The blood and incest of samsara

In the Pali discourse entitled Thirty Bhikkhus (S. ii. 187) the Buddha decides to teach some monks or bhikkhus in such a way that their minds will be released from their bonds.  What we, as the reader, learn is samsara is without beginning so that we have always been transmigrating from one life to the next “hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving.”  The Buddha goes on to say,

“The stream of blood that you have shed as you roamed and wandered on through this long course—this alone is more than the water in the four great oceans.  For a long time, bhikkhus, you have been cows, and when as cows you were beheaded, the stream of blood that you shed is greater than the waters in the four great oceans.  For a long time you have been buffalo, sheep, goats, deer, chickens, and pigs....  For a long time you have been arrested as burglars, highwaymen, and adulterers, and when you were beheaded, the stream of blood that you shed is greater than the water in the four great oceans.  For what reason?  Because, bhikkhus, this samsara is without discoverable beginning....  It is enough to be liberated from them.” (trans. Bhikkhu Bodhi)

A gory illustration, nevertheless, the Buddha drives the point home that since we have never been liberated from the cycle of samsara it stands to reason that we have had our blood shed for an incalculably long time.

Supposedly, at the end of this particular discourse, the monks were delighted and their minds became released.  What we can gather from this is that as spirit (sattva), and unbeknownst to us, we crave the samsaric life thereby becoming continually trapped in its coils.  Until a Buddha comes along and teaches us how to decouple ourselves from the world of samsara, we live a pretty bloody life.

Following this particular discourse is another one entitled the Mother (Mata).  If the last one was gory, this one has some strange implications.  The Buddha says,

“It is not easy, bhikkhus, to find a being who is in this long course has not previously been your mother ... your father ... your brother ... your sister ... your son ... your daughter.” (trans. Bhikkhu Bodhi)

This is so for the same reason as given in the last discourse.  In brief, we have been transmigrating in samsara, seemingly, forever without a break.  From this it stands to reason that our wife or husband we dearly love could have been our mother or father at one time!  This is incest on a huge scale, in other words.

As long as mind, which is spiritual, remains deeply attached to its phenomenalizations, caught up in each life and subsequent lives, it partakes of every possible existence.  There is no way it can win nirvana and avoid suffering once and for all. 

Comments

[Svadipa Mahathita Suvimuttacittassa]

Arent you the same hippie liberal [profanity removed] who used to attack me on yahoo "for talking too much about the Atman/spirit...because that was indicative of egotism/selflove"- [personal information removed]

So, now youre heaping praise upon the very thing you attacked me for?

As a local [profanity removed] would say "that sheeyat don't jiva, brotha".