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Do Buddhists believe in rebirth?
Comments
I don't want to make this in a sutta vs sutta fight or "you misread this" blabla kind of stuff, because that is obviously a useless way to have a proper discussion and of these kind of discussions thre are already way too much in this world. I have read various translations of certain suttas and can only come to the conclusion that the Buddha actually talked about rebirth as in rebirth between multiple lifes, not rebirth in this moment or whatever. Some of you obviously didn't read it like that. And that ok with me, but claiming I misinterpret is actually saying you might have done the same. DD, with all respect, you already seem to need to quote a lot of suttas to make your point, that maybe says something about looking for confirmation of your views.
So to try and start a more useful conversation which might give rise to actual insights instead of arguing for the sake of being right: To those who seem to be claiming rebirth isn't taught by the buddha: (Why) are you afraid to die?
If you believe in emptiness you can find Nirvana really easily, you know :crazy:
If I didn't believe in rebirth I would find out at what time the next train leaves..
Like what is being reborn? A soul? Our nature? Our essence?
We don't have essences I recall. We are all empty and even that emptiness is empty.
Isn't the Buddha directly pointing out that we don't have an Atman. Our Self is devoid of any substantial existence.
What created a soul or our nature? Then it is a question of a creator God. Who created God then? Ad Infinitum.
Then it goes: how can nothing become something and how can something become nothing?
How does nothing turn into something. It is logically impossible.
Scientifically speaking just think about the law of conservation. energy/matter cannot be created or destroyed.
So when we die, we become the soil and the water in us becomes the rain, etc. DEAD PEOPLE LITERALLY RAIN ON US.
To see this inter connectivity in life is to see that all life is empty. and so on and so on.
IMO: rebirth is an impossible notion to prove or disprove. just like the notion of god.
Its sometimes best to just let it all go - and not 'believe' in anything.
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is consciousness the function of higher brain or is consciousness outside of brain.
like the mind is walking and consciousness is the legs?
i consider mind to be thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. basically all concepts/words.
and i consider consciousness as the awareness behind the mind.
the mind being a tool a slave and the real master is consciousness, which is non local.
like the mind is walking and consciousness is the legs?"
Mind and Body interpenetrate.
by the way how do you make a quotation (like everyone else) in vanilla forum format?
In a way it seems reincarnation is a necessity in Buddhism.
If there was no reincarnation then what's the point of morality? What the point in anything?
If one says rebirth is 'just there' for the sake of morality, why even be moral? Because then you can be rude to everybody, it doesn't matter anyway. They'll die just the same. And you will too.
Nihilism, that would actually be great. Just die and then.. there is nothing! You've found nirvana. Why even bother to meditate if you can find nirvana that easily. But sadly it makes more sense that there is rebirth. So, rebirth isn't implemented in Buddhism just for morality. And it also hasn't been part of all major sects for thousands of years just because it was cultural.
Sabre
AFAIK, scientists haven't explored the difference between "mind" and "consciousness" (if there is one).
See the work of Francisco Varela, especially as described in the book "Destructive Emotions- How Can We Overcome Them?" with HHDL and Daniel Goleman of the Mind and Life Institute.
And start a new thread for the topic, please.
http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/9405/consciousness#Item_2
I think the OP's questions are as simple as can be: "Do Buddhists Believe in Rebirth?" Generally, yes, except some of the Western ones. "Isn't belief in rebirth like Christian belief in god?" Well, insofar as it usually involves faith (more mental formations), yes. Some people are ok with faith. Others aren't. Some like to arrive at their insights re: rebirth via meditation, others via analysis and reflection (Thailand Tom), others by direct experience (which stores in the memory). All mental formations. So what?
Karma is not scientific materialism. It is not the way things are ultimately. Look at your meditation experience and find if thought has any continuity.
If you have a line made of points. And the points have no dimensions (madyamaka division of time, space, degrees)... how is there continuity?
Only are thinking provides continuity and it is an appearance.
Because my Lama says! :rarr: :grr:
PS Laws of physics cannot be proven apriori and may not apply to all universes or spaces conceptual or otherwise. Until an infinite amount of data is gathered!
Schrodingers wave functions versus Dirac pointers are just models that fit observations. Games you play to make predictions. First they are experiential. 'Physical' and 'reality' are layers of ideation (self qualities) that we additionally tack onto the suchness of the observation emergent experience.
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'sun' 'east' 'physical' 'reality' are mental labels that speak of words pointing to observations and the connectivity. The connectivity is all relative. The cause and effect is a function of relative natures. No absolute laws of physics. Even the 3 laws of thermo.
For example stone is soft relative to diamond. Hard relative to skin. Skin is hard relative to butter. Butter is hard relative to water (at slow velocities). 'hard' is a 'mental' label describing phenominon.
There is no reference point (self, origin) but there is dependent origination and relative (but no reference point ) connections. All is dependently arisen like a conjurers trick. That is why we don't have to grasp to the skandas. Liberation upon contact.
I was referring to a 'mental birth'. This can certainly serve as an object of insight.
As for physical birth, I am not exactly sure how this can be seen directly (here, now, today) so to serve as an object of insight.
Kind regards
See the work of Francisco Varela, especially as described in the book "Destructive Emotions- How Can We Overcome Them?" with HHDL and Daniel Goleman of the Mind and Life Institute. And start a new thread for the topic, please.
One has been started, did you see, SD?
I honestly don't get your point because all you are saying is correct, but doesn't have to do with karma. Karma and thoughts are something different. Thoughts are an effect of karma, but if there are no thoughts it doesn't mean there is no karma anymore. I'm not saying this because of some kind of lama or Buddha, I experienced it myself. Without any thoughts you can still feel messed up, agitated etc, because there is still some kind of inclination to something that is programmed inside your mind sometime before. Overcoming these imprints is letting go of attachments which are there and are called 'bad karma'.
It's like gravity. You are kind of stating it is just a mental object. Of course, what exactly is gravity and what causes it is still a bit of uncertain, but one thing is for sure: things do fall down, so the effect can be described with gravity. To say things might one day fall upwards in another universe is a philosophical idea that doesn't get you anywhere. Well, maybe it can get you to a mental-institution if you really see things flying up Or in a UFO club
Anywa, it is the same with karma. How it works exactly is probably impossible to understand, but it describes a behavior that is describable like a physical law.
Love,
Sabre :vimp:
You are right of course, but I'd like to say one thing I think is quite important.
You can't choose to believe rebirth yes or no. But you can choose to hold on to a certain believe. Holding on to beliefs is an attachment and can really hold you down. If your view is wrong, the entire 8-fold path might get stuck. And that would be a shame, now wouldn't it?
So this goes for both camps in the rebirth vs no-rebirth "fight". It's a shame if you hold on to your view that there is nothing after this life because science hasn't proven it for example. But it is equally a shame if you hold on to your view because you want there to be something more than this.
Same goes for karma. You can find the truth through insights, not by only talking about it and rationalizing certain ideas to fit your view. That's why I tried to get this thread out of the sutta vs sutta fight. That doesn't help anyone.
Love,
Sabre :vimp:
About time we reach a collective nirvana!
Cheers, WK
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Hope this works as its my first post from droid.
Just to clarify, I haven't been in any 'camp' in this thread. What I have tried to point out, probably unsuccessfully but certainly without agitation or intention to "fight", is that continually speculating about whether there is or isn't rebirth, is irrelevant to my practice in the here and now in this present lifetime.
Naturally I wish everyone well, whatever view they choose to hold on to.
Here's a quote from Ajahn Sumedho (an abbot and teacher with the Theravada Thai Forest tradition) in his book 'The Sound of Silence', :
"The historical Buddha refered to previous lives in the scriptures and things like this, but for me these things are speculative. Maybe you can remember previous lives, but I have no such memory. So all I know is from the here and now. We’re talking about direct knowing rather than Buddhist theory or Buddhist doctrine."
So to conclude this post...May all beings abide in well being, in freedom from hostility, freedom from ill will, and in freedom from anxiety. May they all released from suffering.
/\
I'm sorry if you feel offended in any way.
I understand your views and although I quote certain people, I'm generally not talking to anyone specifically. And certainly not just to convince them or anything. There are people reading who aren't responding and there will be more in the future. So I'm talking just in general to 'the world'. Just sharing my view, not to be right, but maybe it helps somebody. If not, that's fine too. And know I may have used some exaggerated words like "fight" and "camp" to make my point. That's also party because I'm not native in English and sometimes the right words don't come up. It's just a debate about certain views, of course. That would have been a better description.
Anyway, whatever helps you in your practice is the best thing of course.
I know my way of stating things can be a bit to-the-point and perhaps a bit harsh sometimes but I guess that's just me. If I have to include in every post "I'm not saying this just to convince you, this is just my view, see what you do with it" that would be kind of tiring.
Back to the topic of rebirth! Threads derail quite easily on this board. :P
Sabre :vimp: