Search the Community

This is exactly the sort of baloney that's being circulated, especially in some Buddhist sects. It's a real joke and I have absolutely no doubt that some of this is contributing to the demise of Buddhism. The most convincing theory of reincarnation I've heard is from the karma kanda sections of the Vedas and it goes like this: For the sake of simplicity karma is accumulated actions. For example, if you eat an ice cream and enjoy it you create a tendency to repeat that behaviour which causes a preference to repeat that action. It becomes a habit that just lives itself out repeatedly. The traces of these actions are called "fragrances" in the Vedas. The modern scientific explanation (which supports the Vedic theory) is that these tendencies are stored in seed form in the causal body, or if you prefer the DNA or the 'unmanifest'. These genetic tendencies are also called 'vasanas' and it's the vasanas that create another body to continue to act out the karma accumulated in the "previous lifetime". So the "person" and the physical body that the vasanas create is the part that dies (well in actuality energy doesn't even die it is just transformed), but the vasanas continue to live on and they are the aspect that creates the next body. This is why quantum physics asserts that it can prove the existence of God. God is basically the causal body projecting these tendencies outward in order for consciousness to experience itself as forms. That's all we are really as individuals. The vasanas. The Gunas (shakti or energy) are the "fabric" of existence that allows these vasanas to play out. The vasanas provide the action and the Gunas provide the canvas for the action to take place on. So the Gunas are satva, Rajas and tamas. These are just Sanskrit names for the three forms in which shakti appears in form. Satva is the ideas, tamas is the material aspect and Rajas is the projecting power that transforms satva into tamsaic concrete objects. An analogy of this would be the creation of a guitar. Satva is the idea of the guitar, tamas is the materials (wood, metal and plastic) and Rajas is the action that makes the idea into a reality - the energy of assembling the different parts of the guitar to make the idea into a material object. This makes much more sense to me than a lot of the theories put there. Suicide I assume would continue to manifest itself in some negative tendency in the next body that bundle of samksaras creates.

My thoughts are, that if youre going to entertain and seriously investigate the notion of enlightenment then you need to keep an open mind with regards to reincarnation too. It also depends a lot on the mind / minds interpreting the original source texts for you. You cant just say "Buddhism says" because there are different schools of Buddhism and also crazy and not so crazy interpretations of it. These two things are worth taking into account when discussing anything in this field. But the main thing is once you understand reincarnation according to how your chosen school sees it, then you make it no self and essentially transcend it. Karma and reincarnation are closely linked, and if you can source a decent interpretation on the teaching of karma you can see how it is played out in real life. It becomes obvious. The same is with reincarnation.

Reincarnation seems more plausible to me a part reality than infinite oblivion after death.

I've thought about this, and I don't think suicide or how we live our lives up until the final moment has anything to do with how we reincarnate. We are all playing a role, one in which we have no control over. Our thoughts, feelings, and actions are not independent of the universe. One thing I wonder about reincarnation, is if we reincarnate into a different form of consciousness for eternity, each time with a clean slate. I wonder if people I see on the street are me, but in a different form of consciousness that I experience from the one I'm having now, but not independent of my consciousness. I wonder the same about other animals. Crazy shit.

I don't believe in reincarnation. With beliefs about science and evolution in my web of beliefs, it just doesn't make any sense. Do I know it doesn't exist? Nope. I can't think of a conceivable way it could be proven one way or the other. You didn't ask any specific question about suicide, so I'll go on the things others have commented. Is it selfish? Sure. So is moralizing about suicidal people being selfish. I use selfish as in "stemming from the ego" rather than society's seeming definition of "this person did something I don't like, thus they're selfish for not having considered how I'm affected by it".

ON REINCARNATION I have no idea and never will. Some people claim to know but there is never any definitive proof so I personally dont believe them. I consider the entire subject a waste of time even thinking about. I believe its more likely to be an archaic way for religions to control and manipulate people. ON SUICIDE The statement "suicide is a selfish act" is WRONG. Suicide is a desperate act by someone who is in intense pain and wants their pain to stop. That is a HUMAN response to extreme pain, not a selfish one. Over 90 percent of the people who die by suicide have a mental illness at the time of their death, so they are not thinking clearly. Saying that a person who had severe clinical depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD, or a similar illness was engaging in an act of selfishness when they died by suicide – even though their thought process, mood, and judgment were greatly affected by their mental illness – is not only inaccurate, but downright cruel, to both the person who suicides and the suicide survivors. Those who use the word “selfish” are merely helping perpetuate the STIGMA associated with suicide. A suicidal action that manifests from intense, excruciating, unbearable pain associated with a serious mental illness has nothing to do with selfishness.

Personally, I don't know. I used to think I knew enough, but then life likes to throw unpredictability at you. I believe in reincarnation, but I think that we do it just for the fun of it. There's no meaning to it other than experience. I guess we choose to be an aborted baby in one lifetime, just for the heck of it. We choose to be beaten up and scarred in some lifetimes. And in some lifetimes we might choose to be rich, or famous, or both. This is just my idea. There is no inherent purpose to reincarnation other than experience, in my opinion. What happens if a person commits suicide? Some believe there's a karmic backlash against it, and some think there is no reincarnation. And some believe that suicide will have no karmic backlash. And some people don't believe in karma, period.

@Exping Reincarnation is a fact, most of what Gura teaches is modern day Buddhism, which is spiritually corrupted. There is no black nothingness after death, you just go to the astral, wait however long, and then re-incarnate. That's why I don't follow his bullshit anymore. I was in it for conciousness, but this whole idea of destroying the ego then dissipating yourself is complete bull, and was funded by the Rothschild as they do not want anyone spiritually awake or aware. They want everyone completely spiritually dead, without conciousness, one is just a monkey. That's what they want, is a monkey that without rights, liberty, nationality or even race, a slave. That's why the media promotes multi-culturalism, as when you race mix, everybody destroys their ancestry and culture. Then, however many years down the road you race mix again, and again and again, until there is just one race, one currency, one government. All ruled by the friggin elites who are all kikes, to give you an idea of what they are planning, it is called Agenda 21. Agenda 21 is basically the enslavement of society, they want to kill off caucasians first, as they will rebel first, that's what BLM and the immigration crisis in europe is about. Then they will have everyone boxed into these small drone like units, where you work where you sleep, for 16 hours a day like a dog, then you eat and sleep and back to work for you are a slave. This documentary shows more about Agenda 21: It's at about 6:45 Where they show the little unit most people will be working in.

hey , for people who don't understand as much try this article... https://lonerwolf.com/awakened-soul-reincarnation/

@Prabhaker a better word would be "rebirth" instead of "reincarnation". also, it's impossible to get out of the rebirth cycle, because there's nobody to get out of it. reality has an urge to experience what we call "being" and we're consequences of it... even siddhartha gautama himself said that he was not leaving reality. you can check this out on the Lotus Sutra, chapter 16: Since I attained Buddhahood the number of kalpas that have passed is an immeasurable hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions, trillions, asamkhyas. Constantly I have preached the Law, teaching, converting countless millions of living beings, causing them to enter the Buddha way, all this for immeasurable kalpas. In order to save living beings, as an expedient means I appear to enter nirvana but in truth I do not pass into extinction. I am always here preaching the Law. I am always here, but through my transcendental powers I make it so that living beings in their befuddlement do not see me even when close by.

Hindus believe in God and the soul. Jainas don't believe in God at all but only in the soul. And Buddhists don't believe in the soul or God either. But about reincarnation all three agree — even Buddhists agree, who don't believe in the soul. A very strange thing…then who reincarnates? It is easy to understand that there is a soul and when you die the body is left on the earth and the soul enters into another body, into another womb; it is a simple, logical, mathematical thing. But Buddha says there is no soul but only a continuum. It is like when you kindle a candle in the evening and in the morning when you are blowing it out a question can be asked of you: Are you blowing out the same light that you started in the evening? No, it is not the same light, and yet a continuity is there. In the night when you lit the candle… that flame is no more there, that flame is continuously disappearing; it is being replaced by another flame. The replacement is so quick that you can't see the gaps. Buddha says that just as the candle flame is not the same — it is changing constantly, although in another sense it is the same because it is the same continuum — exactly like that, there is no soul entity in you like a thing but one like a flame. It is continuously changing, it is a river. He has come closest to the truth; at least in his expression he is the most profound. This continuum comes to an end when you become a buddha.

I was at the gym today and talking to a gentleman. He was telling me that he didn't like how messed up the world is. He was saying he wanted peace. He also asked me if I believe in reincarnation and I said no but I'm open to the possibility of it. I know how reincarnation works but I didn't want to tell him that he is God and that God is expressing itself in an infinite amount of ways. I'm just using the word God here for simplicity. I understand where most people come from but I don't see the world the way they do. I'm not attached to politics, culture, religion, science, or any other label that society believes in. I don't think it's wrong to be at a lower consciousness either because that is the way God is working through these people. After knowing all of these things, we can enjoy the world a whole lot more. What do you guys think? Do you tell people the reality of their existence or do you play along? LOL

Consciousness is contrary to popular belief not an elaborate hoax created randomly by dead matter, quantum mechanics has long proven this. And further more, there is no evidence that indicates the brain creates consciousness, or free will, that also isn't evidence for it being a receiver. And there is a ton of evidence for the brain being a receiver: PSI research, (verifiable) near death experiences, (verifiable) reincarnation testimonies, precognitive dreams, shared dreams, shared psychic experiences and most easily testable shared psychedelic experiences, either in hyperspace or while conscious here. Though a regular DMT or 5MeO breakthrough should make you open minded enough to be able to objectively look at the evidence from there. Also practicing spirituality seriously will reveal life's wonders directly to you as well, constant synchronicity will eventually be the norm of the day.

You're the source. There is no reincarnation, since you never die, and there is nothing to stay back with , since you are everything. Your body is just a host for a part of your consciousness to experience this part of reality.

And maybe you're actually the reincarnation of the Buddha and Enlightenment is your destiny. Or maybe you'll just get hit by a bus tomorrow and none of this will matter. Skepticism is good. But it's no reason to throw rationality out the window.

Damn, you'd need reincarnation for that then

@charlie2dogs Do you really know the main teachings of Buddha? The main goal of Buddhism is to reach Nirvana. I don't know about enlightenment because everyone is having different opinions. Nirvana is also called "end of sufferings." My translation of enlightenment is Nirvana. And a person doesn't need to claim himself as a Buddhist to do things Buddha taught. It's the freedom in Buddhism. Which means you do or don't, we don't care. Reincarnate as this or that and ghosts and bla bla bla are some bed time stories which people told their children. The real reincarnation and this ghosts stuff are not the same as people think. @WhatAmI Buddhism will help you a lot. But... do not go for traditional beliefs and religion. Go for teaching. Especially, the core of his teachings. If you are not sure, you should search "Why Buddhists are so eager to reach Nirvana." If you agree, then move on. If not, search something else.

@Mal I'm not sure if you'll think this is related or not, but it's what came to mind after reading your post. If you have some free time start it at the 3:00 mark and listen for a few minutes. Not so much to do with "solving issues" as it is reincarnation and the nature of living beings and/or consciousness so maybe I'm off track.

The more I tread this path, the more I get the sense that this manifest world is not intended for what conventional society thinks it is intended for. This world is a place to be to solve our issues. Nothing more. It seems to me that enlightenment is a process of getting OFF of the manifest realm, rather than making good of it. This has some links to reincarnation, I know of reincarnation conceptually, but for the first time it's making sense to me - I must be reborn into this nonsensical realm in order to do something. The biggest tragedy is, the vast majority of souls with me on this journey have no idea what this "world" is really for. They still think it's about creating some kind of life here, and that this life "matters". I would appreciate your thoughts on about this. P.S. This is not an intellectual insight, but an emotional one.

@Ayla To be honest, I don't think the reincarnation concept is right. But I don't understand why so many teachers talk about it. And I was listening about some ideas that reincarnation is not really our ego reincarnating so I was like in a period of study. I would like to know what Buddha exactly said about the concept of reincarnation.

Here there's some kind of explanation, the concept of reincarnation is a misunderstanding, in fact has more to do with the law of Karma. I found this article "googling" You can read the whole article here: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/reincarnation.htm Here there's an interesting part of the article: "Karma is a Sanskrit word from the root "Kri" to do or to make and simply means "action." It operates in the universe as the continuous chain reaction of cause and effect. It is not only confined to causation in the physical sense but also it has moral implications. "A good cause, a good effect; a bad cause a bad effect" is a common saying. In this sense karma is a moral law. Now human beings are constantly giving off physical and spiritual forces in all directions. In physics we learn that no energy is ever lost; only that it changes form. This is the common law of conservation of energy. Similarly, spiritual and mental action is never lost. It is transformed. Thus Karma is the law of the conservation of moral energy. By actions, thoughts, and words, man is releasing spiritual energy to the universe and he is in turn affected by influences coming in his direction. Man is therefore the sender and receiver of all these influences. The entire circumstances surrounding him is his karma."

I think we cannot really understand reincarnation until we fully awaken, because the very concept of separate mind and body is somewhat incompatible with the principle of reincarnation. Personally what I (my ego) would like to take with me to the next life is my personal "achievements", memories, thoughts, concepts - everything that creates the false self which I'll be happy to drop in this very life. Once the false self is dissolved, what is left? What is IT that will be carried to the next life? I have no clue, all I know is that it will be impersonal.

Matt Kahn in an interview in this reaction: Than it is the one that has experienced those past reïncarnation. It was so funny yet genius.

So, the concept of reincarnation is taken in the broadest meaning? I mean, while there's still process of being born and dead there's reincarnation? I have to read about that, I know... hehehe...

@Khin yeah ! I agree! Reincarnation is Radically different than most people think.