재생연결(paṭisandhi)의 과정과 양상 __『위숫디막가』 제17장의 ‘상카라를 조건으로 의식이 있음에 관한 논의(Saṅkhārapaccayāviññāṇakathā)’를 중심으로__

Abstract

In this paper, I scrutinized the consciousness of rebirth(paṭisandhicitta) and its object, the process leading from death to rebirth and the continuity of consciousness(cittasantati) in that process, focusing on Saṅkhārapaccayāviññāṇakathā in the chapter 17 of Visuddhimmagga. According to Abhidhamma, one life begins with the consciousness of rebirth and ends in the death. And then the consciousness(citta) continues to rebirth in the next life immediately. There are 19 types of the consciousness of rebirth, and depending on the type, what kind of world you will be born in and what kind of form you will have in the next life is determined. The objects of this consciousness are past, present and conceptual thing(paññatti) that cannot be said past or present. These are embodied as kamma, as the symbol of that kamma or as images of the next place of birth, and appear through the sense organs. The consciousness of rebirth has as its object one of these objects, and in this way, the next life is determined by the kamma one has created. The consciousness of rebirth continues from the consciousness of death(cuticitta) of the previous life, If the same consciousness were to continue, it would go against the Buddhist theory of no-self(anattan), which does not recognize the subject of ‘round of rebirth(saṃsāra), and if a different consciousness occurred, it could not be said to be a continuation from the previous life. In conclusion, neither completely the same consciousness is transferred nor completely different consciousness arises. We can say the consciousness of death does not transfer to the next life as it is. Because the object possessed by the consciousness of rebirth is the object appeared in the last cognitive process that occurred just before death in the previous life, and the consciousness of death of the previous life has the object possessed by the consciousness of rebirth in that life. Therefore, these two are different minds with different objects. However, since the consciousness of rebirth arises due to the kamma of a previous life, it does not arise as a completely different consciousness unrelated to the previous life. Therefore, you can receive the fruits of your kamma. This is the continuity between the one life and the next life of that.