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Rebirth 101

ClayTheScribeClayTheScribe Veteran
edited August 2011 in Buddhism Basics
So I'm new to Buddhism and I haven't got a clear answer to my questions surrounding rebirth. What is rebirth? How is it different than reincarnation? How is it the same? If I don't achieve enlightenment in this lifetime, will I come back into this life or a different, new life? How is this possible if I don't have a soul? I don't ask these questions because I'm obsessed with life after death or even afraid of what comes, I'm just really curious because I have always had the inclination to believe in reincarnation, but I was told rebirth is different.

Comments

  • I'll answer the "how is it possible without a soul" question. Mahayana, and Tibetan buddhism in particular, get around the required belief in no-soul by saying that there are 3 degrees of mind: the gross mind (our everyday mind), the subtle mind, and the "very subtle mind". There's something similar in Therevada, the alaya vijnana, the "seed consciousness", that carries the karmic seeds with it from past lifetimes, if I got that straight. (The things you learn on this forum! It's amazing!)

    So the "very subtle mind" is what separates from the body at death, and moves on. They say it's not a soul, it might be likened more to what New Agers call the Astral Body, if I may venture such an opinion. It's an extremely subtle form of consciousness. So...how do we define "soul" vs. "consciousness"? Is this just a semantic game? I think we had a thread on that once, actually. It might even have been mine, haha. Some liken this passing on of consciousness to lighting a candle from the flame of another candle. It's not the same flame. And yet, it has components from the original flame.

    OK, that's the best I can do with that.

    But there is an apparent contradiction in Tibetan Buddhism, because they clearly believe in reincarnation, the same person being reborn in another body, with those reincarnate lamas, the tulku tradition. So that looks a lot more like transmigration of the soul, but they'll never call it that.
  • Lazy_eyeLazy_eye Veteran
    edited August 2011
    Hi Clay,

    As I understand it, rebirth means the recycling of the five aggregates, with a link provided by karma. "Self" is an illusion we impose on the process.

    It happens in the course of one life as well -- we aren't the same person we were in kindergarten, though we're not exactly a different person either.
  • DhammaDhatuDhammaDhatu Veteran
    edited August 2011
    What is rebirth? How is it different than reincarnation? How is this possible if I don't have a soul?
    In the language of the original scriptures, there is not one single word that is translated as "rebirth". There are many words which the modern translators translate using the single word "rebirth".

    In the language of the original scriptures, the word is "born again", "appear again", "arise again", etc. It does not necessary refer to the physical birth a life form from a woman's womb.

    Reincarnation is a meta-physical concept. It refers to the mind leaving the physical body and entering a new body.

    Where as rebirth is a moral concept. It means when you perform a certain action, that action & its results will arise again afterwards.

    So, whether one believes the results of one's actions appear in this life or the next life, "rebirth" still happens as a result of karma.

    Regards

    DD :)

  • Hi @ClayTheScribe

    These are my answers, they are not "orthodox buddhism"

    >>What is rebirth?

    Nobody can really say without metaphor or obtuse attempts to explain.

    The "problem" is that one of the grounding tennets of Dharma is that there is no soul, no self, no ego, it is all just illusion.

    If there is nothing there in the first place, how can there be anything there after death?

    >>>How is it different than reincarnation?

    In reincarnation there is a soul that continues into different manifestations.

    Reincarnation is meaningful in a way that rebirth is not. (I don't believe in reincarnation but can at least make some sense of it)

    >>>How is it the same?

    Well, all of these ideas share the same existential attachment to the idea of an afterlife - the driving force of all organised religions: you do this now and you will get benefit when you are dead.


    >>>If I don't achieve enlightenment in this lifetime, will I come back into this life or a different, new life?

    I think this is all there is.

    >>>How is this possible if I don't have a soul?

    Yes, how is it possible?

    Also if Dharma teaches us to focus on the now, who should we even think about an afterlife?


    >>>I don't ask these questions because I'm obsessed with life after death....

    It is the natural state to be obsessed with "more than this". It is my belief that the buddha saw that this attachment leads to suffering and showed the way to embrace our existential insignificance, impermanence and emptiness in wonderful ways.

    Namaste





  • jlljll Veteran
    here we go again....
  • What is rebirth? How is it different than reincarnation? How is this possible if I don't have a soul?
    In the language of the original scriptures, there is not one single word that is translated as "rebirth". There are many words which the modern translators translate using the single word "rebirth".

    In the language of the original scriptures, the word is "born again", "appear again", "arise again", etc. It does not necessary refer to the physical birth a life form from a woman's womb.

    Reincarnation is a meta-physical concept. It refers to the mind leaving the physical body and entering a new body.

    Where as rebirth is a moral concept. It means when you perform a certain action, that action & its results will arise again afterwards.

    So, whether one believes the results of one's actions appear in this life or the next life, "rebirth" still happens as a result of karma.

    Regards

    DD :)

    Basically what DD said is how I feel about the whole thing. Action leads to result. A "former life" is really just "former action." There is no "you" in the entire process. But responsibility for one's actions can be necessitated since the illusory "you" will continue to manifest until skillful actions are perfected and used for the sake of liberation. (Action=karma)

  • Ultimately, nothing is reborn. Conventionally, you are reborn.
  • aMattaMatt Veteran
    edited August 2011
    So, whether one believes the results of one's actions appear in this life or the next life, "rebirth" still happens as a result of karma.
    Well said! This captures it well, in my opinion.

    As an aside, the reason it isn't useful to spend time looking to previous lives or future lives is because
    1) it strenghtens our attachment to self-identifying
    2) our chance to work with karma is here and now, always and only
  • Thank you, that was very helpful. @aMatt is right, this moment is all there is and is the only thing to be concerned about. It's hard for me to be truly in the moment sometimes, but I think it gets a tiny bit easier everyday now that I'm practicing the dharma more and more.
  • Lazy_eyeLazy_eye Veteran
    edited August 2011
    Related to what Dhamma Datu wrote earlier, the Buddha had this to say (in the Aññatra Sutta):
    Then a certain brahman went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: "What now, Master Gotama: Is the one who acts the same one who experiences [the results of the act]?"

    [The Buddha:] "[To say,] 'The one who acts is the same one who experiences,' is one extreme."

    [The brahman:] "Then, Master Gotama, is the one who acts someone other than the one who experiences?"

    [The Buddha:] "[To say,] 'The one who acts is someone other than the one who experiences,' is the second extreme. Avoiding both of these extremes, the Tathagata teaches the Dhamma by means of the middle
    Since rebirth is an extension of kamma-vipaka (the topic being discussed in the sutta), the Buddha's words can apply to that question also.
  • edited August 2011
    People love to spin around and speculate about past and future lives rather than paying attention in the here and now!

    The Buddha said:
    "And how, monks, does one chase after the past? One gets carried away with the delight of 'In the past I had such a form (body)'... 'In the past I had such a feeling'... 'In the past I had such a perception'... 'In the past I had such a thought-fabrication'... 'In the past I had such a consciousness.' This is called chasing after the past.

    "And how does one not chase after the past? One does not get carried away with the delight of 'In the past I had such a form (body)'... 'In the past I had such a feeling'... 'In the past I had such a perception'... 'In the past I had such a thought-fabrication'... 'In the past I had such a consciousness.' This is called not chasing after the past.

    "And how does one place expectations on the future? One gets carried away with the delight of 'In the future I might have such a form (body)'... 'In the future I might have such a feeling'... 'In the future I might have such a perception'... 'In the future I might have such a thought-fabrication'... 'In the future I might have such a consciousness.' This is called placing expectations on the future.

    "And how does one not place expectations on the future? One does not get carried away with the delight of 'In the future I might have such a form (body)'... 'In the future I might have such a feeling'... 'In the future I might have such a perception'... 'In the future I might have such a thought-fabrication'... 'In the future I might have such a consciousness.' This is called not placing expectations on the future."

    MN 131 : Bhaddekaratta Sutta

    http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.131.than.html

    :)
  • here we go again....


  • cazcaz Veteran United Kingdom Veteran
    Ah Kevin, Interesting man.
  • @Dhamma Dhattu thanks for the laugh in that video... humility is a lesson many monks desperately need to learn, on a more serious note.
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