Do Not Favor Existence Not Even For The Lasting of A Finger-Snap

Monks, just as even a small amount of dung has a foul smell.

So likewise I do not favor existence even for an insignificant amount of time, not even for the lasting of a finger-snap.

(Reference: AN 1.316-332)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how he is not interested in continued existence through The Cycle of Rebirth.

In some places that you learn teachings labeled as Buddhism, it is taught that the goal is to not attain Enlightenment in this life and accept rebirth so that you can help others attain Enlightenment. This is not what The Buddha taught and is not part of The Path to Enlightenment.

First, how could a being help others attain Enlightenment if they themselves have not yet attained Enlightenment? This would be equivalent to learning how to drive a car from someone who has never driven a car. Are you interested in having a Teacher help you learn to drive a car who has never driven a car or would you prefer to have someone with deep experience in driving a car help you learn how to drive a car?

Second, all The Buddha’s Teachings point to the elimination of discontentedness and the elimination of existence or rebirth in The Cycle of Rebirth. The Buddha never taught that one should avoid The Path to Enlightenment to help others on The Path to Enlightenment. Instead, he taught to progress towards Enlightenment so that you deeply understand The Path to Enlightenment and can attain Enlightenment yourself. In doing so, a Practitioner would be highly skilled and knowledgeable of The Path to Enlightenment and should they choose to then help others to attain Enlightenment, they are fully capable of providing that support.

Third, this is just one of many Teachings where The Buddha explains he is not fond of existence and he does not “favor existence”. The Four Observations of sickness, aging, death, and an Ascetic seeking to understand the world are what motivated the young Siddhartha Gotama to pursue The Path to Enlightenment. He was interested in helping beings escape the constant and continuous discontentedness associated with sickness, aging, and death. He discovered The Path to Enlightenment that ends discontentedness and, thus, ends The Cycle of Rebirth where beings experience continued existence. He was not interested in helping beings continue to exist but instead, he was interested in helping beings eliminate discontentedness so that they would never need to experience sorrow, grief, pain, displeasure, and despair ever again.

It is The Path to Enlightenment and attaining Enlightenment where a being will completely eliminate 100% of all discontentedness, and eliminate the conditions that create continued rebirth (i.e. craving/desire/attachment).

Through eliminating craving/desire/attachment in the mind, all discontentedness is eliminated. Through eliminating craving/desire/attachment in the mind, there is no further maintenance or support for continued rebirth in The Cycle of Rebirth.