The Buddha's teachings are different from what Ajita Kesakambali taught. The Buddha realized this (from [MN 19][1]): > "When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, > rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to > imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of recollecting my > past lives. I recollected my manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, > two... five, ten... fifty, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand, > many eons of cosmic contraction, many eons of cosmic expansion, many > eons of cosmic contraction & expansion: 'There I had **such a name**, > **belonged to such a clan**, had **such an appearance**. Such was my food, > such my experience of pleasure & pain, **such the end of my life**. > **Passing away from that state, I re-arose there**. There too I had such a > name, belonged to such a clan, had such an appearance. Such was my > food, such my experience of pleasure & pain, such the end of my life. > Passing away from that state, I re-arose here.' Thus I remembered my > manifold past lives in their modes & details. ..... > > "When the mind was thus concentrated, purified, bright, unblemished, > rid of defilement, pliant, malleable, steady, & attained to > imperturbability, I directed it to the knowledge of the passing away & > reappearance of beings. I saw — by means of the divine eye, purified & > surpassing the human — beings passing away & re-appearing, and I > discerned how they are inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly, > fortunate & unfortunate in accordance with their kamma: 'These beings > — who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech & mind, who > reviled the Noble Ones, held wrong views and undertook actions under > the influence of wrong views — **with the break-up of the body, after > death, have re-appeared** in the plane of deprivation, the bad > destination, the lower realms, in hell. But these beings — who were > endowed with good conduct of body, speech, & mind, who did not revile > the Noble Ones, who held right views and undertook actions under the > influence of right views — **with the break-up of the body, after death, > have re-appeared** in the good destinations, in the heavenly world.' > Thus — by means of the divine eye, purified & surpassing the human — **I > saw beings passing away & re-appearing, and I discerned how they are > inferior & superior, beautiful & ugly, fortunate & unfortunate in > accordance with their kamma.** The Buddha taught his followers to reflect in this way (from [AN 5.57][2]): > “This noble disciple reflects thus: ‘I am not the only one who is the > owner of one’s kamma, the heir of one’s kamma; who has kamma as one’s > origin, kamma as one’s relative, kamma as one’s resort; who will be > the heir of whatever kamma, good or bad, that one does. All beings > that come and go, that pass away and undergo rebirth, are owners of > their kamma, heirs of their kamma; all have kamma as their origin, > kamma as their relative, kamma as their resort; all will be heirs of > whatever kamma, good or bad, that they do.’ As he often reflects on > this theme, the path is generated. He pursues this path, develops it, > and cultivates it. As he does so, the fetters are entirely abandoned > and the underlying tendencies are uprooted. From [SN 12.19][3]: > “Bhikkhus, for the fool, hindered by ignorance and fettered by > craving, this body has originated. For the fool that ignorance has not > been abandoned and that craving has not been utterly destroyed. For > what reason? Because the fool has not lived the holy life for the > complete destruction of suffering. **Therefore, with the breakup of the > body, the fool fares on to another body**. Faring on to another body, he > is not freed from birth, aging, and death; not freed from sorrow, > lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair; not freed from suffering, > I say. From [SN 44.9][4]: > “And, Master Gotama, when a being has laid down this body but has not > yet been reborn in another body, what does Master Gotama declare to be > its fuel on that occasion?” > > “When, Vaccha, a being has laid down this body but has not yet been > reborn in another body, I declare that it is fuelled by craving. For > on that occasion craving is its fuel.” Also, please note that the term "kāya" has been used in the sense of physical body for example in [SN 22.56][5] (although I know that it can be used to mean group or collection, when combined with other things): > eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind consciousness. > *cakkhuviññāṇaṃ, sotaviññāṇaṃ,ghānaviññāṇaṃ, jivhāviññāṇaṃ, **kāyaviññāṇaṃ**, manoviññāṇaṃ* Pali words for body apart from "kāya" has been used in this context, for example "sarira" in [Dhammapada 400][6]: > *Akkodhanam vatavantam > silavantam anussadam > dantam antimasariram<sup>1</sup> > tamaham brumi brahmanam* > > Verse 400: Him I call a brahmana, who is free from anger, who > practises austerity, who is virtuous and free from craving, who is > controlled in his senses and for whom this body (i.e., existence) is > the very last. > > Footnote 1. antimasariram: lit., one who has the last body. This is > his last body because he will not be reborn; he is an arahat. From [SN 15.3][7]: > "This is the greater: the tears you have shed while transmigrating & > wandering this long, long time — crying & weeping from being joined > with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing — not > the water in the four great oceans. > > "Long have you (repeatedly) experienced the death of a mother. The > tears you have shed over the death of a mother while transmigrating & > wandering this long, long time — crying & weeping from being joined > with what is displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing — are > greater than the water in the four great oceans. > > "Long have you (repeatedly) experienced the death of a father... the > death of a brother... the death of a sister... the death of a son... > the death of a daughter... loss with regard to relatives... loss with > regard to wealth... loss with regard to disease. The tears you have > shed over loss with regard to disease while transmigrating & wandering > this long, long time — crying & weeping from being joined with what is > displeasing, being separated from what is pleasing — are greater than > the water in the four great oceans. > > "Why is that? From an inconstruable beginning comes transmigration. A > beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance > and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on. Long have > you thus experienced stress, experienced pain, experienced loss, > swelling the cemeteries — enough to become disenchanted with all > fabricated things, enough to become dispassionate, enough to be > released." Also, please note that since some people do not accept the Digha Nikaya as genuine teachings of the Buddha (please see [this question][8]), I have quoted from all the other nikayas instead. Dhammapada is part of KN. [1]: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.019.than.html [2]: https://suttacentral.net/an5.57/en/bodhi [3]: https://suttacentral.net/sn12.19/en/bodhi [4]: https://suttacentral.net/sn44.9/en/bodhi [5]: https://suttacentral.net/sn22.56/en/sujato [6]: http://www.tipitaka.net/tipitaka/dhp/verseload.php?verse=400 [7]: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn15/sn15.003.than.html [8]: https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/31099/471