The Earth, the Solar System, and the Question of a Self

Is the Earth Really a Sphere?

Seen through spiritual insight, the earth appears as a plane, not a sphere. We normally view things in three dimensions, or two, according to our ordinary, relative frame of perception — and it is that frame which makes the earth appear spherical. Seen with spiritual vision, the dimension is different: what appears is a plane, not a globe. The reason it appears this way is that what is actually present is a spinning of particles of dust; when perceived spiritually, that spinning appears as a plane. In that vision, the earth is a plane — not a sphere.

This does not mean the Theravada teaching of realms below (the lower, woeful states) and realms above (the heavenly worlds) is to be taken as literal physical layers stacked around a physical globe. In truth, there is no planet called earth in the way we imagine. What exists is a spinning; and depending on the speed of that spin, particles become centred around it. Seen spiritually, that spin-rate is, to some extent, what our ordinary perception cannot keep pace with — this knowing moves faster than the spin-rates operating in the universe, so what appears to that knowing is a plane.

Consider watching a light bulb that emits a steady stream of light with the naked eye. What we see depends on the relationship between the eye, the brain's processing, and the bulb's actual behaviour. If the bulb is flickering faster than the eye's flicker-threshold, we perceive it as continuously lit rather than flickering. Something similar is at work here. The brief retention of sense data in short-term sensory memory, and the way the brain interprets that data, are both shaped by many factors — and it is because of processes like these that what the naked eye perceives differs from what is actually there.

The Limits of This Solar System

There is no possibility of building, within this solar system, a vessel that could travel beyond it. This is because the solar system is a force field centred on the sun. To spiritual sight, this appears as light. Within that force field, particular frequencies govern different kinds of matter, so anything built within the solar system can only function relative to those frequencies. Beyond this system, those same frequencies do not apply — matter there simply disperses into dust and vanishes.

At the outer edge of a solar system's force field, the phenomenon of a black hole operates — this is, in effect, the breaking apart of light. Only a mind (citta) developed through iddhipada (the bases of spiritual power) can pass beyond this. To do so, the mind must be developed relative to the light of the solar system, and then relative to the nature of the black hole — that is, relative to darkness.

Are There Really Heavenly Worlds?

There is no such separate "heavenly world" as commonly imagined. What is called a heavenly realm refers to this: when a dying being has cultivated the mind, only a very subtle portion of consciousness remains, and relative to that, the mind that arises is extremely refined — as fine as a speck of dust. Because the mind is so refined, the living quality that arises there does so together with a wisdom-factor (panna cetasika). That plane of mind, that quality of mind, exists as what we call a heavenly plane. Brahma realms and preta (hungry-ghost) realms arise in the same way — these planes are created through the meeting of consciousness and mind. Whether this exists "on earth" is really a question shaped by how we already perceive things; physically, nothing of the kind is visible. But it can exist right here, right now — that is, as a subtle plane, a parallel world, coexisting with this one.

Is There Proof of Rebirth?

There is no statement anywhere in the Buddha's teaching that says there is a "rebirth" of a person. Right now, your present existence is built on your knowledge, your upbringing, your parents, your name — all of this. You have shaped this body according to what you wanted it to be. When that body dies, the dependently-arisen (paticca-samuppanna) construction you built as "you" ceases to exist. It is the death of that body that causes you suffering; it is when someone connected to that body dies that you feel grief. Once that body has died, the "you" who lived in it does not arise again. In other words, there is a certain range of experience accessible to the mind-faculty that was constructed together with this body — and whoever was built upon that range cannot be reborn. So this is a matter tied to mind and body together. It dies.

But beyond that there exists something else: a ring of energy — a karmic stream — that conditioned this body to form as it did. That does not arise or die in the same way. There is no reincarnation (punarupatti) of a fixed self, but there is re-becoming (punarbhava). Even the child you once were is not, strictly, you — you are not there anymore — yet that child was not someone else either. All that exists is this temporarily-acquired body. That ring of energy — the karmic stream — is what continues, turning like a wheel, until a being's parinirvana (final passing away). A being's death is simply the ending of movement between these karmic streams.

So is there a continuous, unchanging self-nature running through all this? No — because there is no "person" here in that sense. When we die, we remember nothing at all; if something continued unbroken, surely there would need to be memory carried across? What dies is the "you" who exists right now — so memory belongs to you, within this life. But the karmic stream constructed through you is like this: think of a computer connected to the internet and to electricity — you can do work through it. But the computer itself can break. Yet the data from the work you did remains stored on the network. When you connect again, you can retrieve that data — but the device is different; it might be male, female, even an animal. Whatever connects, it runs along that same rhythm. There is no being, no person, no self even here. If there really were a self, one would have to destroy that self in order to see nibbana. But we live caught in the trouble of believing a self exists. That self is something we ourselves have constructed here. In truth, there is no self here at all. What exists in this life is only a set of memories you have built up and called "yours." That is a fabrication — yet there is a force behind you that constructed it, and that force is what causes it to form the way it does.

If There Is No Self, Then What Is the Real Problem?

The real problem is that we do not understand the programme we ourselves have built to live by. There is a well-known exchange in which someone approached the Buddha and asked whether they would be reborn in a next life, and whether they had died in a previous one.

Person: Will I be reborn in the next existence? The Buddha: No. Person: Did I die in a previous existence? The Buddha: No. Person: Then why am I preparing myself now for a next existence? The Buddha: You should not prepare for a next existence — there is no need to prepare for one. Right now, in this moment, are you within a "self"? Person: No; in this moment I am not within a self. There is only living within this moment. The Buddha: How do you live within this moment? Person: This moment is made possible by the moment before it. The Buddha: So the previous moment has given rise to this moment. Do you accept that? Person: Yes, I accept it. It is precisely because that question was asked that we have come this far. The previous moment has certainly carried forward into this one.

This dialogue continues: does a person see that there is a working process by which one moment gives rise to another moment? Yes. Then, just as the next moment arises within what is visible to you, a next moment also arises within what is not visible to you. If your present moment becomes wholesome and clear, your next moment becomes wholesome and clear too. If this moment is purified, its results are experienced in the next moment. Because you, across the whole of samsara (the wandering-on), have been building this present moment relative to everything that came before — that entire process of building is what is meant by "samsara." Each moment that is built this way is called a "birth" (jati). The method by which one moment gives rise to another like it is called "kamma" (karma). So on the day that the connection between your present moment and your next moment ceases, there is no further arising for you. In that sense there is no reincarnation, but there is re-becoming — a becoming conditioned by the previous becoming. The mechanism by which one becoming gives rise to the next, at the level of kamma, is seen as a "karmic stream," and a being can live through many such streams. The passing away (parinibbana) of a being is simply the end of the shifting between these karmic streams.

All of this is "becoming." Your present moment is what creates the next moment; your final, dying moment determines the next becoming. But this does not mean that the same "you" is reborn. It is not that same you — it is a moment that arises relative to that moment. Becoming arises relative to your present moment. The peace of this moment becomes a cause for peace in the next; the wholesomeness of this moment becomes a cause for good in the next; the calm of this moment becomes a cause for calm in the next. If, in some moment, you feel that you can be at rest from everything, that you can be happy, that you can be free of suffering — then, relative to this moment, the next moment is built accordingly. That is why it is said: this moment is the ordination into wholesomeness. Develop wholesomeness — but not for your own sake. Becoming arises relative to that intention; when the act is done for the sake of others, a release from becoming occurs. That is what is meant by re-becoming. We are, right now, within re-becoming. What we have imagined and believed is false — but the energy behind that fabrication persists. The journey of samsara is simply your next moment being built out of this one.

It is true that there is no next existence. Stay within this moment. Experience this moment's peace right now. An Arahant (a fully liberated being) has no death — and therefore no birth either. We, however, have death, and so we have the fear of death — and it is because of that fear that the conditions for becoming exist.

Why Is the Population Increasing?

Animal numbers have decreased, and animals have taken on human form. There are far fewer animals now than before. The reason is that many beings have come into this human-like form — not through advancement, but because the conditions (kalala, the embryonic stage) that would have led to animal rebirth have become scarce. We have heard it said that becoming a human being is extremely rare — this does not refer to the human physical form, but to gaining a human becoming (bhava). Some have a human form without a human becoming. A human becoming is hard to build. Becoming means: does the person think and aspire in a way befitting a human being? One becomes human by being elevated in mind.