The Cycle of Rebirth Is Without Discoverable Beginning (Second Discourse)

‘Master Gotama, how many eons have elapsed and gone by?’

Brāhmin, many eons have elapsed and gone by. It is not easy to count them and say they are so many eons, or so many hundreds of eons, or so many thousands of eons, or so many hundreds of thousands of eons.

‘But is it possible to give a simile, Master Gotama?’

It is possible, Brāhmin, The Perfectly Enlightened One said.

Suppose, Brāhmin, the grains of sand between the point where the river Ganges originates and the point where it enters the great ocean: it is not easy to count these and say there are so many grains of sand, or so many hundreds of grains, or so many thousands of grains, or so many hundreds of thousands of grains.

Brāhmin, the eons that have elapsed and gone by are even more numerous than that. It is not easy to count them and say that they are so many eons, or so many hundreds of eons, or so many thousands of eons, or so many hundreds of thousands of eons.

For what reason?

Because, Brāhmins, this Cycle of Rebirth is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not identifiable of beings roaming and wandering on, hindered by ignorance (unknowing of true reality) and fettered by craving. For such a long time, Brāhmin, you have experienced discontentedness, misery, and disaster, and swelled the cemetery.

It is enough to experience fading away of strong feelings towards all conditions, enough to become free from strong feelings towards them, enough to be liberated from them.

(Reference: SN 15.8)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares that how many eons have transpired throughout the history of the world is not possible to count and that the beginning of time is not identifiable.

In previous Teachings shared in this book, The Buddha shared that one (1) eon is not measurable, it is immeasurable. In this Teaching, he is sharing that how many eons have transpired from the beginning of time is also not measurable, it is immeasurable.

Oftentimes human beings attempt to figure out when the world started. The Buddha is explaining that it is not discernible and is not something that can be discovered. In reality, it does not matter when the beginning of time was or how the world started. The fact is, we are here now, beings are struggling with discontentedness and continuing to roam and wander through The Cycle of Rebirth, and it would be wise to apply effort to eliminating discontentedness to escape The Cycle of Rebirth.

When or how the world started (i.e. when or how The Cycle of Rebirth started) is not important. That is in the past and the goal for each being who is interested to end their discontentedness should be to learn, reflect, and practice The Teachings in order to attain Enlightenment and escape the constant and continuous rounds of discontentedness through continued existence in The Cycle of Rebirth.