Questions The Buddha Would Not Answer
There were questions the Buddha would not answer.
He remained silent because any reply would only be misunderstood.
It is we who have to realise the answer, and the non-answer.
In the moment beyond realisation, these questions become redundant.
Buddha did not answer certain questions because there is no such thing as a true, findable and existent ‘self’, or a true, findable and existent universe. To answer one way or another would cause people to fall into either eternalism or nihilism.
He remained silent since they would only misunderstand anything he said. It was therefore more skilful not to specify an answer at all. The truth is for us to realise, rather than merely accepting the word of another.
There are various accounts of these questions on the internet:
Is the universe eternal? Is the universe not eternal?
Is the universe finite? Is the universe infinite?
Are the soul and the body the same? Are the soul and the body not the same?
Will the enlightened one be reborn after death? Will the enlightened one not be reborn after death?Will the enlightened one be both reborn and not reborn after death? Will the enlightened one neither be reborn nor not be reborn after death?
