Existence

And what, Monks, is existence?

There are these three kinds of existence: sense-sphere existence, form-sphere existence, formless-sphere existence. This is called existence.

With the arising of clinging, there is the arising of existence; with the elimination of clinging, there is the elimination of existence.

Just this Noble Eight Fold Path is the way leading to the elimination of existence; that is, Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration.

(Reference: SN 12.2)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares the three kinds of existence.

He explains how when the mind has clinging, there will be existence.

Clinging is how the unEnlightened mind wants to hold on. But this only leads to discontentedness and further existence in The Cycle of Rebirth. Through the elimination of clinging there is elimination of existence in The Cycle of Rebirth.

It is through learning, reflecting, and practicing The Eight Fold Path that leads to training the mind to eliminate clinging to eliminate existence in The Cycle of Rebirth.

The Buddha left any Teachings on what may or may not occur once one attains Enlightenment and dies, as undeclared. We know that if one does not attain Enlightenment in this life or at death, there will be rebirth in The Cycle of Rebirth. But, what happens once a being who has attained Enlightenment and dies is an undeclared Teaching. We know there is no longer existence in The Cycle of Rebirth to experience sorrow, grief, pain, displeasure, and despair. Whether there is or is not something after death for an Enlightened being is undeclared.

The ultimate goal of these Teachings and The Path to Enlightenment is to attain Enlightenment in this current life to experience peacefulness, calmness, serenity, and contentedness with joy for the rest of this life, and as a result, no longer be reborn into any future existences within The Cycle of Rebirth.

I have not seen any “Words of The Buddha” that describe these three kinds of existence.

The way I understand these existences is as follows:

Sense-sphere existence: All five (5) realms as all beings that come into existence are fettered/tainted/polluted with “sensual desire”.

Form-sphere existence: The two (2) realms where there is physical form - animal and human.

Formless-sphere existence: The three (3) realms where there is no physical form - hell, afflicted spirits, and heaven.

As part of The Ten Fetters and the attainment of Enlightenment, the mind needs to eliminate the fetters/taints/pollution of mind described as “sensual desire”, “desire for form”, and “desire for formless” which combined, comprises the elimination of craving/desire through The Six Sense Bases and to be reborn in any of the five (5) realms of existence.

The Ten Fetters

Lower Fetters

1.) Personal existence view (Eliminating the concept of a permanent self from the mind. Realization of The Universal Truth of Non-self.)

2.) Doubt (Elimination of doubts about The Teachings and the ability of them to attain Enlightenment. Confidence in The Buddha, The Teachings, The Community, your Teacher, and your own ability to attain Enlightenment.)

3.) Wrong behavior and observances (Elimination of the mind’s belief that rites, rituals, ceremonies, and worship will help a Practitioner to attain Enlightenment. Well developed practice of The Eight Fold Path.)

4.) Sensual desire (Elimination of the desire for pleasures from The Six Sense Bases: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and the mind.)

5.) Ill will (Elimination of hostility, hatred, anger, aggression, resentment, frustration, irritation, annoyance, etc.)

Higher Fetters

6.) Desire for form (Elimination of desire for existence in the form realms; Animal or Human. Elimination of the fear of death.)

7.) Desire for the formless (Elimination of desire for existence in the formless realms; Hell, Afflicted Spirits, or Heaven.)

8.) Conceit (Elimination of arrogance, pride, judging, measuring or comparing as superior or inferior to others. Ego is completely dissolved.)

9.) Restlessness (Elimination of confused, distracted, worried, anxious, restless state of mind the opposite of “singleness of mind”.)

10.) Ignorance (Elimination of delusion or unknowing of true reality through acquiring wisdom. Learn, reflect, and practice of The Teachings of The Buddha, such as, The Three Universal Truths, The Four Noble Truths, The Eight Fold Path, The Five Precepts, The Three Wholesome/Unwholesome Roots, The Natural Law of Kamma, The Cycle of Rebirth, etc. all detailed later in this book and book series.)

The Afterlife - An Undeclared Teaching

An “afterlife”, which Gotama Buddha left as an “undeclared” Teaching, is what happens when one has attained Enlightenment in this life or at death - what happens next? That is the afterlife.

Gotama Buddha did not teach about an afterlife or a soul. He left these “undeclared” in his Teachings. He did not teach whether we exist nor not exist once we attain Enlightenment and die. He shared that there is no more rebirth as “a being” in The Cycle of Rebirth which is different than no existence at all. If we do not attain Enlightenment during this life or at death, we will be reborn through The Cycle of Rebirth.

These are the undeclared Teachings of Gotama Buddha.

• the world is eternal

• the world is not eternal

• the world is finite

• the world is infinite

• the soul is the same as the body

• the soul is one thing and the body is another

• after death The Tathāgata exists

• after death The Tathāgata does not exist

• after death The Tathāgata both exists and does not exist

• after death The Tathāgata neither exists nor does not exist

Tathāgata is another term used to refer to Gotama Buddha.

Gotama Buddha is referring to himself who was an Arahant, therefore, you can also insert "Enlightened Being" for Tathāgata. This means, he left The Teachings "undeclared" of whether a human being who has attained Enlightenment as an Arahant "after death exists, does not exist, both exists and does not exist, neither exists nor does not exist".

Just like all craving/desire/attachment, if we crave the answer to these questions, it will cause the mind to be discontent. Knowing the answer to any of these questions will not lead to an individual’s own Enlightenment and therefore Gotama Buddha never taught or “declared” these Teachings. They are “undeclared”.

There were many Teachings Gotama Buddha did not share, as his main focus was to help people understand that they needed to work towards their own salvation through the process of attaining Enlightenment.

Gotama Buddha focused everyone’s attention, the mind, and their development on The Teachings that lead to Enlightenment - the elimination of discontentedness and the suffering it causes rather than rites, rituals, ceremonies and worship. He taught people to practice The Teachings of being a good moral person that eliminates all unwholesome Kamma production, producing only wholesome Kamma.

Gotama Buddha’s Teachings are about non-attachment. He was not even interested in people attaching to him, as Gotama Buddha knew Enlightenment is 100% determined by our own intentions, speech, and actions.

Rebirth, or The Cycle of Rebirth, is the process in which all beings who have not attained Enlightenment during this life or at death, will be reborn into a new form or formless realm of existence, hell, animal, afflicted spirits, human, or heaven.

You need to be comfortable with not knowing the answer, in other words, not craving to know what is or is not going to happen in an afterlife as craving to know this outcome will inhibit you from attaining Enlightenment and will cause rebirth. The goal is to extinguish all craving for a “personal existence view”, “desire for form”, and “desire for the formless”. These are just three (3) aspects of The Ten Fetters required for Enlightenment.

If you attain Enlightenment in this human existence, life will be so peaceful, calm, serene, and content with joy that you will have no need to know what comes next in the afterlife, if anything at all. You will be experiencing complete and total peace of mind and will know that if there is something after death having attained Enlightenment, it must be good.

The goal is to attain Enlightenment in this very life so that you will not be reborn through The Cycle of Rebirth into another realm of existence. You can attain Enlightenment during your existing life to experience ever lasting peace or at death.

In order to accomplish this goal, one would need to ensure there is no craving/desire/attachment including the craving to know what will or will not occur once one attains Enlightenment and dies.