The History of Buddhist Thought c27.51

c27.51

Ajita’s doctrine of annihilation at death was denied throughout the whole history of Buddhism. The individual being had existed before, and he would exist again. He was only a bundle of changing skandhas, changing from moment to moment, and from life to life, and it was only Nirvāṇa which could bring about their final dissolution. His personal identity remained to such an extent that he could come to remember his former existences. This was no accommodation to popular belief, for this doctrine of remembrance was part of the formal teaching, and it remains so still. The question of the dissolution of personality only becomes urgent when it is asked what takes place with the cessation of rebirth. Naturally no one can give an answer to that except the one who has reached that state, and what the Scripture says about it has already been recorded.