Early Buddhist Scriptural Bhava & Bhavana
So give me examples and scriptures and context of places in the early Buddhist scriptures — and compare and contrast — where the Buddha speaks of Bhava and Bhavana.
Gemini
In early Buddhist scripture, the relationship between Bhava and Bhāvanā is one of the most significant linguistic and practical "puns" in the Buddha’s teaching. While both come from the same Sanskrit/Pali root (√bhū, meaning "to be" or "to become"), they represent two opposing forces: one is the problem (the "downward" cycle), and the other is the solution (the "upward" path).
1. Bhava: The 10th Link of the Problem
In the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, Bhava (Becoming) is the tenth link.
Scriptural Context: In the Samyutta Nikaya (SN 12.2), the Buddha defines Bhava as three types of becoming: sensual becoming, form becoming, and formless becoming.
The Meaning: Bhava is the "taking on" of an identity.
It is the moment where your craving ( Taṇhaˉ) and clinging ( Upaˉdaˉna) solidify into a specific "state of existence." Daily Life Example: If you are angry, Bhava is the moment you transition from "experiencing anger" to "becoming an angry person." You have "taken birth" in a state of rage.
2. Bhāvanā: The Solution of Cultivation
As discussed, Bhāvanā is the intentional cultivation of the mind.
Scriptural Context: In the Digha Nikaya (DN 33), the Buddha identifies three essential types of Bhāvanā:
Kāya-bhāvanā: Development of the body (mindfulness of physical experience).
Citta-bhāvanā: Development of the mind (concentration and emotional states).
Paññā-bhāvanā: Development of wisdom (insight into reality).
The Meaning: If Bhava is a "passive" becoming driven by habit, Bhāvanā is "active" becoming driven by wisdom.
Compare and Contrast: The Two Types of "Becoming"
3. The "Middle Way" in the Kaccānagotta Sutta
You asked about the distinction between Being and Non-being. The Kaccānagotta Sutta (SN 12.15) is the definitive text here.
The Buddha tells Kaccāna that most people are stuck in a duality:
Atthitā (Existence/Being): "Everything is real and permanent."
Natthitā (Non-existence/Non-being): "Nothing matters; everything is empty and meaningless."
The Buddha rejects both. He says that when you see the Origin of the world through Bhāvanā (cultivation of wisdom), the idea of "non-existence" disappears.
The Insight: Reality is a flow (Bhava), but by practicing Bhāvanā, you learn to navigate that flow without getting "stuck" in a fixed identity of "being" or "non-being."
Summary of the Upward Path
Early Buddhists used Bhāvanā as a "counter-becoming." They didn't try to stop "becoming" through force; they cultivated a better kind of becoming—the Paramitas—to eventually reach a state where the "engine" of becoming (craving) simply ran out of fuel.
Would you like to explore the Kaccānagotta Sutta further to see why Nagarjuna considered it the single most important discourse for his philosophy of Emptiness?
Desire, Form & Formless Becoming
I’m interested in your previous: “Scriptural Context: In the Samyutta Nikaya (SN 12.2), the Buddha defines Bhava as three types of becoming: sensual becoming, form becoming, and formless becoming.” So please describe these in detail; and do you think that these might be the direct precursors to the later desire, form and formless realms? If so , in what way??
Gemini
In early Buddhist thought, the answer to your second question is a definitive yes. The three types of Bhava(Becoming) mentioned in SN 12.2 are the direct psychological seeds of what later became the cosmological Three Realms (Ti-dhātu).
In the early scriptures, the Buddha did not necessarily see "realms" as just physical places you go after death; he saw them as scales of consciousness you inhabit right now.
1. The Three Types of Becoming (Bhava)
In SN 12.2, the Buddha defines the 10th link of the chain as follows:
A. Sensual Becoming (Kāma-bhava)
This is becoming driven by the five senses and the desire for "things."
The Experience: When your identity is tied to what you eat, what you buy, sexual desire, or physical comfort.
The Trap: It is a heavy, "coarse" form of becoming. It is the most unstable because sensual objects change rapidly, leading to high-intensity suffering ($Dukkha$).
B. Form Becoming (Rūpa-bhava)
This is a more refined "becoming" that occurs when the mind moves away from external senses and focuses on internal, refined objects.
The Experience: In early Buddhism, this is specifically linked to the first four Jhānas (meditative absorptions). Here, you aren't "becoming" a consumer; you are "becoming" a state of peace, light, or pure equanimity.
The Trap: Even though it is "higher" than sensual becoming, it is still a "becoming." You are still identifying with a state of being, which is still subject to the 12 links.
C. Formless Becoming (Arūpa-bhava)
This is the most subtle level of becoming, where even the "form" of a meditative object is dropped.
The Experience: This corresponds to the "Formless Attainments"—becoming one with infinite space, infinite consciousness, nothingness, or neither-perception-nor-non-perception.
The Trap: It is so subtle that practitioners often mistake it for Nirvana. But because there is still a "seed" of identity (the one who experiences the infinite), the 12 links are still active.
2. From Psychology to Cosmology: The Three Realms
In the later Abhidharma and the broader Mahayana traditions, these three "becomings" were mapped onto the Three Realms (Ti-dhātu). The transition happened because of the Buddhist Law of Karma: The way you "become" in this life dictates where you "take birth" in the next.
The Sensual Realm (Kāma-loka): If your Bhava is consistently driven by sensual desire, you are "tuned" to the frequency of the human realm, animal realm, or hell realms.
The Form Realm (Rūpa-loka): If your Bhava is cultivated through the Jhānas, your consciousness "vibrates" at the level of the Brahma deities—refined beings of light and joy.
The Formless Realm (Arūpa-loka): If your Bhava is refined into the infinite, you take birth as a formless deity, existing as pure, long-lived consciousness.
3. How they are connected via the 12 Links
The genius of the early scripture is that it treats "becoming" as a biological and psychological momentum.
Craving ($Taṇhā$): You want a specific experience.
Clinging ($Upādāna$): You latch onto that experience.
Becoming ($Bhava$): The mind "takes the shape" of that experience (Sensual, Form, or Formless).
Birth ($Jāti$): The actual manifestation of that state—either as a moment of "being an angry person" or the physical birth of a new body in a corresponding realm.
Why this matters for your "Upward Path"
This is why your use of the 10 Perfections is so radical. Most "spiritual" people simply move from Sensual Becoming to Form Becoming (meditative bliss). But the Buddha warned that this is just moving from a "lower" link to a "higher" link—you are still in the chain.
By practicing the Perfections (Bhāvanā), you aren't just trying to "become" a deity in the Formless Realm; you are using Wisdom (Paññā) to see through the process of becoming itself. You are trying to reach Vibhava—the ending of the drive to "be" or "become" anything at all.
Key Scriptural Insight: In the Atthakavagga (one of the oldest parts of the Sutta Nipata), the Buddha says that the wise person doesn't "take a stand" in any of these three types of becoming. They don't identify with the coarse, the refined, or the infinite.
The Path Through the Three Realms, & Beyond.
Is there any scriptural or historical basis in a belief that one should or could follow a progressive path from desire becoming to form becoming to formless becoming, and finally to the ultimate of Buddhahood??
Gemini
Yes, there is a strong scriptural and historical basis for this "progressive path," though the early texts and the later Mahayana traditions view the "ultimate" destination through different lenses.
The concept you are describing is often called Anupubba-sikkhā (Gradual Training). The Buddha frequently taught that progress in the Dhamma is like the ocean floor: it shelves gradually, inclines gradually, and slopes gradually, with no sudden drop-off.
1. The Scriptural Basis: The "Ladder" of the Jhanas
In the early Pali Suttas (such as the Anupubba Sutta, AN 9.41), the Buddha describes his own journey toward Awakening as a step-by-step mastery of these becomings:
Renouncing Sensual Becoming (Kama-bhava): The practitioner withdraws from sensual pleasures to enter the first four Jhanas. This is the transition into Form Becoming.
Transcending Form (Rupa-bhava): The practitioner then moves into the four "Formless Attainments" (Infinite Space, Infinite Consciousness, etc.). This is the mastery of Formless Becoming.
The Cessation of Perception and Feeling: Finally, the practitioner moves beyond even the most subtle "becoming" to reach the cessation of all conditioned states.
The Logic: You use a "higher" level of becoming to abandon a "lower" one. You use the joy of meditation (Form) to let go of the stress of the senses (Sensual). You use the peace of the infinite (Formless) to let go of the "coarseness" of form.
2. The Historical "Bhumis" (Levels)
Historically, as Buddhism moved toward the Mahayana tradition, this progressive path was systematized into the Ten Bhumis (Stages of the Bodhisattva).
In this model, the 10 Perfections (Paramitas) you mentioned earlier are mapped directly onto these stages. Each stage represents a progressive "cleansing" of the three types of becoming:
Lower Bhumis: Focused on overcoming Kama-bhava through Generosity and Ethics.
Middle Bhumis: Focused on mastering Rupa-bhava through Patience and Energy.
Higher Bhumis: Focused on the subtle Arupa-bhava and the "Turning of the Basis" into Buddhahood.
3. The Distinction: Mastery vs. Attachment
There is a crucial distinction in the scriptures regarding this progression. The Buddha warned that many practitioners "get stuck" in the higher realms:
The Worldly Path: One masters the Formless Becoming, enjoys the "infinite," and then is reborn in a Formless Realm. When that karma expires, they fall back down the 12 links.
The Supramundane Path (The Path to Buddhahood): One uses the Form and Formless states as tools or "working grounds" (Kammatthana), but remains aware of their impermanence.
Key Quote: In the Potthapada Sutta (DN 9), the Buddha explains that these states are "perceptions" ($Saññā$). He teaches that one should progress through them but eventually develop the Wisdom to let go of even the highest state.
4. Why this leads to Buddhahood
In the Yogacara context, which seems to resonate with your practice, this progression is necessary because the Storehouse Consciousness (Alaya-vijnana) is so deeply habituated to "becoming."
You cannot simply jump from "Desire" to "Buddhahood" because the subtle habits of the Form and Formless realms are still there. You must:
Refine the mind (moving through the realms).
Purify the mind (applying the Perfections at each level).
Transcend the mind (the "Turning of the Basis" where all three types of becoming are transformed into the Three Bodies of a Buddha).
Summary Table: The Progressive Path
| Stage of Path | Type of Becoming addressed | Primary Perfection (Paramita) |
| Initial | Sensual (Kama) | Generosity & Morality |
| Intermediate | Form (Rupa) | Patience & Meditation |
| Advanced | Formless (Arupa) | Wisdom & Skillful Means |
| Ultimate | Buddhahood | Perfection of Knowledge (Jnana) |
This "Ladder of Becoming" ensures that no part of the psyche is left in the dark. By the time you reach the "Ultimate," you have mastered every possible frequency of existence and found them all to be "not-self."
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