ABHIDHAMMA IN DAILY LIFE - Abhidhamma.com

two have no interval between them. They are spontaneously connected. A new life, a rebirth
occurs instantaneously. Someone who has just departed the human abode is instantly reborn in
some plane of existence, whether it is hell or celestial. Right after death, rebirth-consciousness
appears and conduces to the formation of a new being, a new existence.
8.7 Two Wrong Views
We must be very careful lest we should view death and rebirth in the light of two wrong beliefs...
• The belief that there is a soul, which dwells inside the body, and that soul moves to a new
body to become another being. (wrong view believing in soul)
• The belief that both mind and matter of a living being are annihilated at death, and that a
new being, created by God, has nothing to do with any other being in the past. , (wrong
belief in annihilation).
8.8 The Right View
Ignorance, attachment and kamma (deeds) determined the next or coming existences of living
beings. Lust for life, prompts them to cling to existences. This Lust makes them crave for a good
life, even though they see signs of miserable plane of existence awaiting them. Thus due to the
ignorance of the sufferings of life and the craving for a new life, kamma exercises its power to
conduce to the conception of a new being complete with rupa and nama.
Therefore the prime factors that initiate the conception of a new being that is, new rupa and nama
are
(a) ignorance
(b) Lust and
(c) kamma.
The belief in annihilism and the belief in the soul or ego are both wrong beliefs. Either mind or
matter can in no way transmigrate to another life. In fact mind (nama) and matter (rupa)
come into being and spontaneously cease to exist in a very short time. There is no such thing
as a soul or an ego.
We must be very careful not to misled by the two wrong views. We must understand that in
a new existence, conception, the formation of mind and matter is the resultant of ignorance,
lust and kamma of the previous existence. This is the only righteous belief.
Example - When we shout loudly near a mountain, we hear an echo. This echo is not the original
sound produced by the man; nor it is independent of the original sound. The flame from a new
candle transmitted from the original candle is not the same flame as the original flame. The
new flame is independent of the first candle. Likewise, a new existence is not the transmigration
of the old one; nor it is independent of the old. Bear in mind that if the past kamma is
wholesome, the present life will be good, in both mind and matter. If the past kamma is evil so
will b the present life. The good and experiences in the present life are account by two factors -
Page 84 A Gift of Dhamma Maung Paw, California