Rebirth (Buddhism)

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pain, once again our orientation will be outward, looking for scientific and technological breakthroughs to relieve our suffering. Human desire for ever-greater happiness seems to be insatiable, and a materialistic worldview strongly supports materialistic values and a way of life centered on the never-ending quest of consumerism... A materialistic outlook that focuses our attention on the bounties of the external physical world simultaneously blinds us to the inner resources of the human heart and mind. If all our efforts go toward the alleviation of suffering and realization of happiness by external means, the inner ways that we might pursue the good life will be unexplored. A materialistic worldview provides no rationale for making a commitment to ethics or spiritual practice of any kind. Material values and consumerism are naturally aligned with materialism, which reduces meditation to a means for making a materialistic way of life more bearable.

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rebirth and karmic results, the Buddha sometimes coupled it with a second pragmatic argument that resembles Pascal's wager: If one practices the Dhamma, one leads a blameless life in the here-and-now. Even if the afterlife and karmic results do not exist, one has not lost the wager, for the blamelessness of one's life is a reward in and of itself. If there is an afterlife with karmic results, then one has won a double reward: the blamelessness of one's life here and now, and the good rewards of one's actions in the afterlife. These two pragmatic arguments form the central message of this sutta.

2268:, acceptance of rebirth also has positive moral consequences, particularly in our practice of the Buddhist path. Berzin writes that an understanding of rebirth allows one to better cultivate compassion and loving-kindness towards all beings, since it allows us to see how in past lives, we have been related to all beings and how they have been our mothers (and vice versa). Likewise, we have also been many different types of beings in the past (male, female, animals, numerous nationalities etc). According to Berzin, this reflection allows us to better relate to other sentient beings. 1734:, Vasubandhu defends the theory of the intermediate existence. He argues that each intermediate being is made up of the five aggregates, that it arises in the place of death and carries the "configuration of the future being." Furthermore, according to Vasubandhu, this conscious intermediate being becomes aroused on seeing their future parents joined in intercourse and it becomes envious of one of the parents. Because of this desire and hatred, it becomes attached to the womb where it conditions the first moment of "birth existence" ( 2230:

unskillful actions is based on the consequences of these actions, and that this provides a strong motivation to do good as long as rebirth holds. This is because actions can sometimes take many lifetimes to yield their results (and thus bad persons do not always experience bad consequences in one lifetime as can be seen in SN 42.13 and MN 136) and therefore only a multi-life perspective can lead to "a complete and convincing case that unskillful actions should always be avoided, and skillful ones always developed."

2633: 2043:. Lucas rejects constitutive panpsychism as a live option for a Buddhist due to various issues including the "combination problem" and because it supports the idea that the conscious subject collapses into micro-experiences when the body dies. Lucas then proceeds to argue for an unbroken stream of consciousness or an indivisible cluster of conscious experience "that can neither arise from nor collapse into rudimentary factors that are devoid of the distinctive characteristics of consciousness." 1640:), attempted to refute every concept for a support or a storehouse of karmic information (including the alaya-vijñana). Instead, some Prāsaṇgika philosophers argue that a karmic action results in a potential which will ripen later. This potential is not a thing and does not need a support. However, other Madhyamaka thinkers (which are classified as "Svatantrikas" by Tibetans scholars), generally adopted the Sautrantika concept of tendencies stored in the stream of consciousness. 40: 8919: 1391:(MN 2, with a parallel at MA 10). In contrast to this, various early texts regularly recommend the direct recollection of one's own past lives as one of the three higher knowledges which correspond to the realizations attained by the Buddha on the night of his awakening. According to Anālayo, there is a major difference between direct access to our past lives through mental training (which is encouraged) and theoretical speculation (which is not). 8930: 6328: 6315: 1985:

further notes that for Dharmakīrti, the nature of matter is that it is obstructive, it resists other instances of matter, while the nature of consciousness is altogether different since it is capable of including diverse objects within itself at the same time without any of them obstructing the other. Furthermore, phenomenal consciousness is able to illuminate or cognize objects (as well as itself, i.e. it is self-reflexive) and has

621: 6305: 5196:"(...) anatta is the doctrine of non-self, and is an extreme empiricist doctrine that holds that the notion of an unchanging permanent self is a fiction and has no reality. According to Buddhist doctrine, the individual person consists of five skandhas or heaps – the body, feelings, perceptions, impulses and consciousness. The belief in a self or soul, over these five skandhas, is illusory and the cause of suffering." 2371:) and is involved in the rebirth mechanism. Further, Jainism considers that the rebirth has a start, that rebirth and redeath cycle is a part of a progression of a soul, karmic dust particles emanate from ethical or unethical intent and actions, these karmic particles stick to the soul which determines the next birth. Jainism, further asserts that some souls can never achieve liberation, that ethical living such as 2646:"Buddhism shares with Hinduism the doctrine of Samsara, whereby all beings pass through an unceasing cycle of birth, death and rebirth until they find a means of liberation from the cycle. However, Buddhism differs from Hinduism in rejecting the assertion that every human being possesses a changeless soul which constitutes his or her ultimate identity, and which transmigrates from one incarnation to the next.. 1972:, Dharmakīrti denied that mental events were a mere byproduct of the body, instead holding that "both mental events and physical events can be seen as effects of the same set of causal conditions." For Dharmakīrti, all events are dependent on multiple causes, and they must be preceded by an "antecedent causal condition" of the same class. This means that all mental events 2125:) where the Buddha says that if there is an afterlife, those who perform bad actions have "made a bad throw twice" (because they are harmed in this world and in the next) while those who perform good actions will not, and thus he calls his teaching a "safe-bet teaching". This ancient wager argument is similar in structure to modern wager arguments like 2354:, the ultimate reality. Thus while both Buddhism and Hinduism accept the karma and rebirth doctrine, and both focus on ethics in this life as well as liberation from rebirth and suffering as the ultimate spiritual pursuit, they have a very different view on whether a self or soul exists, which impacts the details of their respective rebirth theories. 1993:

Dharmakīrti also argues that mental events can causally condition physical events, and thus there is no reason to privilege matter as being primary. According to Martin Willson, this kind of argument is the most commonly used in the Tibetan philosophical tradition to establish the truth of rebirth and in its most simple form can be put as follows:

2544:* The Theravada tradition holds that insight into these four truths is liberating in itself. This is reflected in the Pali canon. According to Donald Lopez, "The Buddha stated in his first sermon that when he gained absolute and intuitive knowledge of the four truths, he achieved complete enlightenment and freedom from future rebirth." 2542:* Graham Harvey: "Siddhartha Gautama found an end to rebirth in this world of suffering. His teachings, known as the dharma in Buddhism, can be summarized in the Four Noble truths." Geoffrey Samuel (2008): "The Four Noble Truths describe the knowledge needed to set out on the path to liberation from rebirth." See also 2531:* Buswell and Lopez on "rebirth": "An English term that does not have an exact correlate in Buddhist languages, rendered instead by a range of technical terms, such as the Sanskrit PUNARJANMAN (lit. "birth again") and PUNABHAVAN (lit. "re-becoming"), and, less commonly, the related PUNARMRTYU (lit. "redeath")." 1976:

a previous mental event as part of its causal nexus (presumably stretching back before one's birth). According to Hayes, Dharmakīrti holds therefore that "both physical factors and nonphysical factors play a role in the formation of mental events", if not there would be no difference between sentient

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The Theravāda school's doctrine of the bhavaṅga (Pali, "ground of becoming", "condition for existence") is another theory that was used to explain rebirth. It is seen as a mental process which conditions the next mental process at the moment of death and rebirth (though it does not actually travel in

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which arose debated numerous aspects of rebirth, seeking to provide a more systematic explanation of the rebirth process. Important topics included the existence of the intermediate state, the exact nature of what undergoes rebirth, the relationship between rebirth and not-self, and how karma affects

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Ronald Davidson: "While most scholars agree that there was a rough body of sacred literature (disputed)(sic) that a relatively early community (disputed)(sic) maintained and transmitted, we have little confidence that much, if any, of surviving Buddhist scripture is actually the word of the historic

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whether these assumptions are true, you cannot plan an action without implicitly wagering on the issue. This is why simply stating, "I don't know," is not an adequate response to the questions of rebirth and the efficacy of karma. The attitude behind it may be honest on one level, but it's dishonest

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According to Thanissaro Bhikkhu, part of the reason the Buddha recommended having conviction in the truth of rebirth was that his teaching on the nature of human action would be incomplete without reference to rebirth. Thanissaro argues that the distinction that the Buddha draws between skillful and

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However, Anālayo argues that since there are different definitions of right view in the early texts, this "leaves open the possibility that someone may engage in practices related to the Buddhist path to liberation without necessarily pledging faith in rebirth. It does not leave open the possibility

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schools affirmed the idea of soul, karma and cycle of rebirth. The competing Indian materialist schools denied the idea of soul, karma and rebirth, asserting instead that there is just one life, there is no rebirth, and death marks complete annihilation. From these diverse views, Buddha accepted the

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The Buddha's main pragmatic argument is that if one accepted his teachings, one would be likely to pay careful attention to one's actions, so as to do no harm. This in and of itself is a worthy activity regardless of whether the rest of the path was true. When applying this argument to the issue of

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If we embrace a materialistic worldview, we will naturally seek satisfaction and fulfillment by turning our attention to the outside world, looking for novel sensory and intellectual experiences as well as new material acquisitions. Likewise, when we focus on decreasing our level of suffering and

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school held this was a "transmigrating substratum of consciousness". It argued that each personal action "perfumes" the individual stream of consciousness and leads to the planting of a seed that would later germinate as a good or bad karmic result. This allowed them to explain what underwent the

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individual in a future life, Jennings argued that the doctrine of actual transmigration was an "Indian dogma" that was not part of the original teachings of the Buddha. However, rebirth could instead be understood as the recurrence of our selfish desires which could repeat themselves "in endless

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While the vast majority of Buddhists accept some notion of rebirth, they differ in their theories about the rebirth mechanism and precisely how events unfold after the moment of death. Already at the time of the Buddha there was much speculation about how to explain how rebirth occurs and how it

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outlines Dharmakīrti's main point as follows: "matter and consciousness have totally different natures; an effect must be of the same nature as its cause; hence consciousness cannot arise from or be produced by matter (though material things can condition or influence consciousness)." Thompson

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is a valid means of knowledge about the mind (when that introspection is well trained by meditation) and has been used by numerous contemplatives throughout history. He writes that a well trained mind, "which may be likened to an inwardly focused telescope," should be able to access "a subtle,

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Eli Franco mentions that for Dharmakīrti, the position that cognition "can arise from the body alone, independent of their similar causes" at the moment of birth is irrational. That is, if the mind is not being conditioned by a previous cognitive event, then it cannot arise from inert matter.

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The same sutra states that if consciousness were to depart from the womb, the fetus could not continue to grow. Drawing on these sutras and others (such as SN 22.8 and SA 1265) Anālayo concludes that "consciousness appears to be what provides the transition from one body to another". However,

2032:, since in all systems of Buddhist thought, the mind and body are deeply interconnected and dependent on each other. Dharmakīrti 's point is merely that consciousness cannot arise from physical factors alone, which does not entail that consciousness is totally separate from physical factors. 1862:

as providing possible evidence of rebirth. This is not just a recent phenomenon. According to Anālayo, ancient Chinese Buddhists also pointed to anomalous phenomena such as NDEs to argue for the truth of rebirth. Furthermore, according to Roger R. Jackson, the Indian Buddhist philosopher

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Jainism posits that there are four realms, in contrast to six of Buddhism; the Jaina realms are heavenly deities, human, non-human living beings (animal, plants), and hellish beings. Within the human realms, Jainism asserts that rebirth lineage and gender depends on karma in the past

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did not completely reject the rebirth doctrine, he only saw the idea that there is something that gets reborn into a future womb as "trivial". Instead of this 'literal' view, he interpreted the true meaning of rebirth as the re-arising of the sense of self or "I" or "me", a kind of

1073:"SA" 298 as evidence. SN 12.2 defines "birth" in the context of Dependent Origination as "the birth of the various beings into the various orders of beings, their being born, descent into the womb, production, the manifestation of the aggregates, the obtaining of the sense bases." 2525:* Paul Williams: "All rebirth is due to karma and is impermanent. Short of attaining enlightenment, in each rebirth one is born and dies, to be reborn elsewhere in accordance with the completely impersonal causal nature of one's own karma. The endless cycle of birth, rebirth, and 805:

There is no word corresponding exactly to the English terms "rebirth", "metempsychosis", "transmigration" or "reincarnation" in the traditional Buddhist languages of Pāli and Sanskrit. Rebirth is referred to by various terms, representing an essential step in the endless cycle of

3203:, page 64; "Central to Buddhist soteriology is the doctrine of not-self (Pali: anattā, Sanskrit: anātman, the opposed doctrine of ātman is central to Brahmanical thought). Put very briefly, this is the doctrine that human beings have no soul, no self, no unchanging essence."; 2296:

Regardless of what we believe, our actions will reverberate beyond our deaths. Irrespective of our personal survival, the legacy of our thoughts, words, and deeds will continue through the impressions we leave behind in the lives of those we have influenced or touched in any

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is the ultimate goal of Buddhist teaching. However, much of traditional Buddhist practice has been centered on gaining merit and merit transfer, whereby an individual gains rebirth for oneself or one's family members in the good realms, and avoids rebirth in the evil realms.

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individual mind stream that carries on from one lifetime to another." Wallace proposes that a research project using well trained meditators could access information from past lives in an accurate manner and these could then be checked by independent third person observers.

1745:) concept developed elaborate descriptions of numerous visions experienced during the process of dying, including visions of peaceful and wrathful deities. These ideas led to various maps for navigating the intermediate existence which are discussed in texts like the 849:" as they take the latter to imply an entity (soul) that is reborn. Buddhism denies there is any such soul or self in a living being, but does assert that there is a cycle of transmigration consisting of rebirth and redeath as the fundamental nature of existence. 1766:, which occurs at the time of conception. The relationship is compared to that between a seal and wax. While they are not the same entity, the wax impression is conditioned by the seal. Therefore, in the classic Theravāda view, nothing actually transmigrates. 2117:, "safe bet" or "guarantee"). Thanissaro argues that "the Buddha stated that it's a safe wager to assume that actions bear results that can affect not only this lifetime for also lifetimes after this than it is to assume the opposite." Thanissaro cites 2383:(enlightened state) that ends their rebirth cycles. Jainism, like Buddhism, also believes in realms of birth and is symbolized by its emblematic Swastika sign, with ethical and moral theories of its lay practices focussing on obtaining good rebirth. 2350:, attā), in contrast to Buddhist assumption that there is no soul. Hindu traditions consider soul to be the unchanging eternal essence of a living being, and in many of its theistic and non-theistic traditions the soul asserted to be identical with 1031:, the EBTs state that on the night of his awakening, the Buddha attained the ability to recall a vast number of past lives along with numerous details about them. These early scriptures also state that he could remember "as far as ninety one eons" ( 780:

assert that rebirth occurs immediately and that no "thing" (not even consciousness) moves across lives to be reborn (though there is a causal link, like when a seal is imprinted on wax). Other Buddhist traditions such as Tibetan Buddhism posit an

2311:), "there is no one born, there is no one who dies and is reborn. Therefore, the whole question of rebirth is quite foolish and has nothing to do with Buddhism…in the sphere of the Buddhist teachings there is no question of rebirth or 1100:) is seen as supported by the body and its cognitive apparatus and cannot exist without it (and vice versa). However, consciousness can jump from one body to another (this is compared to how a spark from a hot iron can travel through the air in 1501:) does not mean that there is a lack of continuity in rebirth, since there is still a causal link between lives. The process of rebirth across different realms of existence was compared to how a flame is transferred from one candle to another. 1965:" and arguing that conscious properties cannot be reduced to physical properties. Indeed, according to Wallace "the metaphysical views of materialism are in fundamental conflict with the Buddhist worldview regarding the nature of the mind" 2514:: "I have the greatest difficulty in accepting that the main edifice is not the work of a single genius. By "the main edifice" I mean the collections of the main body of sermons, the four Nikāyas, and of the main body of monastic rules." 1384:

of denying rebirth outright, however, since that would amount to holding wrong view". Because of this, Anālayo writes that the question of rebirth may simply be set aside without going as far as to deny rebirth and affirm annihilation.

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equated the alaya-vijñana with similar teachings found in other Buddhist schools which indicates that the idea of a rebirth consciousness was widespread. He states that this is the same idea which is called "root-consciousness"

3191:, Encyclopædia Britannica (2013), Quote: "Anatta in Buddhism, the doctrine that there is in humans no permanent, underlying soul. The concept of anatta, or anatman, is a departure from the Hindu belief in atman ("the self")."; 2237:

If you assume that your actions have results, and those results will reverberate through many lifetimes, it's easier to stick to your principles not to lie, kill, or steal even under severe duress. And even though you may not

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by using a three life model (the previous life, the present life and the future life). However, their Abhidharma works also state that the 12 factors of dependent origination can be understood as active in the present moment.

1957:) for cognition is the body and that when the body is destroyed, cognition is destroyed. Modern Buddhists who argue in favor of rebirth like B. Alan Wallace often begin by mounting similar arguments against materialism and 1380:(which rejected rebirth and held that "all are destroyed at death"). According to this Sutta, to hold this view while living in a time when the Buddha's teachings are available is equivalent to being born dumb and dull. 877:

show a different soteriology based on reincarnation, they show little concern with ancestor rites, and they begin to philosophically interpret the earlier rituals. The idea of reincarnation and karma have roots in the

1536:, which held that phenomena (dharmas) in the past, present and future exist. Because of this, they argued that after an action was done by a person, it still continued to exist, and to be in a state of "possession" ( 2211:"If there is another world, and if there is the fruit and result of good and bad deeds, it is possible that with the breakup of the body, after death, I will be reborn in a good destination, in a heavenly world." 1873:

that newborn children exhibit a wide range of complex desires, emotions and mental states that could not exist without the force of past habit, and thus they must be based on the habits acquired in a past life.

917:. The Buddha introduced the concept that there is no soul (self) tying the cycle of rebirths, in contrast to themes asserted by various Hindu and Jaina traditions, and this central concept in Buddhism is called 1351:

According to the early Buddhist texts, accepting the truth of rebirth (glossed as the view that "there is this world & the next world" in suttas like MN 117) is part of right view, the first element of the

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As noted by Anālayo, a standard definition of wrong view in the EBTs "explicitly covers the denial of rebirth and the fruition of karma". The denial of rebirth is rejected as an "annihilationist" view in the

1164:) which in turn "form an object for the establishment of consciousness" (SA 359, SN 13.39). These subliminal inclinations are thus a condition for continued rebirth and also carry imprints from past lives. 1185:(DN 14, parallel at DA 1). Another key point affirmed by the EBTs is that the series of past lives stretches so far back into the past that a beginning point cannot be found (see e.g. SN 15.3 and SA 938). 1881:

and Geshe Gedun Lodro have also written about how to train the mind to access past life memories. The Burmese monk Pa Auk Sayadaw is known for teaching such methods and some of his western students like

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Modern Buddhists such as Bhikkhu Anālayo and Jayatilleke have also argued that rebirth may be empirically verifiable and have pointed to certain parapsychological phenomena as possible evidence, mainly

2214:"If there is no other world, and there is no fruit and result of good and bad deeds, still right here, in this very life, I maintain myself in happiness, without enmity and ill will, free of trouble." 2058:) both depend on each other and on previous events of the same category (i.e. mental events must also be conditioned by previous mental events, and so on). In Abhidhamma, the mental event ( 1037:

i.483). An interpretation of these memories is a link to deceased ancestors and their individual lives and memories, with later views interpreting these as personal memories of past lives.

763:(not-self) doctrine. The various Buddhist traditions throughout history have disagreed on what it is in a person that is reborn, as well as how quickly the rebirth occurs after each death. 2255:

views which reject rebirth "undermine any sense of moral responsibility, and this is bound to have a profoundly detrimental effect on societies that adopt such beliefs." He further argues:

1116:: Ananda, in dependence on consciousness there is name and form. What is the meaning of this? If consciousness did not enter the mother's womb, would there be name and form? replied: No. 913:

Buddha also asserted that there is karma, which influences the future suffering through the cycle of rebirth, but added that there is a way to end the cycle of karmic rebirths through

1398:(MN 38, MA 201), a monk comes to the conclusion that it is this very same consciousness that will be reborn (as opposed to a dependently originated process). In another discourse, the 5070: 1267:(deeds, intent) of current and previous lives; good karma will yield a happier rebirth into good realms while bad karma is believed to produce rebirth which is more unhappy and evil. 1173:). The Buddha himself is depicted as having developed the ability to recollect his past lives as well as to access the past life memories of other conscious beings in texts like the 903:

Since there actually is another world (any world other than the present human one, i.e. different rebirth realms), one who holds the view 'there is no other world' has wrong view...

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argues that these views are based on scant evidence from the EBTs. He further writes that "in so far as the texts allow us to reach an answer...the Buddha did believe in rebirth."

3229: 1544:) of the person who performed the action. According to Vaibhāṣikas, it was this which guaranteed the capacity of past karma to produce an effect long after it had been performed. 1387:

An advice given in various EBTs is not to waste time speculating about what one might have been in the past and what they will be in the future. Such advice can be found in the

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useful. Thus, the Buddhist position on rebirth could be defended on pragmatic grounds instead of empirical or logical grounds. Some modern Buddhists have taken this position.

1773:) have defended the idea of an intermediate state. It is also a very common belief among monks and laypersons in the Theravāda world (where it is commonly referred to as the 757:

The rebirth doctrine has been a subject of scholarly studies within Buddhism since ancient times, particularly in reconciling the rebirth doctrine with its anti-essentialist

5238:, page 63, Quote: "The Buddhist schools reject any Ātman concept. As we have already observed, this is the basic and ineradicable distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism". 2243:

in thinking that this is all that needs to be said, for it ignores the fact that you have to make assumptions about the possible results of your actions every time you act.

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David Loy (1982), Enlightenment in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta: Are Nirvana and Moksha the Same?, International Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 23, Issue 1, pages 65–74;

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An important question which was debated by Indian Buddhist thinkers was the question of what exactly gets reborn, and how this is different from the Indian concept of an

1665:). This concept was attacked by Theravada Buddhists in the early 1st millennium CE. The personal entity concept was rejected by the mid-1st millennium CE Pali scholar 2493:

in the sense of rebirth, similarly appears in many places, such as in Digha II.15, Samyutta I.133 and 4.201, Itivuttaka 62, Sutta-nipata 162, 273, 502, 514 and 733.

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Before the time of the Buddha, many ideas on the nature of existence, birth and death were in vogue. The early layers of the Vedas do not mention the doctrine of

1758:). According to Buddhaghosa, at death, the sense faculties dissolve one by one until only consciousness is left. The very last moment of consciousness at death ( 1490:.3.105) as that which transmigrates. However, according to Bruce Matthews, "there is no single major systematic exposition on this subject" in the Pali Canon. 822:), while the state one is born into, the individual process of being born or coming into the world in any way, is referred to simply as "birth" (Pali/Sanskrit: 7069: 3915: 5990: 7984: 6459: 2285:

succeeding generations". In this interpretation, our actions do have consequences beyond our present lives, but these are "collective not individual."

750:(bad or unskillful karma). While nirvana is the ultimate goal of Buddhist teaching, much of traditional Buddhist practice has been centered on gaining 2217:"Suppose evil comes to one who does evil. Then, when I have no evil intentions toward anyone, how can suffering afflict me, since I do no evil deed?" 1694: 789:) between death and rebirth, which may last as long as 49 days. This belief drives Tibetan funerary rituals. A now defunct Buddhist tradition called 2207:

also contains a similar wager argument towards rebirth, called the "four assurances" or "four consolations". These four assurances are as follows:

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premises and concepts related to rebirth, but introduced innovations. According to various Buddhist scriptures, Buddha believed in other worlds,

5221:"(...) Buddha's teaching that beings have no soul, no abiding essence. This 'no-soul doctrine' (anatta-vada) he expounded in his second sermon." 2006:

Willson notes that this relies on two further assumptions, the first is that any mental continuum must have previous causes, the second is that

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In contrast to this, the Theravāda scholar Buddhaghosa argued that rebirth occurs in one instant as part of a process called "rebirth-linking" (

8212: 1659:) that retains karmic merit and undergoes rebirth. This personal entity was held to be neither different nor identical to the five aggregates ( 102: 2305:(1906–1993) also had a rationalistic or psychological interpretation of rebirth. He argued that since there is no substantial entity or soul ( 6014: 1953:, Dharmakīrti defends rebirth by initially focusing on refuting the materialist doctrine of the Carvaka school, which held that the support ( 1930: 1902: 5067: 1121:

according to Sujato, the EBTs indicate that it is not just consciousness which undergoes rebirth, but some form of all the five aggregates.

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Franco, Eli, Dharmakīrti on compassion and rebirth, Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien, 1997, p. 105.

1316:". Furthermore, each stage of awakening was believed to be associated with being closer to the ending of rebirth in the following manner: 742:, the ghost realm and hell realms. Rebirth, as stated by various Buddhist traditions, is determined by karma, with good realms favored by 5180: 3226: 6537: 2485:

in the sense of rebirth and re-death appears in many places in early Buddhist texts, such as in Samyutta Nikaya III.53, Jataka II.172,

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school of early Buddhism accepted the core premise of Buddhism that there is no ātman, but asserted that there is a "personal entity" (

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7.52). This process applies to the very moment of conception, which requires a consciousness to enter the womb. This is indicated by

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also argue that the Buddha's main argument in favor of rebirth was based on empirical grounds, and that this included the idea that

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The Indian Buddhist philosopher Dharmakīrti (fl. c. 6th or 7th century) outlined one of the most influential arguments for rebirth.

1136:, which states that "when a being has laid down this body, but has not yet been reborn in another body, it is fuelled by craving." 1076:

The early Buddhist conception of rebirth is one in which consciousness is always dependent on other factors, mainly name and form (

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Some early discourses also depict various Buddhist monks who seriously misunderstood the nature of rebirth. In one discourse, the

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Mindful Life or Mindful Lives? Exploring why the Buddhist belief in rebirth should betaken seriously by mindfulness practitioners

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Mindful Life or Mindful Lives? Exploring why the Buddhist belief in rebirth should betaken seriously by mindfulness practitioners

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Mindful Life or Mindful Lives? Exploring why the Buddhist belief in rebirth should betaken seriously by mindfulness practitioners

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Mindful Life or Mindful Lives? Exploring why the Buddhist belief in rebirth should betaken seriously by mindfulness practitioners

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Mindful Life or Mindful Lives? Exploring why the Buddhist belief in rebirth should betaken seriously by mindfulness practitioners

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Mindful Life or Mindful Lives? Exploring why the Buddhist belief in rebirth should betaken seriously by mindfulness practitioners

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and his disciples of having gained direct knowledge into their own past lives as well as those of other beings through a kind of

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In the 1940s, J. G. Jennings interpreted the teaching of rebirth in a less than literal sense. Believing that the doctrine of

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makes a similar argument to Dharmakīrti's. According to the Abhidhamma teacher Nina van Gorkom, physical and mental events (

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refers to the teaching that the actions of a sentient being lead to a new existence after death, in an endless cycle called

6622: 6464: 5652: 3677: 3195:

Steven Collins (1994), Religion and Practical Reason (Editors: Frank Reynolds, David Tracy), State Univ of New York Press,

1769:

In spite of the rejection of the intermediate state by such an influential figure, some modern Theravāda scholars (such as

2039:. Strawson argues against emergence as well as against proto-experiential qualities and argues for a form of constitutive 1516:

which were deposited in a mental substratum. The Sautrantika Elder Srilata defended the theory of a "subsidiary element" (

1356:. While some scholars like Tilmann Vetter and Akira Hirakawa have questioned whether the Buddha saw rebirth as important, 8799: 4179: 4642: 3610: 1418:

A traditional Tibetan illustration of conception and the growth of the fetus, from the "Blue Beryl" medical treatise by

1132:) between death and rebirth. According to Bhikkhu Sujato, the most explicit passage supporting this can be found in the 8696: 8246: 6341: 5795: 5235: 3982: 3729: 3249: 3200: 2922: 2425: 651: 97: 54: 5020: 3695: 1604:), which is a subliminal and constantly changing stream of consciousness that stores the seeds and undergoes rebirth. 1232: 1204: 929:. The Buddha's detailed conception of the connections between action (karma), rebirth and causality is set out in the 6542: 6230: 6216: 6202: 6188: 6174: 6160: 6130: 6113: 6099: 6085: 5747: 5704: 4556: 4547:

Matthews, Bruce (1986). "Post-Classical Developments in the Concepts of Karma and Rebirth in Theravada Buddhism" in "

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Matthews, Bruce (1986). "Post-Classical Developments in the Concepts of Karma and Rebirth in Theravada Buddhism" in "

4011: 3140: 3126: 2464:

This is discussed in many Suttas of different Nikayas. See, for example, Devaduta Sutta in Majjhima Nikaya (iii.178).

8789: 5645:

Rebirth in early Buddhism & current research: With forewords by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Bhante Gunaratna

3184: 8474: 8219: 826:). The entire universal process of beings being reborn again and again is called "wandering about" (Pali/Sanskrit: 8866: 8856: 6685: 1770: 1533: 1512:

and the Mahasisaka held that the karmic link between lives could be explained by how karmic effects arose out of

3117:"Post-Classical Developments in the Concepts of Karma and Rebirth in Theravada Buddhism." by Bruce Matthews. in 2560:(D II 90–91). Here, the Buddha explains that it is by not understanding the four truths that rebirth continues." 1685:

Another topic which gave rise to much debate among Indian Buddhists was the idea of the intermediate existence (

8811: 8464: 8266: 8157: 8102: 6675: 3912: 2410: 1065:

is closely connected with the doctrine of rebirth. One of the 12 elements of Dependent Origination is "birth" (

5985: 2024:

The substantial cause for any event is a prior event with the same character (i.e. it is a homogeneous cause).

1167:

According to the EBTs, past life memories can be retrieved through the cultivation of deep meditative states (

8781: 8479: 8162: 6454: 6287: 4379: 1962: 1818:). Traditional Buddhist philosophers like Dharmakīrti have defended the concept of special yogic perception ( 1532:

The Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika school on the other hand did not make use of the seed theory, since they held an

1422:(c. 1720). Note the rebirth consciousness entering the womb during conception (first illustration, top left). 865:. According to Sayers, these earliest layers of the Vedic literature show ancestor worship and rites such as 580: 275: 2021:

Consciousness, or the mental continuum, has characteristics that are distinct from physical characteristics.

8364: 8236: 8207: 7909: 4586: 2562:* On the meaning of moksha as liberation from rebirth, see Patrick Olivelle in the Encyclopædia Britannica. 2280:(not-self) is incompatible with the view that the actions of one individual can have repercussions for the 1309: 1069:), which according to Anālayo refers to the rebirth of living beings. He cites SN 12.2 and its parallel in 525: 300: 260: 2220:"Suppose evil does not come to one who does evil. Then right here I see myself purified in both respects." 8965: 8055: 7964: 7434: 7079: 6592: 6487: 7599: 5230:

John C. Plott et al (2000), Global History of Philosophy: The Axial Age, Volume 1, Motilal Banarsidass,

2552:

also refers to this liberation. Carol Anderson: "The second passage where the four truths appear in the

2379:

are means to liberation for those who can attain liberation, and that liberated souls reach the eternal

1878: 754:

and merit transfer, whereby one gains rebirth in the good realms and avoids rebirth in the evil realms.

8904: 8384: 7860: 7346: 6469: 6302: 2289: 2265: 2035:

Jacob Andrew Lucas provides a modern formulation of an argument for rebirth which draws on the work of

1208: 7794: 2017:

According to Jacob Andrew Lucas, the strength of Dharmakīrti's argument lies on its two key premises:

1719: 8794: 8607: 8597: 8469: 7452: 7032: 6793: 6768: 5122:

Steven M. Emmanuel, Buddhist Philosophy: A Comparative Approach, John Wiley & Sons, 2017, p. 225.

2109:

has argued for the acceptance of the Buddhist idea of rebirth as a type of pragmatic wager argument (

1969: 1610: 1471:, unchanging self), which Buddhism rejects. The early Buddhist texts sometimes speak of an "evolving 1000:

means 're-becoming'. Numerous other terms for rebirths are found in the Buddhist scriptures, such as

810:, terms such as "re-becoming" or "becoming again" (Sanskrit: punarbhava, Pali: punabbhava), re-born ( 688: 400: 6818: 2365:

traditions. Jainism, in contrast to Buddhism, accepts the foundational assumption that soul exists (

210: 8899: 8251: 8065: 8043: 8036: 7939: 7472: 7092: 6908: 6853: 6474: 6280: 2440: 1472: 1193: 405: 355: 6006: 923:; Buddha also affirmed the idea that all compounded things are subject to dissolution at death or 8836: 8816: 8147: 8127: 7884: 7614: 6858: 6254: 6248: 3935:

published in: Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 21(1), 1998, pp. 1–19.

1933:, also put forth philosophical arguments in favor of rebirth and especially directed against the 1910:

Besides defending the status of the Buddha as an epistemically authoritative or reliable person (

1827: 1809: 1372: 565: 1101: 719:, the Buddha claims to have knowledge of his many past lives. Rebirth and other concepts of the 8960: 8846: 8686: 8354: 8324: 8097: 8048: 7889: 7837: 7832: 7594: 7415: 7312: 7064: 7059: 6808: 5054: