Contributed by the Buddhas’ Practice Incorporated, Australia
Mentor: Bennie Spirit
Editor: Yinyue(Ivy)
With gratitude to Google AI Gemini
With gratitude to NotebookLM
Draft Date: Aug 11, 2026
Location: BPI Meditation Center
Attendees at the Dharma assembly: Bennie, Ivy, Ellie, Grace, Enid, Dawn, Wujing, Aima
Have you awakened to the truth that this body is the root of suffering (*duḥkha*)? If you have awakened, you should diligently engage in spiritual practice as early as possible.
Hardly anyone can easily believe that this physical body (*rūpa-kāya*) is the root of suffering. However, if you observe closely, this body is constantly undergoing arising and ceasing (*utpāda-nirodha*) and mutation (*vipariṇāma*). It will inevitably perish in the end; it is not a permanent dwelling place.
Before your rebirth (*paṭisandhi* or conception), before your parents were married, were you male or female? This body is formed by the aggregation of myriad conditions (*hetu-pratyaya-sāmagrī*). It consists of a portion of your father’s and mother’s genes, combined with the karmic information you brought along when seeking rebirth, ultimately resulting in a rational compilation. This body is exceptionally and profoundly mysterious. Science has not yet discovered the mechanism of reincarnation, but it has discovered that the sequencing of parents’ genes is incredibly precise. In reality, everything is dismantled and recompiled; all the DNA chains are interwoven anew. The magnitude of this engineering is so vast that even ten top-tier scientists would need three to five years to sequence just one set of DNA. Yet, within a few days of the parents’ union, a human life is completely dismantled and reassembled. When you take rebirth, it accurately programs what events you will encounter at each stage of life. For instance, the exact times you are destined to fall ill are precisely encoded within that sequence. It even dictates your personal inclinations, such as whether you favor the humanities or specific academic subjects. It precisely determines which traits will ripen (*vipāka*) first and which will mature later, with extreme accuracy.
Scientists are deeply frustrated and utterly confounded by this; they simply cannot understand it. They have conducted countless experiments. There is one phenomenon I find most fascinating, which scientific determinism cannot explain: a single fertilized egg splitting into two individuals. This is extremely rare—identical (monozygotic) twins. Such individuals can be used to test whether many scientific hypotheses are correct. For example, according to scientific assumptions, since identical twins originate from a single source, splitting into two individuals should mean everything is identical: their appearance, hobbies, and even their future family structures must be exactly the same. In reality, however, while they share many similarities, they become entirely divergent at many critical junctures in life. For instance, as they grow up, they marry different people, and one twin might strongly dislike the other’s spouse, resulting in absolute opposition. Scientists are baffled: the genetic information expression is identical, so why are the outcomes inconsistent? Furthermore, their fundamental hobbies and interests also diverge. As they gradually grow older, differences and inconsistencies emerge between them.
In fact, the Buddhist explanation is very simple: they are fundamentally two different sentient beings. Their karmic habits (*karma-vāsanā*) and afflictions (*kleśa*) are different, so naturally, their life manifestations will be different. However, scientists do not understand the Buddha-dharma. They rely on verifiable, repeatable research, but this karmic phenomenon cannot be conventionally verified. Moreover, such twins are extremely rare, and upon studying them, scientists find differences that prove their initial hypotheses wrong. Without new hypotheses to replace them, they are stuck. You can take your time to research this area; it is full of profound intrigue.
From the perspective of the Buddha-dharma, many things are very simple. From a scientific perspective, phenomena must withstand empirical testing. The problem is that current scientific technology is entirely incapable of testing this. The entity undergoing rebirth (consciousness/vijñāna) cannot be seen, and the mechanism of taking rebirth is unknown; there is no instrument that can detect it. The verification tools utilized by the Buddha-dharma are different from those used by science. The testing tools used in science are all invented by humans and thus possess inherent limitations. Buddhism also repeatedly verifies everything and requires testing. However, the testing instruments used by Buddhists are the innate capabilities within oneself. For example, the *Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra* discusses various spiritual powers (*abhijñā*). These spiritual powers are the tools utilized by Bodhisattvas. Relying on these tools, one can perfectly investigate and verify all phenomena.
Regarding this point, it is not only found in Buddhism but also in other religions and even in extremely ancient shamanism (who were the top scientists of their era). One branch of ancient shamanism evolved into modern medicine. In ancient medicine, one first had to practice meditation (*dhyāna*) to develop innate abilities. You had to possess clairvoyance (the divine eye / *divya-cakṣus*) to perceive the internal illnesses of sentient beings before you could become a doctor. You even needed an extremely strong power of discernment to extract herbs and understand their properties—knowing exactly which herb cures which disease. If you had not developed this internal potential, you were not qualified to be a doctor. You can consult ancient records to verify this. There was a female Catholic mystic/cleric who was ill and unable to attend a meeting. While resting in bed, she was able to clearly “see” everything happening at the conference venue. Many people were astonished, thinking it was impossible. However, this is documented as historical fact. They wouldn’t fabricate such an exaggerated lie (*mṛṣā-vāda*) because many people witnessed it; it wasn’t just her own solitary claim. The attendees of the meeting confirmed and testified to it. Therefore, this is an innate capability of the human body; it merely depends on whether you have undertaken the effort to develop it. The ancients could do it, people in remote antiquity could do it, and it can still be developed today.
Now it is clear to us: investigating all phenomena of the world by relying on one’s own internal tools is the Buddha-dharma. Investigating all phenomena of the world by relying on external instruments and scientific theories is the domain of scientists. Nevertheless, modern science has also discovered cases of human reincarnation, but because they cannot verify them with physical instruments, researchers are left highly bewildered. For example, many modern experts in psychiatry and psychology have encountered numerous children who retain memories of events from their past lives. Parents and scientists have taken these children to repeatedly verify these claims, and the results confirm that these historical events did indeed happen. This phenomenon exists, but there is no conventional way to systematically test or measure the mechanics of it. Science is currently stagnating at this stage. Many scientists are conducting research on this, and there are numerous documented cases of such children featured in scientific papers and books. Thus, you can understand that since they have transitioned into a new human body, they carry the memories of their past lives, and sometimes even the physical scars from their previous existence. Some individuals were beaten to death in their past lives, and the exact points of fatal injury remain as physical marks or birthmarks in this current life.
Through these phenomena, it is evident that scientists currently lack the capabilities and tools for verification, yet they have already discovered the phenomena themselves. It remains to be seen how they will invent a testing tool that can repeatedly verify this in the future. The future holds promise. From the standpoint of the Buddha-dharma, every one of us possesses the absolute innate capacity to test, explain, and verify everything; it only depends on whether you are willing to develop these inherent abilities. When Bodhisattvas liberate sentient beings, they must possess these abilities in order to precisely perceive the exact problems afflicting those beings. Only by knowing the specific methods to resolve these issues can they truly solve the problems of sentient beings. In Buddhist scriptures, this profound perception is called “Seeing things exactly as they are” (*Yathā-bhūta-darśana*).
The bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms within the human body, including DNA, are all constantly in motion. If you observe carefully with high-end electron microscopes, they are all alive. Their life cycles vary in length; the longest ones do not exceed a few days, and sometimes, they die multiple times within a single day. Every second, they are in the continuous process of arising and ceasing (*utpāda-nirodha*). Those who possess the power of internal insight (*Vipaśyanā*) can clearly see how many species of sentient beings exist within their own bodies. The terminology used in ancient times differs from that of today. The ancients saw that these entities were alive and moved like bugs or worms, so they used the word “worm” to describe them, naming them according to their specific appearance and function.
When encountering disasters and epidemics, people die. The physical body cannot withstand extreme dynamics such as sudden thermal expansion and contraction; through repeated exposure to severe heat and cold, the body rapidly ages and deteriorates. Matter must inevitably be governed by the laws of physics.
As a practitioner, you must be clear-minded about this and not get distracted by foolishness. You must clearly realize what your true self is within this body. Can you distinguish it? Which is your physical body, and which is the true you? Look and see if this body is not subject to decay. Every day, countless cells are shed off, and countless new cells are generated. The truly decayed, dead cells that you cast off are even lower in appearance than pigs or dogs; they don’t even have a discernible shape. For instance, human dander and shed skin are not even comparable to the skin of pigs or dogs; they can merely be categorized as fine dust (*paramāṇu*). Since you know this, you should view the physical body merely as a walking corpse. What you should truly value is your true self—the self that never changes.
Who has ever managed to protect and preserve this physical body? What has successfully been kept? Since it cannot be retained, is it worth expending all that exhausting effort? No matter how much obsessive care you take, it is useless; you cannot hold onto it indefinitely. It is far better to focus your mind on proper endeavors. Acquiring knowledge and cultivating your practical capabilities are what will allow you to truly manifest your value. You spend your days obsessively guarding your body, but ultimately you cannot preserve it. You resort to beauty treatments, but in the end, it still inevitably decays. Since it cannot be kept, your desperate attempts to hold onto it are entirely meaningless. What *can* be retained is the wisdom you learn and your capability to benefit others. Furthermore, these can be cultivated even further to help you reach the ultimate pinnacle of realization.
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