2.1.3 Rebirth and Saṃsāra

“Not in the sky, nor in the middle of the ocean, nor by entering a mountain cave—there is no place on earth where one might escape the result of one’s deeds.”
— Dhammapada, verse 127

As alchemists, we must orient ourselves at the deepest roots of being. This means not merely theorising about existence, but turning inward to observe the subtle machinery that keeps us bound to the cycle of birth and death. At the heart of this entrapment lies a profound misapprehension: we mistake consciousness for self, and in doing so, become ensnared in a world we believe to be real.

Ordinary consciousness arises only in brief cognitive flashes, each triggered by the mind taking an object—something seen, heard, thought, or remembered. Between these moments, a deeper, unchanging awareness abides. This is not consciousness in the conventional sense; it is more like a pristine field of knowing, so subtle and ever-present that we overlook it entirely. By adulthood, we are so invested in the flickering lights of perception that this silent field of awareness seems absent. But it is not. It has never left.

In this deep, continuous field, beings follow habitual delusions, forming identities and inhabiting temporary lifetimes. Karmic conditioning propels us upward into heavens, or downward into hellish states. This is the wheel of saṃsāra — the endless cycling of experience, driven by craving, aversion, and ignorance.

The Alchemist’s Advantage

To be born human is extraordinarily rare and significant. Human life offers the ideal balance of suffering, intelligence, and opportunity. We suffer just enough to become disenchanted with delusion, yet retain enough clarity to see through it. An alchemist recognises this privilege and uses it — not for comfort, but for liberation.

Through the path of insight, we uncover the fetters (saṃyojana) that keep us bound. By understanding the operations of karma, we gradually dismantle the machinery of rebirth. This is not metaphysical speculation — it is practical, precise work.

How Rebirth Works

At the moment of death, a specific type of consciousness — called the rebirth-linking consciousness (paṭisandhi citta) — arises. This citta determines the nature of our next life. It then becomes the life-continuum (bhavaṅga), the background awareness that sustains our being in that realm.

In humans, this bhavaṅga is rooted in the physical heart base.
In higher realms, such as heavenly or fine-material planes, the bhavaṅga is formed from wholesome jhānic consciousness.
In hellish states, it is an unpleasant, investigating consciousness tied to pain and denial.

This means each realm is not merely a location, but a quality of awareness — a mode of being determined by the final volitional impulses of the previous life.

Hell Realms: Karma Without Reconciliation

Hellish rebirth is mental, not physical, and arises from a refusal to accept responsibility for past actions. Without this acceptance, the sensory and mental consciousnesses fail to disentangle at death, resulting in a nightmarish loop of perception.

The bhavaṅga here is a painful, displeasurable awareness.
The self-concept is fragmented or denied, often experienced as victimhood or confusion.
Hell-beings are frequently former humans or devas, corrupted by ill-will and ignorance.

They do not always suffer grotesque punishments; they may simply exist in relentless inner torment. Their very sense of being is unpleasant. When acceptance arises, the karmic momentum ceases, and rebirth elsewhere becomes possible.

Animal Realms: Habitual Existence

Animal rebirth emerges from habitual, unexamined action. The life-continuum here is an investigating consciousness with neutral feeling — enough to orient behaviour, but lacking insight.

Animals generally do not possess a reflective sense of self; their awareness revolves around satisfying basic needs. Yet beings like pets, primates, and whales sometimes display qualities suggesting karmic evolution. In rare instances, an animal at death may generate sufficient wholesome karma to initiate human rebirth — but this is exceedingly uncommon.

Human Rebirth: The Precious Middle

To be reborn human requires a double-rooted wholesome resultant consciousness at death, indicating both generosity and non-ill-will. Humans with an additional root of wisdom tend to gravitate naturally toward the Dhamma and are capable of profound introspection. These are the individuals who can grasp abstraction and progress swiftly on the path.

Heavenly Realms: Resultant of Jhāna

A human meditator who develops and stabilises jhāna may carry this meditative consciousness into death. If the final moment is absorbed in such a state, the resultant citta becomes the life-continuum of a deva or Brahma god.

These beings exist in realms of light and mental form.
They are sustained by five types of jhānic consciousness, each forming a division of the Brahma heavens.
They may dwell in increasingly subtle realms depending on mastery.

There is a sixth, highest level — the Fine Abodes — reserved for anāgāmīs (non-returners). These beings have severed all sensory fetters but not yet attained full liberation. Though still within saṃsāra, they will never return to the sensory world.

Formless Realms: Abstracted Consciousness

If the meditator has mastered the formless jhānas, rebirth may occur in a purely abstract realm — no senses, no space, no external world. The bhavaṅga here links not to form, but to subtle mental states such as infinite space, consciousness, or neither-perception-nor-non-perception.

These realms are exceedingly refined — and ultimately irrelevant to our immediate purpose.

In Closing

Rebirth is not a punishment or reward. It is the simple unfolding of conditions. The quality of awareness at death becomes the seed of the next life. Saṃsāra is not somewhere else — it is here, in the restless spinning of the mind from one deluded perception to the next.

To escape it, we do not ascend — we awaken. As alchemists, we start with this knowledge, not as a map to explore countless worlds, but as a mirror to understand our own. The next step is learning to loosen these chains by ending the very movements that forge them.

This text is excerpted from the upcoming book Albedo: A Course in Modern Alchemy. The complete volume will include additional study guides, glossaries, and extended teachings. Learn more about the book here.