Brahmajala Sutta (Theravada) - Eighteen Beliefs About The Past - Eternalistic Belief

Eternalistic Belief

Eternalism is described in the sutta as the belief which is based upon the past, and holds that the universe (loka) and the soul or self (attha) are eternal as a 'rock mountain or strong-fastened pole'. The world doesn't create new souls and therefore, the souls are living in an eternal cycle of death and rebirth, differing only in name, location, and time. These kind of beliefs have four origins:

• 1. Ascetics and Brahmins who have reached a high level of meditation; due to this achievement, they were able to remember from one to tens of thousands of their past lives.
• 2. Ascetics and Brahmins who have reached the spiritual achievements which provided them access to memories of one to ten iterations of the Earth's formation, evolution, and destruction.
• 3. Ascetics and Brahmins who have managed to recall the Earth's evolutionary process from ten to forty times.

The abovementioned ascetics and Brahmins recalled how they had name, family, heirs, food, joy and sadness, then death and rebirth in their past lives. Based on their experience, they concluded that the universe and the soul must be eternal.

• 4. Ascetics and Brahmins who use logic and inference and come to the conclusion that the soul and universe are eternal.

The Buddha said that there are 18 types of eternalistic belief, all based on one of these four origins. All of the followers of these beliefs defended and clung to their faith and did not give credence to other faiths.