Scared Of Death Before Spiritual Enlightenment.

[heisenburger]

Buddhism teaches in reincarnation if you die before enlightenment, this scares the shit out of me, does this mean I can be reborn in a country with wars going on and be tortured endlessly or be born as an animal that is brutally killed by another. 

How do you reconcile these negative images.

 

[Telepresent]

You have to start by worrying about what "you" are, before you worry about what will happen to "you" in the future.  I don't want to sound blunt, but until you're dead you are alive, so it might do you better to condier your predicament of being alive, rather than worrying about post-death.

However, if you really want to talk about it: a) what are you imagining, b) what makes them true, c) what makes them bad, d) what makes you think things could be another way? 

Bonus, e) do you consider yourself separate from the observed?  Are you able to answer any of the above without being personally involved?  And are you able to answor those questions honestly without feeling offended or bothered?

[PureExp]

@heisenburger You are forgetting something important here....those who are suffering in wars, and those animals who are getting killed, millions of them, are already "you". Are they not? So what are you afraid of?

Ok that was mystic mumbo jumbo enlightened master talk about. It all depends on how you define "you". People have a different idea of self depending on their level of achievement. Lets see:

you=body: it becomes dirt for sure, nothing is reborn that is body.

you=ego: or the lower mind, responsible for survival of the organism. It surely gets destroyed as brain decomposes.

you=mind: hmm .. we are getting fuzzy here, because mind is non-physical, perhaps something will survive, like an artistic skill or effect of a deep trauma. But its probable that most of it is wiped out, including the personality (individualness), memories, and knowledge.

you=universal mind: we are in pure theoretical area here (as far as my own experience goes), but I can guess that most of it survives. It includes the impressions taken from current life, the storehouse of impressions is universal mind, aka Karmic store. According to some, it is this thing that is reborn (concept of Jiva, or soul). To stop it from playing the game of lives and death (samsara), you need to get liberated (nirvana). To be honest, it all is just theory for me (at this time, no direct experience whatsoever).

you=consciousness: there is no doubt that you are the consciousness, and it cannot die, its not a thing, not physical, not non-physical. Its the witness, and it will witness the next drama on its screen. It is free, it is already in nirvana, nothing needs to be done.

So you can pick a definition, and worry about death and reincarnation at that level. In the end, you will find that its useless. Some things are unknowable. Most are beyond a person's control (dead or alive). The only thing you can do is be enlightened, remain as consciousness. Rest may happen when the time is right.

All the best for your next incarnation

[Galyna]

1 hour ago, heisenburger said:

Buddhism teaches in reincarnation if you die before enlightenment, this scares the shit out of me, does this mean I can be reborn in a country with wars going on and be tortured endlessly or be born as an animal that is brutally killed by another. 

How do you reconcile these negative images.

 

 

Don't worry it's not a linear process. Everything is much more complicated. 

[Prabhaker]

5 hours ago, heisenburger said:

this scares the shit out of me, does this mean I can be reborn in a country with wars going on and be tortured endlessly or be born as an animal that is brutally killed by another

Death doesn’t make much difference: in the next life you start again the same way, because the next life starts from where the last was discontinued; it is a continuity. Death is the culmination of life, In death the whole life is summed up. So, live consciously, if you try to bring consciousness to every act that you go through, you will be living in a silent, blissful state, in serenity, in joy, in love and your next life will be beautiful.

Edited February 20, 2017 by Prabhaker

[Dodo]

1 hour ago, Prabhaker said:

Death doesn’t make much difference: in the next life you start again the same way, because the next life starts from where the last was discontinued; it is a continuity. Death is the culmination of life, In death the whole life is summed up. So, live consciously, if you try to bring consciousness to every act that you go through, you will be living in a silent, blissful state, in serenity, in joy, in love and your next life will be beautiful.

I have had a similar notion. Life's the gift that keeps on giving.

I had this idea a few months ago that Life's like a chest box you open at death, like you would do in the end of a level of a game. It's important to add consciousness to the chest.

[Trond]

You are consciousness, so you are being reborn all the time and will be for who the fuck knows? It doesn't matter anyway. 

The "you" you are now(the ego) will of course fade away once the time is right, who knows what of the mind/personality gets stored and transferred into the next life if there is one? Pure speculation. 

As for enlightenment, if the "you=ego" dies in this life, you can still continue on in this life as no-self. Does it make a difference for your next life if there is one? Nobody knows. However, since with enlightenment you realise that you are consciousness, I think you realise that the ego is just a one time deal. The you that you feel you are now will most likely never be lived again. 

On the other side, it is absolute infinity so maybe... 

 

[Prabhaker]

4 hours ago, Dodoster said:

I had this idea a few months ago that Life's like a chest box you open at death, like you would do in the end of a level of a game. It's important to add consciousness to the chest.

For the person who is awake and full of awareness in death, death does not exist. Death exists only for one who dies in unconsciousness. One who dies consciously, for him there is no death; for him, death becomes a door to the deathless, to the eternal.

One who dies consciously is born consciously. And one who is born consciously, the whole quality of his life becomes different—then he also lives consciously. Every fiber of his being, every part of his consciousness becomes filled with light, with wisdom, with buddhahood.

[Bob84]

12 hours ago, heisenburger said:

How do you reconcile these negative images.

By not believing religious dogma.