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 Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 9:07 pm
I've heard contradictory remarks about reincarnation in Buddhism. I've heard both that it is a belief, and that it isn't. So, I just wanted to see what you know about it. Can you clarify this for me?
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:27 am
For most sects, it is not. Given that there is, according to the basic priciples laid forth in the tripitaka, no soul, there's nothing to reincarnate.
For Tibetans, however, the local faith held on very strongly, and there is a belief in both a soul and reincarnation among them.
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 7:44 pm
Ah finally! I never understood the difference between reincarnation and rebirth. Can someone please explain in a brief but understandable way? oh and also, what does it mean by no soul? What gets rebirthed (I was reading something about this in a book about Buddhism)
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 8:01 pm
I've read that there is no reincarnation, but simply rebirth instead; which is basically just realization and enlightenment. But, I've also read that the *soul gets reincarnated until it is pure enough to reach enlightenment; though I believe that may have been confusion with Hindu beliefs.
*Byaggha; what do you mean by no soul? Can you explain this... I'm confused...
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 4:37 pm
No-soul, basically, is exactly what it says. Hindu doctrine teaches that the soul of a person comes around again and again until they play out their dharmas correctly and eventually end up joining one big god-entity in the sky.
Buddhist doctrine, on the other hand, states that there is no permanent us to reincarnate, no one thing that carries our imprint from lifetime to lifetime. There is no soul. We do, however, get rebirth, which is essentially your energy from this life combined with your final thoughts on dying bridging over into a new living form.
It's like candles.
Say you have two candles, one lit and burning down, the other not lit. You light the second, unlit one with the dying wick of the first one as it burns out - the spark starts a new flame, but this is not the same flame, or the same candle.
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 9:40 pm
Byaggha No-soul, basically, is exactly what it says. Hindu doctrine teaches that the soul of a person comes around again and again until they play out their dharmas correctly and eventually end up joining one big god-entity in the sky. Buddhist doctrine, on the other hand, states that there is no permanent us to reincarnate, no one thing that carries our imprint from lifetime to lifetime. There is no soul. We do, however, get rebirth, which is essentially your energy from this life combined with your final thoughts on dying bridging over into a new living form. It's like candles. Say you have two candles, one lit and burning down, the other not lit. You light the second, unlit one with the dying wick of the first one as it burns out - the spark starts a new flame, but this is not the same flame, or the same candle.
Aha. I think I understand this...
Thanks for explaining.
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 1:48 pm
Byaggha Say you have two candles, one lit and burning down, the other not lit. You light the second, unlit one with the dying wick of the first one as it burns out - the spark starts a new flame, but this is not the same flame, or the same candle. I'm still confused >_<
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 2:11 pm
Shokai Byaggha Say you have two candles, one lit and burning down, the other not lit. You light the second, unlit one with the dying wick of the first one as it burns out - the spark starts a new flame, but this is not the same flame, or the same candle. I'm still confused >_< I heard it as your excess karma having to be fulfilled somehow, so another being is born to get rid of it. I think I'm still believing in a soul though. So I'll stick with reincarnation.
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 7:12 pm
Okay... now that I think about it, I'm still stuck with the idea of souls. xp So confusing. I understand the candle demonstration, but how exactly does that work, if there is no soul? Is it simply a new body and person; or does it have to do with Karma?
I think my mind is still confusing things with Hindu beliefs...
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 1:40 am
~ Jade Samadhi ~ Okay... now that I think about it, I'm still stuck with the idea of souls. xp So confusing. I understand the candle demonstration, but how exactly does that work, if there is no soul? Is it simply a new body and person; or does it have to do with Karma? I think my mind is still confusing things with Hindu beliefs... Yeah I was reading about hinduism years before I discovered buddhism so I'm a bit stuck on it I think Akan says you can even be reborn during this life so it's not entirely the new body thing I think
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 6:47 am
bluewolfcub I heard it as your excess karma having to be fulfilled somehow, so another being is born to get rid of it. That's generally how I see it. This being inherets your unfulfilled karma, and either continues the karmatic chain or ends it with them (the final snuffing of the flame, as it were).
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2005 9:17 pm
Okay... I just went to Buddhanet to try and find more information, but now I'm even more confused. It says roughly the same things, and the same ideas as things which have already come up, but... now I'm totally lost.
Any ideas?
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Akanishi Makoto Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 8:30 am
~ Jade Samadhi ~ Okay... I just went to Buddhanet to try and find more information, but now I'm even more confused. It says roughly the same things, and the same ideas as things which have already come up, but... now I'm totally lost. Any ideas? Ok, here's how Karma works in a Buddhist world. First of all, before we even start about good versus bad, rebirth this or rebirth that, we need to talk about your birth. Every living thing starts off life, for the most part, innocent and unclean. We are born because there was enough Karma to start another life, but we haven't started to accumlate Karma in this life quite yet. There is still an infinite amount of Karma from past lives, however, which is what I'm getting to next. What makes you who you are? Your flesh and blood? Would you be a different person if you were in a different body? What about your thoughts. Surely they are unique. Would you be a different person if you thought differently? How about your experiences? Do different people have different experiences? Who "you" are, as an illusionary and transient ego, is made up of experiences, thoughts and volitions. Because of this ignorance in thinking you (not you inparticular, but everyone) are different, permanent and solid; we create this selfish Karma because of the selfish Ego. This has never had a real "beginning". Possibly the beginning of time, or perhaps the beginning of consciousness - who knows? Buddhists shouldn't even care. But why do we have Karma from past lives, if nothing from the past life comes forward with us? See, that's a view out of black and white thinking. Nothing comes with us, that's true. But we still have been reborn, so something came along, didn't it? Quite perplexing. When we die, all of those experiences and thoughts and that form are stripped away. What is left is nothing, because to call it a thing is to rob it of its nothingness. Yes, something carries over, but it's not you, because you are transient and illusionary. Get it?
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 2:29 pm
Thanks. That helps a lot. 3nodding I think I'm starting to get this.
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 3:14 pm
I sort of understand now.
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