Question:

I know that Buddhist belief is based greatly on experiencing teachings for yourself, and not taking what anyone says (even the Buddha himself) as truth without first examining it ourselves. However, I am confused as to where the belief in rebirth and karma comes from in Buddhism. I agree with this Buddhist belief that we should not blindly follow anything anyone says, and must figure things out for ourselves and experience them, but the belief in reincarnation seems to go against this. How can we possibly know that rebirth occurs if we cannot see it for ourselves? Thanks for the wonderful podcast.

Answer:

We’ve talked about this in the past (several times), but I think this may be the number one point of Buddhism to which Westerners cannot relate. Most non-Buddhists recognize reincarnation as the butt of uncountable jokes, scams, and is generally taken seriously only by some very strange celebrities. The fact that a huge portion of the world’s population do believe in rebirth is irrelevant if all you know are Shirley Maclaine jokes.

No one really knows the origins of the rebirth idea, it goes way back beyond Buddhism, into Hinduism, and is likely far older than that. I’m only guessing here, but I’d bet that the idea of rebirth is probably older than the concepts of heaven or hell; ancient people understood the cycle of life very well. You are born, you age, you die; it’s no great leap to see that cycle as a wheel that repeats. The idea is so old, however, that no one can say absolutely where it came from, but the idea has been refined and elaborated over the years, first by Hinduism, then by Buddhism.

As you said, it’s not a requirement that you believe anything blindly, and Buddhism encourages questioning. While it is true, that many of the writings on Buddhism concern themselves with reincarnation, it’s not really absolutely necessary to believe in it. The majority of Buddhist ideas relate to your life here on Earth, right now. “Promotion” or “demotion” in the next life is not something to be strived for (more attachment and grasping); the goal is to live a good life now. Whatever happens next time around, just happens. If the Buddhist concept of rebirth is correct, it will happen to you whether you believe in it or not, so don’t worry about it. If it causes you doubt and “suffering,” then throw it out.

Keep an open mind, do some research into different ways people explain rebirth, and maybe someday you will come to believe it. Or maybe not.

Here are links to two previous articles on the topic. Be sure to read the comments below each.

Reincarnation, God, and Things You Don’t Believe: http://www.dailybuddhism.com/archives/1323

Rebirth and Karma: http://www.dailybuddhism.com/archives/1182

Question:

I really enjoy your e-mails and have a question. I accept the idea of no self and it makes sense to me. I believe like the Hindus that I am an expression of the ONE, but before I was born why do I have no recollection of this? It seems that my awareness only began at the moment of entering this physical life. Please help.

Answer:

This is really the heart of the argument for or against reincarnation or rebirth. If we have been alive before, why can’t we remember it? What about the people who do claim to remember it? If we can’t remember our previous lives, does it really matter? What is the point of endless rebirths if you cannot remember it?

First, Buddhism would reject those people who claim to remember their previous lives. It just doesn’t work that way in Buddhism. At best, we might have some kind of affinity or imprints that make something seem familiar to us (like the Dalai Lama, who could pick out a few objects he knew in his previous incarnation). We do not generally remember details of our personal lives.

As you mentioned in your question, Buddhists believe there is no-self anyway. If we do not have a self in the first place, and we do not carry our memories with us, then what exactly is transferred? I will give a couple of often-used analogies first:

1. A flame on a candle, used to light a second candle. The flame has transferred, is it the same flame? Yes and no.

2. All you are is a complex set of causes and effects that carry over between what we see as “lives.” Karma would be one of these causes.

The first one is a great little meditation koan, but is a fairly simplistic answer. The second is a philosophical can of worms that requires that you decide what the “self” or “no-self” is as well as what kinds of causes and effects there are. There has been a great deal written on this, and it’s pretty complicated to explain, so I’m only going to give one analogy. Maybe someone out there knows a better way to explain it, in which case watch the comment section of this post.

Here’s my best explanation of the cause and effect aspects of rebirth: Deep down we are all one, there is no real “self.” Picture an ocean, that would be all of humanity. Each little wave is a human life; none are really individuals, they are all a part of the whole. One rises up due to the effects of deep currents and tides (karmic causes). Then they sink back into the ocean. Some of those deep currents and waves create new waves, and it’s all the same water, so there are connections, but the waves are not the same. The idea of individuality and continuity are illusions.

Comments?