The Endless Cycles of Contraction and Expansion

According to the Tathāgata, the universe moves through endless cycles of contraction and expansion. During a contraction, the lower realms are destroyed first, followed gradually by the higher ones, until only the most refined planes remain. When the cycle reaches this stage, the coarse physical elements have completely dissolved. All remaining beings exist in this subtle Brahmā realm, sustained not by physical food but by mental nutriment alone.

When the universe begins to expand again, new realms come into existence as conditions ripen. The coarser elements gradually form, and when suitable conditions for human existence appear, beings from the Brahma realms, whose minds still carry latent tendencies of craving, descend and take birth in the newly formed worlds. Their rebirth is guided not by physical remnants of the old universe, which were long annihilated, but by the continuation of karmic potential.

In this way, the chain of becoming is not broken by cosmic destruction. Even when all material traces vanish, the continuum of karma shaped by craving, clinging, and volition persists. When new worlds arise, these latent forces seek compatible conditions and re-establish life according to their past dispositions.

Thus, when the Tathāgata spoke of humans living for tens of thousands of years in ancient cycles, it refers not to an archaeological continuity but to the reappearance of similar beings when conditions again permitted such lifespans. The karmic tendencies that once gave rise to such existences still exist in the continuum of beings who, through the vast cycles of cosmic time, continue to revolve according to craving and ignorance.

When trying to understand his teachings, we must remember that the Tathāgata spoke in ways appropriate for the people of his time. Because of this, certain descriptions in the Suttas may appear unrealistic or impossible to the modern mind, yet they conveyed profound truths in forms that the audience could comprehend.