When a being dies and before being reborn, it is sustained by craving. Basically this is the main guide to speculate on what is this in-between lives.
If it is not one of the 5 aggregates, then the classical Theravada people would scream that it’s a soul, wrong view.
If it is the 5 aggregates, we must have consciousness as a minimum, then all the mind aggregates are in, then since it’s not formless realm, there will be mind made body at least.
Then the classical Theravada people will say: that’s just rebirth, normal rebirth, immediate rebirth.
So which is it? What do you think?
I have a lot more which I haven’t got the time now to write, but just kickstarting this off now. Below is briefly what I can expand upon.
Speed of light to reconcile.
Mind-made body is in-between life.
Bardo.
Speculating what is beyond the 5 aggregates, is anything beyond the 5 aggregates?
Other sutta citations on in-between life.
Could believing in in-between life causes rebirth in peta realm (for people mistaking peta realm as in-between life)?
Parapsychology evidences or stories of in-between lives.
I’ve always enjoyed the beginning of pudgalavādin arguments, but they quickly get off the rails and start defining an atta again.
This seems to come from Snp3.11.
DN28 seems to a hint:
Furthermore, some ascetic or brahmin attains that and goes beyond it. They understand of a person that their stream of consciousness is consistent on both sides: established in both this world and the next. This is the third attainment of vision.
Furthermore, some ascetic or brahmin attains that and goes beyond it. They understand of a person that their stream of consciousness is consistent on both sides: not established in either this world or the next. This is the fourth attainment of vision.
The way I understand it (perhaps not limited to suttas but in general):
As above, so below. Just as we need to sleep, so do we need to die.
1.1. Attention is difficult to sustain uninterrupted. Death is a function of inability to keep our attention applied for a long time.
1.2. Just as six inner sense base ceases contact in sleep, so do they cease in between death.
1.3. Craving creates the specifics of the rebirth. We choose whatever form of existence feels pleasurable. Basically we’re always searching for ways to cheat the conditions for a permanent happiness. This would explain an impersonal law of kamma, where there’s no higher being dictating where we go depending on our actions; it’s just our imagination reflected back at us.
1.4. In-between realms could thus be explained as a period where you’re (the stream of aggregates) neither here anymore but there yet either. Some people might not even experience it lucidly; others might experience it briefly; same with remembering.
I think Aggregates are a template, and not necessarily the be-all end-all. Same with Six-Sense bases. There might be modes of existence with 9 sense bases, some with 2. The important thing is even if there are appearances of different modes of aggregates that we couldn’t imagine right now; we can still kinda imagine them on the basis of their functions. Sense base needs an inner organ, a contact media, and a relevant consciousness. There can be a myriad of commentary on these sense bases with weirder aggregates we wouldn’t imagine right now. But they’re basically the same thing, and any appearance of diversity is already illusory to begin with. There’s only suffering and suffering media, in myriad forms and modes.
The all is defined with respect to the 6 sense bases.
If there’s additional “base”, it’s mostly mapped to body. Seeing infrared is eye, ultrasound is ear etc. Supernormal perception like divine eye is mind.
The 5 aggregates as far as I remember doesn’t have the same coverage of the all.
I touched on this. I refer to an abstraction of this concept - even for example, sense of smell is linked to sense of touch, likewise sense of sound. Even if a being tried to define their 19 sense bases, they would all be the same 6 sense field, or same 1 sense field.
