Freedom from birth, aging, and death
All living beings both plant and animal have a body that lives. It is only the human animal who, in addition to the body, is conscious of a “self.” This is why an animal cannot be attacked by a word, but a human being can be. The word does not attack the body, but it attacks the “ego” or “self.”
The birth of a “body” is biological, while the birth of a “self” is psychological. Therefore it is important to distinguish between the birth of a body and the birth of a “self.” The birth of a body is the birth of an impersonal body, while the birth of a self is the birth of a personal body. Birth of a personal body is the result of personalization of the body. If the body is not personalized it is not a personal body. It is the birth of a “self” that results in suffering, not the birth of a body.
This consciousness of a “self” is not the result of reasoning. It is the result of emotions. This is why it is a delusion. It must be challenged by reason to get rid of it. Yet unfortunately, it cannot be challenged in the presence of emotion because emotion is more powerful than reason. When emotion and reason are in conflict emotion always wins. It must be challenged in the absence of emotion. Therefore we must learn to stop emotion at least temporarily. This temporary stopping comes in the form of “samatha meditation,” and the challenge comes in the form of “vipassana meditation.”
The body becomes a “self” only when it has been personalized (upadana). It is personalized when it is regarded as “mine.” The body, which is originally “not mine,” becomes “mine,” after personalization. What has become “mine” then becomes a part of “me,” because what has been personalized becomes “my person.” “I” am only the sum of all that is “mine.” All that is “mine” therefore becomes “me.” What is “me,” then becomes “myself.” “I” am not an entity separate from what is “mine.” “I” am what is “mine.” “I” come into being through personalization of what is not “mine.” When “I” have come into being, my “self” has come into being. The birth of a “self” through the personalization of what is not “self” is called “being” (bhava). From “personalization” comes “my existence” or “my being” (upadana paccaya bhavo).
Once the body has become a part of me, through personalization, the birth of the body becomes “my birth.” If the body has not been personalized, the birth of the body is not “my birth.” If nothing has been personalized, I do not exist. When I have stopped personalizing, I have stopped “existing.” This is the “cessation of being” (bhava nirodha), through “cessation of personalization” (upadana nirodha).This cessation of being is called Nibbana (bhava nirodho nibbanam). When “being” has ceased, death has ceased. This is why Nibbana is called “immortality” (amata). Yet, this “immortality” is not “eternal life.” It is only the absence of death due to the absence of the “delusion of existence.”
The birth of the “body,” which has been already identified as “myself,” is regarded as “my birth” (jati). This means I came into being before I was born. Therefore, “my being” (bhava) comes before “my birth” (jati). And my aging (jara) and my death (marana) follow “my birth” (jati). But the aging and death of the body are not the aging and death of the “self,” if the body has not been personalized. Without “personalization” (upadana) there is no “being” (bhava) of a “self.” If there is no “being” of a “self,” there is no birth of a self, or aging and death of a “self.” This is the “immortality” (amata) which is called Nibbana.