<blockquote>
  <p>All the beings you mention as remembering past lives are spontaneously
  reborn (opapaatika), whereas humans and animals are either egg-born
  (aṇḍaja), womb-born (jalābuja), or moisture-born (saṃsedaja). Only
  spontaneously reborn beings are readily able to remember their past
  lives; most others have their past life memories repressed by the
  trauma and general coarseness of their rebirth.</p>
  
  <p>I know this is all general Buddhist knowledge, but I can't find a
  reliable source from the original texts; if anyone knows of one,
  please feel free to put it in the comments.  - Ven. Yuttadhammo</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This is in reference to Ven. Yuttadhammo's answer.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"Sariputta, there are these four kinds of generation. What are the
  four? Egg-born generation, womb-born generation, moisture-born
  generation and spontaneous generation.</p>
  
  <p>"What is egg-born generation? There are these beings born by breaking
  out of the shell of an egg; this is called egg-born generation. What
  is womb-born generation? There are these beings born by breaking out
  from the caul; this is called womb-born generation. What is
  moisture-born generation? There are these beings born in a rotten
  fish, in a rotten corpse, in rotten dough, in a cesspit, or in a
  sewer; this is called moisture-born generation. What is spontaneous
  generation? There are gods and denizens of hell and certain human
  beings and some beings in the lower worlds; this is called spontaneous
  generation. These are the four kinds of generation.</p>
  
  <p>(Maha-Sihanada Sutta, MN 12)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>You can refer to : <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.012.ntbb.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.012.ntbb.html</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-12T16:53:29.480Z
Moisture born would be egg born too right? I believe those beings are born in eggs however so small we cannot see them with naked eyes
konrad01
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-13T04:43:28.163Z
@konrad01, for more info on moisture born http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/1576/what-is-the-equivalent-scientific-term-for-samsedaja-what-kind-of-beings-on-ear
Robin111
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-12T16:16:35.003Z
2014-10-12T16:32:17.873Z
2014-10-12T16:32:17.873Z
Monk
<p>All the beings you mention as remembering past lives are spontaneously reborn (<em>opapaatika</em>), whereas humans and animals are either egg-born (<em>aṇḍaja</em>), womb-born (<em>jalābuja</em>), or moisture-born (<em>saṃsedaja</em>). Only spontaneously reborn beings are readily able to remember their past lives; most others have their past life memories repressed by the trauma and general coarseness of their rebirth.</p>

<p>I know this is all general Buddhist knowledge, but I can't find a reliable source from the original texts; if anyone knows of one, please feel free to put it in the comments.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-11T04:11:41.423Z
2014-10-11T04:11:41.423Z
yuttadhammo
<p>I have heard from a Buddhist monk that hungry ghosts usually return to their familis searching for food, which makes me believe they have easy access to memories of their previous life. Some hell beings also know what they did to deserve their punishment (according to what I have heard) so they have access to memories as well, I'm assuming devas should know it too.</p>

<p>Apparently only Humans and animals do not remember previous lifes, is there a reason for that in the teachings?</p>

<rebirth>
Is there any explanation on why only humans and animals do not remember previous life?
# Is there any explanation on why only humans and animals do not remember previous life?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-10-10)

I have heard from a Buddhist monk that hungry ghosts usually return to their familis searching for food, which makes me believe they have easy access to memories of their previous life. Some hell beings also know what they did to deserve their punishment (according to what I have heard) so they have access to memories as well, I'm assuming devas should know it too.

Apparently only Humans and animals do not remember previous lifes, is there a reason for that in the teachings?

**Tags:** rebirth


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-10-11. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

All the beings you mention as remembering past lives are spontaneously reborn (*opapaatika*), whereas humans and animals are either egg-born (*aṇḍaja*), womb-born (*jalābuja*), or moisture-born (*saṃsedaja*). Only spontaneously reborn beings are readily able to remember their past lives; most others have their past life memories repressed by the trauma and general coarseness of their rebirth.

I know this is all general Buddhist knowledge, but I can't find a reliable source from the original texts; if anyone knows of one, please feel free to put it in the comments.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2014-10-12. Score: 2

> All the beings you mention as remembering past lives are spontaneously
> reborn (opapaatika), whereas humans and animals are either egg-born
> (aṇḍaja), womb-born (jalābuja), or moisture-born (saṃsedaja). Only
> spontaneously reborn beings are readily able to remember their past
> lives; most others have their past life memories repressed by the
> trauma and general coarseness of their rebirth.
>
> I know this is all general Buddhist knowledge, but I can't find a
> reliable source from the original texts; if anyone knows of one,
> please feel free to put it in the comments. - Ven. Yuttadhammo

This is in reference to Ven. Yuttadhammo's answer.

> "Sariputta, there are these four kinds of generation. What are the
> four? Egg-born generation, womb-born generation, moisture-born
> generation and spontaneous generation.
>
> "What is egg-born generation? There are these beings born by breaking
> out of the shell of an egg; this is called egg-born generation. What
> is womb-born generation? There are these beings born by breaking out
> from the caul; this is called womb-born generation. What is
> moisture-born generation? There are these beings born in a rotten
> fish, in a rotten corpse, in rotten dough, in a cesspit, or in a
> sewer; this is called moisture-born generation. What is spontaneous
> generation? There are gods and denizens of hell and certain human
> beings and some beings in the lower worlds; this is called spontaneous
> generation. These are the four kinds of generation.
>
> (Maha-Sihanada Sutta, MN 12)

You can refer to : <http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.012.ntbb.html>

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Moisture born would be egg born too right? I believe those beings are born in eggs however so small we cannot see them with naked eyes  
> **username_2**: @username_0, for more info on moisture born http://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/1576/what-is-the-equivalent-scientific-term-for-samsedaja-what-kind-of-beings-on-ear  

---

