Questions tagged [rebirth]
The coming into existence of another being based on conditions arising from a previous existence. This is commonly confused with reincarnation. Reincarnation is the passing of a soul or spirit into a new body. Buddhism denies the concept of a soul, spirit or permanent self therefore in Buddhism rebirth occurs but there is no-one who is reborn.
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What is it that pass from this life to the next?
A friend wanted to know the Buddhist position on rebirth/reincarnation since we don’t believe in a permanent soul. Specifically, what is it that pass from this life to the next? “Karma” was my reply ...
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Is it better to be born with health, wealth, beauty and intelligence or not taking birth in this miserable and temporary world at all?
I have seen so many people till now who are very miserable because they were born ugly, poor, with less intelligence. And this world is cruel to ugly, poor and dumb people and there is no doubt about ...
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Are hungry ghosts considered "alive" if they are one of the six options of rebirth?
Are hungry ghosts in Buddhism believed to be "alive" or at least "undead" since hungry ghost is one of the options of rebirth?
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Why does Buddhism use the word "realm" when describing one of the different races?
Why is this word used? It's very confusing and makes it sound like you are reborn into a world and not as a different race of being or a human again?
Like saying "rebirth in the human realm" ...
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Is it believed to be better to be reborn as a deva or as a human again? Which should I be trying to be reborn as?
Is being reborn as a deva or human better? Can you achieve nirvana if you are reborn as a deva as well as a human?
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What's the effect of living on alms (social services) and not doing duties, being unrestrained?
Would it be similar like the destiny for monks?
It's said that one living on alms, not doing his duties (foremost sense-restrain) but enjoys sensual pleasures increases his debts: e.g. poorness, ...
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Conversions and former bad deeds
I have read that obedience to the five precepts at least guarantees that practitioners will not fall back into the lower worlds (animal world, wandering spirit world, and hell world) when they are ...
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Reunion with the loved one after death and in next life
My spiritual bonding and connection are very strong with my lovely mother who has passed away. We both have tremendous love for each other.
Can we be reunited again in the next life? Can she be born ...
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If you are reborn into a different realm, does that mean you just live in that realm, or you are reborn as the inhabitants?
When Buddhist texts mention "realms of rebirth", it sounds like you are only living in those realms and not actually becoming one of the inhabitants.
Like for example being reborn into the ...
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Avici in the Mahayana
It is very well known that it is "terrible karma", beyond even Amida's assistance, to physically draw the blood of a Buddha. Is that any kind of Buddha, a zen or vajrayana or scholastic ...
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Is it valid or "correct" for one to be concerned with future rebirths or is this a form of clinging to self
Should a person be concerned or worried where they ("I") will be reborn?
Also in which way would or could a sotappana be concerned with future existence/rebirth, when he would have already ...
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If the Tathagata exists after death, is there anyone to witness it?
This is different from asking, "does the Tathagata exist after death? or not? or both? or neither?"
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Does it matter if there is rebirth?
And, finallyI am new here, 72-years-old, interested in Buddhism and have engaged in Buddhist practices since age 18-years. Over I the years, I have been to a handful of Zen retreats, where I met with ...
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Enlightened beings (Amitabha, Padmasambhava) created mantras so that people chanting them can gradually 'mould' their mindstream to a similar state
This is how I understand it and I'd like some clarity on where I'm right/wrong.
Rebirth/the next birth happens when the mindstream, attracted to particular situations because of its mental imprints , '...
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The role of being in a position of power in acquiring karma
Let's look at Alice and Bob. I'm going to emphasize gender roles on purpose, because the gender you were born as is not random.
Bob is a naturally powerful, intelligent, strong man who started his ...
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Why do many Buddhists hold on to views?
I am not very experienced with Buddhism, but I do think I have read several suttas teaching that it is not good to hold on to views, and that the Buddha doesn't teach what the universe is like, but ...
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Can new beings come into existence without this existence being a rebirth?
Can beings that have come into existence that have never been reborn before, like comes into existence without that existence being a rebirth, or "its first birth".
Or is every being's ...
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If I'm reborn as a Deva, how long will my lifespan be?
If I am reborn as a Deva, how long would my lifespan be before I'm forced back into Samsara? Factors?
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Hate myself more and more wish to die
Shall I be reborn as a girl again? I've had a rough life, gotten a CVA (Cerebrovascular Accident) recently, and am now half-paralyzed. I feel tired of living. I guess God forgot me, given all this ...
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What is the difference between sin and karma in Buddhism?
Christianity says sin is when someone does something bad. In Buddhism, people are reincarnated for karmic reasons, but they say this without reference to sin causing bad karma. Does sin preclude karma?...
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Can i be reborn having my father again?
I lost my father when I was a kid. Can I be reborn with the same father?
I didn't know him well, as I was very young, but from people's words, he was a great man, and I'm dying to know him, to love ...
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In my next life, can i meet him again?
Regarding reincarnation, I have a few questions:
Unfortunately, because of a big mistake and peoples' interference, I lost the love of my life to another woman almost 30 years ago, but still love him ...
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Does anyone interpret 'karma' this way?
Does anyone interpret karma to mean that the future itself arrives twice, "now" and again in the future?
Is there any reason to think that karma itself is that movement of impermanence, so ...
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When does right or wrong view at death over ride the karma one has accumulated in life?
When does right or wrong view at death over ride the karma one has accumulated in life?
I was just reading (googling) how right and wrong view when we be die can determine our next birth, rather than ...
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How closely aligned are Buddhist ethics and Nietzschean values?
How closely aligned are Buddhist ethics and Nietzschean values? I know a little about both, and may even have read a comparative study (some time ago). Was hoping to harmonise them via 'karma': the ...
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Place of death and rebirth
I'm reading about bardos in the Tibetan Book of the dead. I'm wondering how is rebirth dependent on geographical location. For example, if dead occurs in Europe is it possible to get a rebirth in Asia?...
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Can someone be literally reborn in lower realms due to unskillful thoughts and emotions?
I often wonder myself if the buddhist teachings says that realms are mental states, realities based on external conditions or a combination of the two. Why is that? For example:
"There's the ...
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Brahmas at formless realms are unable to hear the teachings of the Buddha
Why Brahmas at formless realms are unable to hear/communicate/understand the teachings of the Buddha when they have high intelligence?
Alara Kalama is wise, competent, intelligent. He has long had ...
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Heterosexual attraction in rebirth process?
In his book "Tibetan Buddhism from the ground up", Alan Wallace describes a part of the (human) rebirth process as follows:
"In [this vision] one sees (...) [the parents-to-be] in the ...
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Does Noble right view say that specific people (in this life and the next) don't exist just like the son of a barren woman?
Premise:
It's been asserted that the proper Noble right view results in the denial of rebirth of specific people. This seems akin to saying the Buddha knew rebirth of specific people to not exist just ...
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What is a person (puggala)?
What is a person (puggala) in Buddhism?
What is the difference between a person (puggala) and other terms like self (atta) and sentient being (satta)?
Is a person (puggala) reborn into future lives?
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The Buddha spoke to many individuals. Did the Buddha ever tell an individual who did not believe in rebirth, that they must in order to be liberated?
I have yet to read the entire Pali canon, but I've read a lot of it. It is a source I trust is fairly accurate. I'm still looking for an anecdote from the Buddha's life where he tells a non-believer ...
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Why is speaking about the conventional self in this life ok, but speaking about the conventional self in past and future lives forbidden?
It is widely understood across all Buddhist traditions that the Buddha often spoke of persons and used words like 'I' and 'person' and 'self' and this is not seen as problematic or contradictory to ...
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What fault is found in denying Dharmakirti's notion of "substantial cause" as necessary in the arising of things?
I have read here argumentation for the continuity of mind, coming from a Geshe in Tibetan Buddhism.
From what I have learnt it is asserted that:
Consciousness could not arise from matter (could not ...
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What did the Buddha mean in MN 140 about what happened to clansman Pukkusāti after a cow killed him?
Bhikkhu, ‘I am’ is a conceiving; ‘I am this’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall
be’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall not be’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall be
possessed of form’ is a conceiving; ‘I shall be formless’ is a
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Why did the Buddha teach how to escape Samsara if there is no soul?
Yes, I have seen the similar questions. But they do not satisfyingly answer my own since my question is slightly different. Let me explain:
I was reading up on Emptiness, Samsara and so on and found ...
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Should one who follows the Dhamma give drugs to the dying to ease thier suffering?
My Christian wife is dying and the doctor has prescribed morphine and tranquilizers. She is losing her mind and the drugs may be contributing to that. I don't want her to suffer but I also don't want ...
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Looking for a quote from Johannes Bronkhorst
I recall, years ago, reading about Buddhist treatises on rebirth, composed some long time after the Buddhas death.
It was a very brief reference of Johannes Bronkhorst's, probably in a footnote. I've ...
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How did ancient Indian Buddhists describe causation vs correlation? Why were they concerned with this?
An important compendium of the ancient Indian philosophical schools - called Sarva-Darsana-Samgraha - was written in India in 14th century CE by Madhvacharya (a non-Buddhist Indian Philosopher) who ...
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Does "old karma" come from our parents, family, community, surroundings?
In SN 35.145 (below), we see that the body, intellect etc. is "old karma", capable to be felt. But it doesn't say whose "old karma" it is. The sutta also talks about "new ...
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What is (re)born? Did the Buddha explicitly state that it is "the mental idea of the self" that is reborn?
It's been asserted by some knowledgeable individuals that the Buddha explicitly identified "the mental idea of the self" as what is (re)born in samsara and has done so in suttas spelling out ...
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Is rebirth scientifically proven?
I am from a Buddhist family, in which my parents believe in Buddhism a lot (100%).
But after learning tech, science, and IT in the last five years, what I feel is the idea of rebirth is nothing more ...
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What is meant by "divorcing the view and the action" and why is it considered so dangerous?
In Chandrakirti’s Madhyamakavatara, there is a debate with the Charvakas (ancient materialists) about the existence or non-existence of past and future lives. In the commentary, Rinpoche compares and ...
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Infinite rebirth, finite kamma?
If we have been transmigrating in samsara infinitely via rebirths, then doesn't that mean that kamma which we have earned too is infinite? And if so, doesn't that imply that enlightenment is imposible ...
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How do the concepts of anatta, rebirth and karma coexist together?
Although I have read quite a lot of books about Buddhism, almost all of them were meant for the Western layman so I consider myself to be a beginner compared to most of you here. I hope you can ...
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AN 4.197 - do the Pali words "āgacchati" and "paccājāyati" mean "reborn"?
AN 4.197 has been translated as:
Here, Mallikā, a certain woman, is angry, often irritable. Even over a
trivial remark, she is cross (abhisajjati), shaken, vexed, stubborn,
and shows her temper (...
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How, if at all, does karma exist in the form and formless realms?
How, if at all, does karma exist in the form and formless realms?
Obviously, as humans in the desire realm, we can suffer misfortune, etc., due to our karma. But what about events in these other ...
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Anatta and the question of motivation
I am a layperson of protestant Christian background interested in buddhist thought and trying to clarify some of the basic concepts for myself. One of the stumbling blocks is understanding the ...
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What words in Pali are correctly interpreted as rebirth/reincarnation?
In comments to this question I saw a disagreement over the proper translation of various Pali words in suttas commonly translated with the english word rebirth or reborn.
According to Ajahn Sujato ...
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Is it right to use the term rebirth in the Buddhist context?
As I delve into the Buddhist literature deeper and deeper, particularly the Theravāda sutta literature, I am getting convinced more and more that when we use the term ‘rebirth’, and more so, the ...
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