) Perception – this refers to the labelling (or categorization) of the sensory experience e.g. the flower is soft to touch, e.g. the cake is aromatic, e,g, the silk cloth is soft to touch.

(iv) Mental Formation aka Conditioning Factors – this refers to one’s mental formations of like or dislike, in response/ reaction to that Perception.

(v) Consciousness itself – this consists of the 8 Sense Consciousnesses as mentioned above, and are affected by the above 4 other aggregates.

It is important to understand these, explains Geshe la, because very often, what we cognise is not always accurate, and if that is in accurate, the reaction to what we cognize (either positive or negative feelings) is accordingly flawed. This can be illustrated with a simple example.

When we “see” a flower, there are many other conditions that have to be present, such as light reflecting off the flower, and only after that can the image be reflected on our optic nerve that sends signals to our brain. There are instances where the sense functions are faulty, and we are unable to see things as they are, and will accordingly react to what we think we saw, but there will be reactions which do not accord with (and are not responding to) reality.

Taking another analogy, just as one with normal sight relies on a car’s rear view mirror to tell how far vehicles behind one’s own car, one can still make wrong decisions if the mirror is faulty e.g. Where it is dirty and requires cleaning.

In terms of what registers in our consciousness, Geshe la delved further into the differences between Store Consciousness (Chi: 阿拉耶识， Skt: alayavijnana) and the other types of mental consciousness （Chi：根识）. The former consist of things that are locked into one’s memory bank, and it is capable of recalling past incidents when items associated with those past incidents are presented. The latter are however not locked into one’s long term memory or store consciousness. Therefore, one type of consciousness is permanent and the other is transient – in the latter case, these would be akin to something that may have been seen by the eyes but not registered in one’s mind, let alone analysed so as to allow emotions (whether positive or negative) to arise.

The above principles apply to all the five senses, whether they be sight, smell, sound, touch etc.

One can conceive of many examples of how these work, especially if certain experiences have been stored in one’s Store Consciousness. These manifest in terms of certain special abilities, and are not confined to just human beings. This principle applies to all sentient beings including animals.

Using some examples with regard to the sense of Smell, we know of people who can identify the brand of a perfume just by smelling it – that’s because they have been trained to lock this into their Store Consciousness. Geshe la relayed a story of how, back in the days at Sera Jey when life was a lot harsher than it is today and there was no electric lighting, the monks at the Khangtsen would rely on their sense of smell to identify which were their own robes when the Conch Shell was blown in the early hours of the morning signifying the time for morning prayers. Geshe la shared a further story of how, in his younger days in Tibet, the female yak reared by the family would only allow Geshe la’s late mother to milk it, and when she was unable to do so, another villager would have to carry out the task and that was made possible by that person wearing Geshe la’s mothers’ clothes – even the yaks would identify individuals through their sense of smell locked into their Store Consciousness.

The same principles apply to the sense of Taste. Someliers rely on their acute sense of taste to be able identify what type of wine lies in an unlabeled glass.

Likewise the sense of Touch – that’s why blind people can read braille, and some children can identify even when blindfolded, which hand is their mothers’ simply by the sense of touch.

Equally true for the sense of Sound/Hearing – some people can identify the singer when they listen to a song, and are also able to identify if the song is a remake or an original rendition – once again this is Stored Consciousness at play.

WHAT IS IT THAT REINCARNATES?

It is important to remember that obscurations can cause us to perceive things inaccurately, or not register things at all. Therefore, it is only the Stored Consciousness (Chi: 意识) that will reincarnate and take rebirth from one form to another, and transmigrates this life into the next. It’s existence is not dependent on the existence of a physical body. Once clinical death has come, this consciousness will leave that body and taken an interim form in the bardo, before entering a womb, if its karmic balance entails rebirth from a womb.

The other types of consciousness including（Chi:根识） will instead cease at the point of clinical death.

The mother of every moment of consciousness is its previous moment’s consciousness. This logic, if extrapolated, points to the irrefutable conclusion that a consciousness that exists in the foetus in a womb, would have existed in some shape or form prior to that moment of conception.

Of course, it is true that we exist in the present (physical) form as an amalgamation of our fathers’ sperm and our mothers’ egg, and it is also true that our form bodies also have an element of continuity – this explains hereditary and congenital diseases. We also see how recessive genes lead to certain traits of certain ancestors not manifesting in certain generations but showing only 2 or 3 generations later – Geshe la spoke of how one of his friends from his hometown in remote Tibetan regions actually looked Caucasian! That was because his great grandfather had been half Russian.

However, that element of continuity is distinct from the continuity of the Store Consciousness as mentioned above. This explains why even in identical twins born of the same parents receiving very substantially identical upbringing, often turn out with entirely different characters. This is explained by their karmic imprint coming into this life.

Geshe la relayed a recent documentary he was watching where scientists study how a foetus physically grows in the womb up until birth, but speaks nothing of its consciousness which is capable of volition and cognition. Geshe la observed that scientists and Buddhist scholars are engaged in active dialogue on this issue. One proposition that has been floated to the effect that if the meeting of a sperm and an egg from two individuals who do not have any issues with their physical constitution, still fail to conceive, then logically, there must be yet another factor that is at play which is a condition precedent to conception. This is where the laws of karma come in. The laws of karmic explain that if the couple have not created the karmic causes to have a child or a consciousness connected to them from previous lives wishing to be reborn into their family, then they will not be able to conceive.

The concept of reincarnation continues to be examined by the scientific world. Geshe la understands that there are a handful of people who are proven to be able to recall their past lives with amazing degrees of accuracy. This is actually not surprising in our tradition, wherein many reincarnated tulkus/ rinpoches are actually able to remember the sutras and Buddhist principles even before such lessons are taught. It is hoped that this continuing dialogue between Buddhism and Science will continue to shed light on this phenomenon expounded upon by Lord Shakyamuni Buddha.

THE LESSONS TO COME

In the next lesson, Geshe la will introduce what happens to the Stored Consciousness upon death, the form it takes in the bardo state before it enters a womb, and the process of entering a womb.

We thank everyone for your interest in these teachings, and may these benefits of the Buddha Dharma reach you and all your loved ones.