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If the Lord Buddha was not reborn what happened to him after death?

edited April 2010 in Buddhism Basics
If the Lord Buddha was not reborn what happened to him after death?

I read that the Lord Buddha would not be reborn because of Enlightenment so what happened to him after he died?

Comments

  • edited April 2010
    BuddhaOdin wrote: »
    If the Lord Buddha was not reborn what happened to him after death?

    I read that the Lord Buddha would not be reborn because of Enlightenment so what happened to him after he died?


    Nirvana? He was fully liberated from Samsara and reached Nirvana.
  • edited April 2010
    Nirvana? He was fully liberated from Samsara and reached Nirvana.

    Is Nirvana a place? I thought it was the state of being awakened.
  • JasonJason God Emperor Arrakis Moderator
    edited April 2010
    According to the account given in DN 16, his body was cremated and his relics (the various pieces of bone and teeth that were leftover) were divided into eight portions: one remaining at Kusinara, where the Buddha passed away, and the rest sent to Magadha, Vesali, Kapilavatthu, Allakappa, Ramagama, Vethadipa and Pava.
  • fivebellsfivebells Veteran
    edited April 2010
    BuddhaOdin, you're obviously committing a lot of time to these questions and they're important to you. it would be easier to answer your questions in a helpful way if we knew why they're important to you. Are you evaluating Buddhist practice as something you might adopt for yourself, just curious about how it works, or something else?
  • edited April 2010
    BuddhaOdin wrote: »
    Is Nirvana a place? I thought it was the state of being awakened.

    He lost the sense of self, or ego-self and became all that is.
  • edited April 2010
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    The Buddha became enlightened at the age of 35 and taught for another 45 years.

    Nirvana/Enlightement is the complete cessation of mental delusion/suffering .

    He didn't go anywhere after he died.



    .
  • edited April 2010
    When the monks asked him what would happen after he died, he said something to the effect that it would be incorrect to say that the Tathagata exists after death, incorrect to say the Tathagata does not exist after death, and incorrect to say that the Tathagata either exists or does not exist after death.

    We shouldn't concern ourselves so much with life after death. Buddhism is about the cessation of suffering. Worry about what you need to do now to achieve that.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited April 2010
    fivebells wrote: »
    BuddhaOdin, you're obviously committing a lot of time to these questions and they're important to you. it would be easier to answer your questions in a helpful way if we knew why they're important to you. Are you evaluating Buddhist practice as something you might adopt for yourself, just curious about how it works, or something else?

    This is something I would like to know myself.
    If you can assure us - and demonstrate - that your constant thread- creating is doing anything to advance your personal practice, then fine.
    If not, it might be better to address more pertinent questions relevant to your practice, instead of just taking up space with questions which have little or no bearing on.... well, anything, really.

    Think about what you post, and why.
    That would be good advice for anyone, in fact.
  • fivebellsfivebells Veteran
    edited April 2010
    Just to be clear, I wasn't drawing a bead on BuddhaOdin, myself. I just wanted to understand better.
  • edited April 2010
    fivebells wrote: »
    BuddhaOdin, you're obviously committing a lot of time to these questions and they're important to you. it would be easier to answer your questions in a helpful way if we knew why they're important to you. Are you evaluating Buddhist practice as something you might adopt for yourself, just curious about how it works, or something else?

    Both. Though I don't consider myself as Buddhist I am a big fan of the Dalai Lama. I think I may mix Buddhism with Paganism in the future.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited April 2010
    I wouldn't bother. I promise you, they don't mix. I know a guy in the UK who's Pagan, and who tried, and failed miserably.
  • edited April 2010
    Is it not possible to be Pagan and follow the Eightfold Path to Enlightmentment? In Asian countries they seem to mix Buddhism with Shinto, Toaism and other indiginous folk religions.
  • JasonJason God Emperor Arrakis Moderator
    edited April 2010
    Stephen wrote: »
    When the monks asked him what would happen after he died, he said something to the effect that it would be incorrect to say that the Tathagata exists after death, incorrect to say the Tathagata does not exist after death, and incorrect to say that the Tathagata either exists or does not exist after death.

    We shouldn't concern ourselves so much with life after death. Buddhism is about the cessation of suffering. Worry about what you need to do now to achieve that.

    For reference, see SN 22.86 and SN 44.6.
  • JasonJason God Emperor Arrakis Moderator
    edited April 2010
    BuddhaOdin wrote: »
    Is it not possible to be Pagan and follow the Eightfold Path to Enlightmentment? In Asian countries they seem to mix Buddhism with Shinto, Toaism and other indiginous folk religions.

    I don't see why not.
  • edited April 2010
    BuddhaOdin wrote: »
    Is it not possible to be Pagan and follow the Eightfold Path to Enlightmentment? In Asian countries they seem to mix Buddhism with Shinto, Toaism and other indiginous folk religions.

    It depends on what you mean by "pagan."

    However, the Eightfold Path requires Right View and believing in delusions would defy that.

    And Shintoism, Taoism, and indigenous isn't the same as paganism.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited April 2010
    BuddhaOdin wrote: »
    Is it not possible to be Pagan and follow the Eightfold Path to Enlightmentment? In Asian countries they seem to mix Buddhism with Shinto, Toaism and other indiginous folk religions.
    With enlightenment, you need to drop everything anyway, so it really doesn't matter what you do. Bit by bit you will see anything extraneous is redundant....
    You might be able to follow paganism with Buddhism thrown in, but you will find it harder to adhere to Buddhism and incorporate Paganism, and shoehorn it in to fit, and suit your needs.
    This would be the case with any other religion, in my opinion.
    Look, go ahead and try. See it for yourself.
  • edited April 2010
    It depends on what you mean by "pagan."

    However, the Eightfold Path requires Right View and believing in delusions would defy that.

    And Shintoism, Taoism, and indigenous isn't the same as paganism.

    Well Taoism, Shintoism and other religions in Asia that have been mixed with Buddhism are not Buddhism. They could be described as pagan, as they are not monotheistic or Abrahamic.
  • edited April 2010
    I thought anyone who wants the teachings of the Lord Buddha is entitled to them, am I wrong?

    I read somewhere that the Lord Buddha offered differing teachings to students of differing personalities and that this means that no one religious doctrine could satisfy everyone.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited April 2010
    Yes, but people don't reach enlightenment by loading themselves up with all that extra stuff.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited April 2010
    BuddhaOdin wrote: »
    I thought anyone who wants the teachings of the Lord Buddha is entitled to them, am I wrong?

    I read somewhere that the Lord Buddha offered differing teachings to students of differing personalities and that this means that no one religious doctrine could satisfy everyone.
    No.
    Same doctrine, different words.

    he offered different teachings to different people, but phrased and transmitted in ways comprehensible to those people.
  • edited April 2010
    Did the Buddha oppose syncretism?

    I have read that Buddhism and Shintoism have coexisted for over 1500 years in Japan and that many Japanese assert that they "live" as Shintoists, but "die" as Buddhists. I am sure there are many other examples of syncretism in Buddhist countries if you look.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited April 2010
    None of this matters, unless you intend going to Japan and living a life of shinto-Buddhism there.
    I've told you. Do what you want to do. Find out for yourself what ultimately works and what doesn't. A dozen different people could tell you the same thing, or they could tell you different things. In the end, it's up to you.
    I tried to practice Buddhism and Christianity together for around 10 years, until I realised I was just playing into a personally-constructed ideal which was anything but.
  • edited April 2010
    federica wrote: »
    None of this matters, unless you intend going to Japan and living a life of shinto-Buddhism there.
    I've told you. Do what you want to do. Find out for yourself what ultimately works and what doesn't. A dozen different people could tell you the same thing, or they could tell you different things. In the end, it's up to you.
    I tried to practice Buddhism and Christianity together for around 10 years, until I realised I was just playing into a personally-constructed ideal which was anything but.

    Well if you think about it , what you had done probably paved the way for you to become "pure" Buddhist; if there is such a thing.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited April 2010
    Yes. I realised the previous 10 years had been a total and utter waste of time. I'm just trying to save you the same thing.
  • NamelessRiverNamelessRiver Veteran
    edited April 2010
    Buddhism has been mixed with just about everything, including more recently western rationalism. I say if you wanna mix them both [Buddhism and Paganism] go for it, whatever makes you happy. :)
  • edited April 2010
    it's possible to be pagan and buddhist, but your buddhism will probably begin to eat up your pagan beliefs if you follow through. not to say that they're wrong, but buddhism is a more developed and mature religion and its beliefs usually take precedence over others. i can only speak from my experience, but what i've seen buddhism suppresses the imagination for good or not and imaginative thinking such as paganism embodies is typically regarded as delusion, either because it misses the point or because it's not examining things thoroughly and rests in a certain level of ignorance. this is why i said "the tathagata [one thus gone] went to the moon" in my post that the moderators deleted, whether delusion or enlightenment, nobody knows precisely what happened to the tathagata it is simply beyond our scope. these questions are driven somewhat by ego but to take a stance either way doesn't tell us anything. do you know how corrupt the human world is and has been since its conception? there's a slaughterhouse down your block and on every block in the world. hinayana mindset prevails in both theravada and mahayana while only a small group from both practice genuine buddhism of the bodhisattva kind through and through. the buddha never died, and (s)he never will. the buddha is eternal as the dharmakaya itself, which has never existed!
  • edited April 2010
    You can believe whatever you want and still practice Buddhism. I said as much in a thread about Christianity and Buddhism being compatible (though everyone ignored my post lol).

    The thing is that so long as you understand the concepts taught in Buddhism correctly and follow the Noble Eightfold path correctly (exerting effort and meditating), you'll eventually gain wisdom that will displace beliefs. That's not to say it will disprove beliefs, but rather that you won't feel that you "need" them. The part of you that needs to believe in life after death, etc., is the "self", and the goal of Buddhism is to strip away this false self and all of its desires and delusions until the true self is all that is left. That true self, free of craving, is Nirvana.

    It is only the self that fears death. The greater your detachment from the self, the less important such questions become. When you realize what the self is, and that it's just an illusion; a construct of the mind, your views on birth and death shift. There really is no birth; no death.

    I would suggest due diligence in studying Buddhism and the Noble Eightfold Path and following it for a time and see if you don't work out some of this on your own. That's what Buddhism is about; self-effort.
  • fivebellsfivebells Veteran
    edited April 2010
    Stephen wrote: »
    The thing is that so long as you understand the concepts taught in Buddhism correctly and follow the Noble Eightfold path correctly (exerting effort and meditating), you'll eventually gain wisdom that will displace beliefs. That's not to say it will disprove beliefs, but rather that you won't feel that you "need" them.
    This essay supports this view.

    I see no reason you can't mix Buddhism and paganism, but I would be interested to hear more of Federica's difficulties mixing Christianity and Buddhism.
  • GuyCGuyC Veteran
    edited April 2010
    He lost the sense of self, or ego-self and became all that is.

    That sounds like some kind of "cosmic soul" theory. This is certainly not what the Buddha taught.
  • edited April 2010
    I thought Jesus was Jewish convert to Buddhism. Perhaps he was a Buddha or an Enlightened being.
  • GuyCGuyC Veteran
    edited April 2010
    BuddhaOdin wrote: »
    I thought Jesus was Jewish convert to Buddhism. Perhaps he was a Buddha or an Enlightened being.

    That's quite a speculative view, I don't see how you can prove it. Anyway, its not important to our own spiritual path at all. Better to just let it go.
  • fivebellsfivebells Veteran
    edited April 2010
    BuddhaOdin wrote: »
    I thought Jesus was Jewish convert to Buddhism. Perhaps he was a Buddha or an Enlightened being.
    Hmm, a pagan subtley trolling a Buddhist forum. You weren't called owl_clan in another incarnation, by any chance? :)
  • TheswingisyellowTheswingisyellow Trying to be open to existence Samsara Veteran
    edited April 2010
    BuddhaOdin wrote: »
    If the Lord Buddha was not reborn what happened to him after death?

    I read that the Lord Buddha would not be reborn because of Enlightenment so what happened to him after he died?
    I believe after he died his body was burned. Death is the cessation of being, Gotama included.
  • edited April 2010
    A lot of what Jesus preached was not much different to Buddha, even if was not Buddhist, he may have been inspired by it.

    Greek rulers as far as the Mediterranean are mentioned as having received Buddhist missionaries.

    The Dalai Lama his Holiness regards Jesus as a bodhisattva.
  • edited April 2010
    GuyC wrote: »
    That sounds like some kind of "cosmic soul" theory. This is certainly not what the Buddha taught.

    I made no mention of a cosmic soul. What do you think happens when you lose your ego self? The ego self is what makes you identify as a single, separate identity rather than your true nature as everything that exists.
  • edited April 2010
    We are not "everything that exists"; we are simply part of everything that exists, and not a permanent or unchanging part at that. ;)
  • edited April 2010
    What happened to him after he died? Nothing, I guess. He was dead. Buddha was just a man, like you (well, maybe you're a woman, but you see what I'm getting at). He ceased to exist.

    What he understood when he was alive was that there was never a 'he' to be alive or dead in the first place, at least outside of the game that we play with ourselves.

    Go ahead and practice Buddhism or whateverism any way you'd like. No matter what it is, you can't practice it wrong. You are incapable of making mistakes :)
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited April 2010
    BuddhaOdin wrote: »
    I thought Jesus was Jewish convert to Buddhism. Perhaps he was a Buddha or an Enlightened being.

    Please make sure you have a credible source for your information, and post us a link to it, before making such ridiculously fatuous remarks.

    That goes for every other thread you might choose to open.

    I await the link with interest. Tell me when you have it ready, and I will happily re-open this thread.

    Thanks to all.......
This discussion has been closed.