Brahmajāla Sutta

Theories About Eternalism

"There are recluses and Brahmans, monks, who, upon four grounds, theorize that the soul and the world are eternal. What are the means and references that these honorable recluses and Brahmans use?

Monks, there are recluses or Brahmans who, with ardor, endeavor, application, persistence, and reflection, attain such a degree of mental concentration that they recall their previous lives. They remember: one birth, two, three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, a hundred, a thousand, several hundreds or thousands or hundreds of thousands of births. They remember: 'My name was once such-and-such and my ethnicity such-and-such. I belonged to a caste and lived on such-and-such food. Such was my experience of pain. Such was my experience of pleasure. I lived to the age of such-and-such. Passing away from there, I was reborn in such-and-such a place and my name was such-and-such. I belonged to a caste and lived on such-and-such food. Such was my experience of pain. Such was my experience of pleasure. Passing away from there, I was reborn here.' In this way they remember the complete details of their previous lives.

Armed with this knowledge, they conclude: 'The world and the soul are eternal, unchanging, steadfast like a mountain's peak and firm like a pillar. Beings are recycled from birth to birth, yet they remain the same forever.

Why is that?

Because I, with ardor, endeavor, application, persistence, and reflection, attained such a degree of mental concentration that I recalled the complete details of my previous births. Armed with this knowledge, I know the world and the soul are eternal, unchanging, steadfast like a mountain's peak and firm like a pillar. Beings are recycled from birth to birth, yet they remain the same forever.'

This, monks, is the first case."

The second and third cases are a repetition of the first, spanning ten (second case) and forty (third case) world eons of past life memories.

"What are the means and references that these honorable recluses and Brahmans use regarding the fourth case?

Using logic and reasoning, these honorable recluses and Brahmans reach the following conclusion: 'The world and the soul are eternal, unchanging, steadfast like a mountain's peak and firm like a pillar. Beings are recycled from birth to birth, yet they remain the same forever.'

This, monks, is the fourth case.

These, monks, are those recluses and Brahmans who, upon four grounds, theorize that the soul and the world are eternal. Recluses and Brahmans who maintain this view do so only within the boundaries of these four cases.

Monks, the Tathāgata understands how these misguided theories were formulated. Further, he knows the effects that these theories will have on the future births of these recluses and Brahmans. Having escaped misguided views, the Tathāgata finds peace. Understanding impermanence, satisfaction and non-satisfaction, the Tathāgata is set free. Indeed, the Tathāgata does not harbor clinging thoughts.

These are the Dhammas that are intense, difficult to realize, difficult to understand, calming, beyond logic, subtle, and comprehensible only to the wise. These are the Dhammas that an outsider, when speaking well of the Tathāgata, might speak."