Do Boddhisatvas experience a continuity of identity?

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M.G.
Posts: 443
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:56 am

Do Boddhisatvas experience a continuity of identity?

Post by M.G. »

Something I've wondered.

How much continuity of identity, if any, do Boddhisattvas experience as between incarnations?

It's hard for me to imagine that almost all of the components of identity - memory, personality, cognition - arent devastated or obliterated by death, but then again, I'm not any kind of a yogi.
Malcolm
Posts: 42974
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:19 am

Re: Do Boddhisatvas experience a continuity of identity?

Post by Malcolm »

M.G. wrote:Something I've wondered.

How much continuity of identity, if any, do Boddhisattvas experience as between incarnations?

It's hard for me to imagine that almost all of the components of identity - memory, personality, cognition - arent devastated or obliterated by death, but then again, I'm not any kind of a yogi.

Depends on how high. 8th stage on up, yes.
Temicco
Posts: 194
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2015 8:47 am

Re: Do Boddhisatvas experience a continuity of identity?

Post by Temicco »

Malcolm wrote:
M.G. wrote:Something I've wondered.

How much continuity of identity, if any, do Boddhisattvas experience as between incarnations?

It's hard for me to imagine that almost all of the components of identity - memory, personality, cognition - arent devastated or obliterated by death, but then again, I'm not any kind of a yogi.

Depends on how high. 8th stage on up, yes.
Source?
"Deliberate upon that which does not deliberate."
-Yaoshan Weiyan (tr. chintokkong)

若覓真不動。動上有不動。
"Search for what it really is to be unmoving in what does not move amid movement."
-Huineng (tr. Mark Crosbie)

ཚེ་འདི་ལ་ཞེན་ན་ཆོས་པ་མིན། །
འཁོར་བ་ལ་ཞེན་ན་ངེས་འབྱུང་མིན། །
བདག་དོན་ལ་ཞེན་ན་བྱང་སེམས་མིན། །
འཛིན་པ་བྱུང་ན་ལྟ་བ་མིན། །
Malcolm
Posts: 42974
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:19 am

Re: Do Boddhisatvas experience a continuity of identity?

Post by Malcolm »

Temicco wrote:
Malcolm wrote:
M.G. wrote:Something I've wondered.

How much continuity of identity, if any, do Boddhisattvas experience as between incarnations?

It's hard for me to imagine that almost all of the components of identity - memory, personality, cognition - arent devastated or obliterated by death, but then again, I'm not any kind of a yogi.

Depends on how high. 8th stage on up, yes.
Source?
This is the stage in which bodhisattvas attain power over birth. Source, Abhisamayalaṃkāra, etc.
Temicco
Posts: 194
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2015 8:47 am

Re: Do Boddhisatvas experience a continuity of identity?

Post by Temicco »

Malcolm wrote:
Temicco wrote:
Malcolm wrote:

Depends on how high. 8th stage on up, yes.
Source?
This is the stage in which bodhisattvas attain power over birth. Source, Abhisamayalaṃkāra, etc.
Thanks.
"Deliberate upon that which does not deliberate."
-Yaoshan Weiyan (tr. chintokkong)

若覓真不動。動上有不動。
"Search for what it really is to be unmoving in what does not move amid movement."
-Huineng (tr. Mark Crosbie)

ཚེ་འདི་ལ་ཞེན་ན་ཆོས་པ་མིན། །
འཁོར་བ་ལ་ཞེན་ན་ངེས་འབྱུང་མིན། །
བདག་དོན་ལ་ཞེན་ན་བྱང་སེམས་མིན། །
འཛིན་པ་བྱུང་ན་ལྟ་བ་མིན། །
ItsRaining
Posts: 301
Joined: Fri May 12, 2017 7:45 am

Re: Do Boddhisatvas experience a continuity of identity?

Post by ItsRaining »

Malcolm wrote:
M.G. wrote:Something I've wondered.

How much continuity of identity, if any, do Boddhisattvas experience as between incarnations?

It's hard for me to imagine that almost all of the components of identity - memory, personality, cognition - arent devastated or obliterated by death, but then again, I'm not any kind of a yogi.

Depends on how high. 8th stage on up, yes.
Then what happens to Bodhisattvas on lower grounds? Say if someone attained kensho or a lower ground what happens to that attainment in the next life?
M.G.
Posts: 443
Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 12:56 am

Re: Do Boddhisatvas experience a continuity of identity?

Post by M.G. »

Malcolm wrote:
Temicco wrote:
Malcolm wrote:

Depends on how high. 8th stage on up, yes.
Source?
This is the stage in which bodhisattvas attain power over birth. Source, Abhisamayalaṃkāra, etc.
Thank you Malcolm.
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