I here pay attention mainly to the Annihilationist views mentioned in the Brahmajala sutta. Any other observations on Brahmajala sutta are welcome as well.
Brahmajala sutta and Annihilationism
Annihilationist views are more prevailing in modern days than before. So I re-read how the Blessed One has analysed these annihilationist views. It seems modern wide-spread annihilationism is the most primitive type of annihilationism.
There are some ascetics and brahmins who are annihilationists. They assert the annihilation, eradication, and obliteration of an existing being on seven grounds. And what are the seven grounds on which they rely?
(I briefed the passages into lines and numbers.)
The 7 types of Annihilationism.
1.Self means (1); will be destroyed after death.
2.Self means (1) and (2); will be destroyed after death.
3.Self means (1),(2) and (3); will be destroyed after death.
4.Self means (1),(2),(3) and (4); will be destroyed after death.
5.Self means (1),(2),(3),(4) and (5); will be destroyed after death.
6.Self means (1),(2),(3),(4),(5) and (6); will be destroyed after death.
7.Self means (1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6) and (7); will be destroyed after death.
(1) self of physical (human body)
(2) self of divine physical (kama deva)
(3) self of divine mental (rupa brahma)
(4) self of infinite-space-sphere (arupa akasanancayatana)
(5) self of infinite-conciousness-sphere (arupa vinnanancayatana)
(6) self of nothingness-sphere (arupa akincannayatana)
(7) self of nothingness-sphere (arupa nevasannanasannayatana)
These are the seven grounds on which those ascetics and brahmins assert the annihilation, eradication, and obliteration of an existing being.
The next statement is more faith invoking.
Any ascetics and brahmins who assert the annihilation, eradication, and obliteration of an existing being do so on one or other of these seven grounds.
The next is futher more.
Outside of this there is none.
See how the Buddha is confident even about numbers.
At the end of the declaration of 62 views, the Buddha says:
These are the sixty-two grounds on which those ascetics and brahmins who theorize about the past and the future assert various hypotheses concerning the past and the future.
Any ascetics and brahmins who theorize about the past or the future do so on one or other of these sixty-two grounds.
Outside of this there is none.
And not only those that he knows.
The Realized One understands this: ‘If you hold on to and attach to these grounds for views it leads to such and such a destiny in the next life.’ He understands this, and what goes beyond this.
Concerning this, in the fist part of the sutta, after explaining how ordinary persons praise him focused on visible ethics of him, the Realized One says:
These are the trivial, insignificant details of mere ethics that an ordinary person speaks of when they speak praise of the Realized One.
There are other principles—deep, hard to see, hard to understand, peaceful, sublime, beyond the scope of logic, subtle, comprehensible to the astute—which the Realized One makes known after realizing them with his own insight. Those who genuinely praise the Realized One would rightly speak of these things.