Is it a theravada belief that we have no begining?

[Ervin]

The title pretty much contains one of the questions however I have one more and that is: Is it a belief that when you reach enlightenment you become omniscient?

Thanks

[dhammarelax]

The title pretty much contains one of the questions however I have one more and that is: Is it a belief that when you reach enlightenment you become omniscient?

Thanks

My understanding is that when the Buddha remembered his previous lifes he went back many many thousands of lifes, he found no beggining.
My understanding is that you dont necessarily become omniscient on awakening.

smile all the time
dhammarelax

[samseva]

‘No first beginning of ignorance can be perceived, Bhikkhus, before which ignorance was not, and after which it came to be. But it can be perceived that ignorance has its specific condition (idappaccaya)”—A. X, 61

acinteyya: lit. ‘That which cannot or should not be thought, the unthinkable, incomprehensible, impenetrable, that which transcends the limits of thinking and over which therefore one should not ponder. These 4 unthinkables are: the sphere of a Buddha (buddha-visaya), of the meditative absorptions (jhāna-visaya), of karma-result (kamma-vipāka), and brooding over the world (loka-cintā), especially over an absolute first beginning of it (s. A. IV, 77).

“Therefore, O monks, do not brood over the world as to whether it is eternal or temporal, limited or endless.... Such brooding, O monks, is senseless, has nothing to do with genuine pure conduct (s. ādibrahma-cariyaka-sīla), does not lead to aversion, detachment, extinction, nor to peace, to full comprehension, enlightenment and Nibbāna, etc.” (S.LVI, 41).

[SarathW]

I think this is a question like which come first. Chicken or the egg.
This idea of beginning and end is a result of personality belief.
Buddha did not talk about the existence or non-existence, instead he declared dependent origination.
When things are dependently originated, it is not possible to find a beginning or end.
This question is not relevant to the final liberation from suffering. (if any thing this will add to more suffering)

However I appreciate your question.

[Lucas Oliveira]

15. Anamatagga-samyutta — The unimaginable beginnings of samsara

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .html#sn15


Assu Sutta: Tears

At Savatthi. There the Blessed One said: "From an inconstruable beginning comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on. What do you think, monks: Which is greater, the tears you have shed while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time — crying & weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing — or the water in the four great oceans?"

"As we understand the Dhamma taught to us by the Blessed One, this is the greater: the tears we have shed while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time — crying & weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing — not the water in the four great oceans."

"Excellent, monks. Excellent. It is excellent that you thus understand the Dhamma taught by me.

"This is the greater: the tears you have shed while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time — crying & weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing — not the water in the four great oceans.

"Long have you (repeatedly) experienced the death of a mother. The tears you have shed over the death of a mother while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time — crying & weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing — are greater than the water in the four great oceans.

"Long have you (repeatedly) experienced the death of a father... the death of a brother... the death of a sister... the death of a son... the death of a daughter... loss with regard to relatives... loss with regard to wealth... loss with regard to disease. The tears you have shed over loss with regard to disease while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time — crying & weeping from being joined with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing — are greater than the water in the four great oceans.

"Why is that? From an inconstruable beginning comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on. Long have you thus experienced stress, experienced pain, experienced loss, swelling the cemeteries — enough to become disenchanted with all fabricated things, enough to become dispassionate, enough to be released."


http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html


The "official" position of the Theravada school, is that the Buddha was omniscient but only in relation to that for which he was driving his mind, that is, the Buddha was not able to know everything simultaneously and needed to pay attention to what he wanted to know (for details see the MN 71 and MN 12).

http://www.acessoaoinsight.net/arquivo_ ... udismo.php