I know many follow Ven. Anālayo’s work. I do!
This is a just-released article entitled Memories of Past Lives in Nikāya/Āgama and Mahāyāna Literature.
Memories Past Lives.pdf (628.9 KB)
Don’t be fooled by the title. It’s an article that actually delves into two juicy but related topics:
(2) A “too literal reading” of the Simile of the Blind Turtle (Paṭhamachiggaḷayugasutta)(SN56.47) as it relates to the doctrine of kamma.
(1) Pāli terminology on the remembrance of one past life, or even several past lives, versus the supernormal ability to recollect a large number of these at will.
While the second half of the article zeroes in on a favorite sutta of mine, the first half addresses (yawn) some terminological conflation by Schopen:
…the general notion of jātismara with the more specific ability of pūrvanivāsānusmṛtijñāna depicted in Nikāya/Āgama literature.
Meanwhile, Ven. Anālayo argues that the Simile of the Blind Turtle should not be taken too literally for a kamma doctrine that would be, in this case, a real downer…quite depressing in fact.
Instead, he writes:
This simile appears to be indeed “a piece of homiletics,” probably intended primarily for spiritual edification rather than to define with precision a doctrinal position.
I’ve always loved the Simile of the Blind Turtle for its aspirational potential and less as a kind of bitter pill on the kamma doctrine. So, of course I’m latching on to Ven. Anālayo’s most recent take on it.
The two halves of the article come together as a reflection on kamma. I’m reminded of Bhikkhu Bodhi’s kamma teaching in In the Buddha’s Words:
[Ripening of kamma] may happen either later in the same life in which the action was done, in the next life, or in some distant future life. The one thing that is certain is that as long as we remain within saṃsāra any stored-up kamma of ours will be capable of ripening so long as it has not yet produced the due results.
Apologies for co-opting release of Ven. Anālayo’s article if there are other people who typically do that.
